Anonymous

Every time I attend an ordination, I listen to the question asked of the ordinands: “Will you assume this office, believing that the Church’s call is God’s call to ministry of Word and Sacrament?” I listen, confident in my own call to ministry, but also aware that the church’s affirmation of that call depends on my continuing to lead a double life. For more than a decade I have struggled to find a balance between personal integrity and faithfulness to my call, between honesty to God and compliance with the church’s requirements. In the end, I have always come to the same conclusion: forced to choose between God’s call and institutional policy, I must heed my call. It is my prayer that the ELCA will someday – soon – make that same decision. Then the church’s call will indeed be God’s call.

Originally a part of the collection of stoles housed by ReconcilingWorks (formerly known as Lutherans Concerned), this stole was donated by them to the Shower of Stoles Project in 2015.