Presentations and Publications
News
Rev. Anita Hill, M.Div., Tells Her
Story
Again at CPCSM Gathering -- This Time with
History-Making Outcome
Related Materials
Scriptural References
[1] And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
[2] He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man;
[3] and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, `Vindicate me against my adversary.'
[4] For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, `Though I neither fear God nor regard man,
[5] yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.'"
[6] And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says.
[7] And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?
[8] I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
The Gospel of St. Matthew 14: 22-33.
[22] Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
[23] And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there
alone,
[24] but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them.
[25] And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.
[26] But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear.
[27] But immediately he spoke to them, saying, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear."
[28] And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water."
[29] He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus;
[30] but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me."
[31] Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?"
[32] And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
[33] And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
Sermons
from St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church
FESTIVAL OF THE EPIPHANY - January 6, 2002
THE MAGIC'S IN MISSION!
By Paul A. Tidemann, Pastor
Synod
bishop censures St. Paul congregations
They face consequences for calling non-rostered
people
to pastoral ministry
The Lutheran, August 2001
By Elizabeth Hunter
St.
Paul-Reformation ‘ordains’ Anita Hill
Lesbian minister is ordained in
irregular ceremony
The Lutheran, June 2001
By Ann Hafften
A man of his word
Minnesota Women's Press, June 6, 2001
MWP Update
Jennifer Thaney and Lydia Assa
Southern California’s ranking Lutheran bishop knew he was
defying church law by particpating in the ordination of Anita Hill
last April [MWP Dec. 20, 2000-Jan.2, 2001]. Hill, now a
pastor at St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church in St. Paul, is a
lesbian in a committed relationship, which makes her ordination
illegal in the eyes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA).
Now, the Rev. Paul Egertson is paying for his sins.
Last week he
announced that he will resign as bishop effective July 31, one
month before his six-year term would have ended.
Egertson, 66, is a longtime proponent of ordaining
gay and
lesbian people who are in committed relationships. Those
beliefs, and his involvement in many same-sex unions, caused
much controversy when Egertson was elected as bishop in
1994, and he promised he would resign if he ever felt he must
defy church policy.
After he participated in Hill’s ordination, the
Rev. H. George
Anderson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, asked Egertson to
honor that promise and resign. In doing so, Egertson said, “I
know that I cannot enforce a policy that is so hurtful to people
and to this church. ... I cannot believe our cause would be
advanced by breaking my promises. In the end, the only
credibility we have is in the truth we tell and the promises we
keep.”
A not-so-ordinary ordination
Minnesota Women's Press, April 25, 2001
MWP Update
Jennifer Thaney
Six years after she set out to become a pastor, Anita Hill [MWP
Dec. 20-Jan. 2] will finally be ordained on Saturday, April 28, at
2 pm at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in St. Paul. She will be installed
as pastor of St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church the following day
at a 10:30 am service. St. Paul-Reformation is located at 100 N. Oxford
St. in St. Paul.
By ordaining Hill, St. Paul-Reformation will be out of compliance with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), the larger church organization of which St. Paul Reformation is a part. According to ELCA guidelines, “ordained ministers who are homosexual in their self-understanding are expected to abstain from homosexual sexual relationships.” Hill is a lesbian in such a relationship.
Although sanctions against St. Paul-Reformation are possible, the ELCA has yet to issue an official response to Hill’s ordination. But two resolutions related to the ordination of gay and lesbian persons living in committed relationships were adopted at the St. Paul Area Synod Assembly held April 20-21.
The first supports St. Paul-Reformation for ordaining Hill and encourages the bishop of the synod and the synod council to retain the congregation in the ELCA. The second asks the 2001 ELCA church-wide assembly to be held in August to request that governing documents making gay and lesbian persons living in committed relationships ineligible for ordination be amended. It also asks the churchwide assembly to give synod bishops power to consider exceptions to the ELCA’s established ordination practices regarding lesbian and gay clergy until such changes are implemented.
Bishops from across the country will participate in Hill’s ordination service.
Pledges pour in following protest
The Lutheran, July 2001
More than $2,500 was raised in response to a May 6 anti-gay protest at St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minn.
Fred Phelps, leader of Westboro Baptist Church, Topeka,
Kan., and
seven others carried signs for 45 minutes outside St. Paul-Reformation
a week after the congregation "ordained" Anita Hill, a lesbian
in a committed relationship. The ELCA does not recognize the ordination.
St. Paul-Reformation collected pledges for each minute protesters picketed. The money will be used for its outreach and to pay for ordination weekend security, Hill said. It also will be shared with the Southern Poverty Law Center for its work against gay hate crimes.
Hill said the protesters were quiet but held signs
bearing condemning messages. Paul Tidemann, a pastor of St. Paul-Reformation,
said Phelps will be told how much money was raised.
Answers
from Anita Hill on her life and Lutheran faith
Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 5, 2001
Martha Sawyer Allen / Star Tribune
2000
Newsmakers -- our chosen revolutionaries
St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church: A beacon of prophetic
disobedience
Minnesota Women's Press, January 3, 2001
Jennifer Thaney