In an open letter to the National Church Council (NCC), a retired pastor from the Eastern Synod expresses his opposition to the resolution condoning same-sex blessings that was passed at this year's Eastern Synod convention and asks the NCC "to take all steps necessary to repudiate the Eastern Synod action and have the same declared invalid".
Toronto, August 31, 2006
An OPEN LETTER to all
Members of the National Church Council
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
302-393 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, MB
R3B 3H6
Dear members of the National Church Council,
As a member of the Eastern Synod and an opponent of the action of this synod on July 6, 2006, authorizing the co-called LOCAL OPTION I do hereby submit to you my strong protest together with the request to take all steps necessary to repudiate the Eastern Synod action and have the same declared invalid.
The unity of our church is at stake, for chaos must reign if synods are no longer bound by decisions of the national church body.
I confess that I am both saddened and still incensed at the actions of the two bishops present. I hold Bishop Michael Pryse responsible for permitting the staging of this sorry spectacle. His gloating letter of July 9, 2006 would bear this out. He deserves censure from the ELCiC. And Bishop Raymond Schultz never said a word during the synodical debate on July 6.
The action of the Eastern Synod must be challenged in the interest of maintaining the unity and integrity of our church. For your information I am enclosing my own pastoral letter to the members of the First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Toronto while serving as their interim pastor in 2004. http://www.solid-ground.ca/a-pastors-comment.htm
Though by now dated, it still presents my convictions unchanged by the recent events. However, while the ship of the church is being tossed about by the waves I take comfort in reading Mark 4:35-41 again.
The church is His and not ours.
Yours sincerely,
Joachim A. Knaack
Retired Pastor
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
(Eastern Synod)
cc. M. Pryse
Pastor in retirement R. Schultz
