Statement for LCA members, pastors, church workers

Hi, and welcome to this blog. If you are reading this, it probably means you’ve received a link to it via an LCA notification. For now, this no-frills site simply serves to share some information, and receive any comments you care to make. Hopefully it will grow into a more active blog as time goes on. We’ll see.

By now you have probably heard that I have resigned from the pastorate of the LCA, and hence from my teaching position at ALC. Naturally, this may have raised questions in your minds as to why this has happened, so I’d like to give a brief explanation of my decision.

In short, I have left the ordained ministry of the LCA because I can no longer reconcile my personal worldview and beliefs with the confession of the church. On the one hand, I continue to share many of the church’s values and aspirations, and consider myself a friend of the Christian tradition. But on the other hand, I no longer hold many of the specific doctrinal claims and assertions of the Christian faith (at least in the way they are traditionally understood). Arriving at this position has not happened overnight, but has been a journey spanning at least half a decade, and possibly longer.

For some time I managed to keep my private intellectual position separate from my public responsibilities, and despite where my own thinking was, continued to support and promote the objectives of the church. In particular, I was mindful not to compromise the pastoral and educational formation of students at ALC. In my professional capacity it was as much my desire as my colleagues’ to ensure that students progressed to the fullest possible understanding and appreciation of the Lutheran tradition. Even now, I value this objective. Nevertheless, you can also appreciate that maintaining a ‘double act’ between private views and public calling could only last for so long, and for the sake of maintaining both my own and the church’s integrity the time eventually came to step aside.

In order to put to rest any other speculations that may be circulating about my decision, there are a few other things worth mentioning.  First, my decision to resign is not a result of any marriage or family difficulties, but is solely the result of my own intellectual journey. My family continues to worship in the LCA, and I myself am not planning on joining any other denomination, group or faith. Furthermore, I am not hurt by or angry with the church, or its leaders, or with any of my colleagues. On the whole, I feel well treated by the institution of the church, and in particular will always remember my time at ALC with fondness and gratitude. In fact, it is with some grief that I end my time there, as I am leaving a wonderful team of people, and I sincerely wish the best for this institution.

While many of you will be content with the information I’ve supplied here, others may be interested in the details of my personal and intellectual path. As I said at the start, I hope to post some more in-depth accounts of my journey before too long, as the world of philosophy, faith and worldviews is an abiding interest of mine. But in the meantime, if you ask or email me directly, I would usually be happy to share some of my reflections with you, keeping in mind that it's not my intent to foist my views on or proselytize anyone. 

I wish you all the very best in your work of service and ministry, and look forward to maintaining friendships with you, albeit under different circumstances.