On Being a Liberal Lutheran

I was born in a Lutheran hospital to a mother raised Lutheran. Baptized as a baby with my father in a Lutheran church. My dad was our Lutheran church's congregation president during my formative teen years. I graduated with pride from Pacific Lutheran University. I was married in a Lutheran church.

Now I find myself needing to find a new church. Not necessarily a new denomination — I find myself agreeing with the ECLA on some recent controversial decisions. http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organiza...

But the local Lutheran church we joined about 10 years ago no longer feels like a good fit. We were active for a few years, then started to feel like we were being over-utilized for volunteer and leadership when we couldn't even make it to service more than one Sunday a month. And all the people we were friends with at church were having grandchildren while we were on a quest to become parents. Things were out of balance.

We really, really like our pastor, and have talked about giving Sunday School a try. We have only attended a few times with Niranjana — there is a thriving youth program, but exceptionally few people of color. It just hasn't felt comfortable. And that's not how God would want it.

And now the congregation is on the verge of making a decision that goes against some of our core family values: unconditional love, embracing diversity, and being open-minded.

I don't know what other ELCA churches are doing in the Tri-Cities, but I'll have to start researching so I can go to a Christmas Eve candlelight service this December in a Lutheran church.

Andy wasn't raised Lutheran, so this isn't such a dilemma for him. But it is for me. And it weighs heavily on my heart.