A friend of mine recently directed me to an article regarding an ELCA church in San Francisco, Ebenezer Lutheran, which had the following sign up: "Goddess Rosary, Wednesday 7 pm." (You can read the entire article here) While I have my own reservations about certain "feminist" language that is being imposed on biblical translation, this transcends a mere question of whether God has feminine qualities. When a "Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete" (sponsored by a pagan group that is dedicated to the worship of "goddesses" - plural, not singular, and includes the Greek goddesses like Aphrodite) is being touted and supported by the ELCA, I start to get more than just a little nervous. When I read what this "Goddess Pilgrimage" entails - I shudder and have to wonder myself if the ELCA has crossed a threshold that may bring about the downfall of our most basic beliefs within the Lutheran Church. At what point have we ceased to be Christian, and become the very thing Paul and the other early Christians were fighting against? Not just fighting against, but died for because they refused to partake in these practices.
Perhaps I'm being an alarmist. Wouldn't be the first time. But if the trend within the Lutheran Church is to begin embracing worship among Minoan pagan altars, of tapping into the "power of the Goddess" within mountains and caves (not that worship in caves and mountains is wrong in and of itself, but these places are also the traditional sites of pagan/nature worship practices - because they could "feel" the presence of the god or goddess who would dwell in the caves and mountains - their "power" was thought to be strongest in these places because they were a part of the rocks, trees, etc.), I won't be able to run away from this denomination fast enough!
While I'm all for women being validated as women, and that "patriarchal oppression" indeed needs to be fought against, and that we should highlight the counter-cultural treatment of women by Jesus, Paul, etc, and yes, I can even see the usage of certain "mother" imagery in imaging God... it's moves like these that invite criticism from those who think the ELCA has gone woefully astray, and I would be among those who would agree with that sentiment. If this ELCA congregation needs to close its doors in San Francisco because they are unable to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then so be it. We shake the dust from our sandals and move on, we don't adopt pagan practices in an attempt to entice people into our pews!! I have to ask - what is the Sierra Pacific Synod thinking??? What is the National Synod thinking allowing this to occur under the auspices of Lutheran practice and theology? While the idea of "herchurch" is a lot outside my comfort zone to begin with, after reviewing their site, I can at least accept it as an attempt (an ATTEMPT, mind you, not that they're actually achieving it) to still be within the bounds of Christianity - but when they ally themselves with paganist groups such as the Ariadne Institute which states they explore "the ancient and contemporary myths and rituals of the Goddesses," (PLURAL!) I think the line has definitely been crossed. The "herchurch" site begs that we read all of what they believe, and based on their professions of faith, I inherently have nothing against "herchurch." It's the company "herchurch" is keeping that causes me to cringe and the warning flags to start flying!
While I'm all for women being validated as women, and that "patriarchal oppression" indeed needs to be fought against, and that we should highlight the counter-cultural treatment of women by Jesus, Paul, etc, and yes, I can even see the usage of certain "mother" imagery in imaging God... it's moves like these that invite criticism from those who think the ELCA has gone woefully astray, and I would be among those who would agree with that sentiment. If this ELCA congregation needs to close its doors in San Francisco because they are unable to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then so be it. We shake the dust from our sandals and move on, we don't adopt pagan practices in an attempt to entice people into our pews!! I have to ask - what is the Sierra Pacific Synod thinking??? What is the National Synod thinking allowing this to occur under the auspices of Lutheran practice and theology? While the idea of "herchurch" is a lot outside my comfort zone to begin with, after reviewing their site, I can at least accept it as an attempt (an ATTEMPT, mind you, not that they're actually achieving it) to still be within the bounds of Christianity - but when they ally themselves with paganist groups such as the Ariadne Institute which states they explore "the ancient and contemporary myths and rituals of the Goddesses," (PLURAL!) I think the line has definitely been crossed. The "herchurch" site begs that we read all of what they believe, and based on their professions of faith, I inherently have nothing against "herchurch." It's the company "herchurch" is keeping that causes me to cringe and the warning flags to start flying!
As a woman, I understand the plight of women fighting for the right to be leaders in the church, and I even to a degree understand certain portions of "feminist theology." I myself have received criticism for deigning to become a woman pastor, accused of "ignoring scripture" because I put the 1 Timothy text into its proper context and do not apply it as a church-wide mandate. But in my humble opinion - it's actions such as these at Ebenezer Lutheran that caused Paul to clamp down so harshly on women in the first place and is what led to his condemnation of their taking leadership roles in 1 Timothy. Something similar is going on in San Francisco - the church is acquiescing to it's surrounding culture, giving into the pagan practices that predominate the area, and just like in Ephesus - it's women that are leading the headlong plunge into apostasy.
If Christian women don't want to feel the back-lash of this, of people pointing to the Lutheran church and saying "see, this is why women should never be leaders - look at what it leads to!" we need to be loud about our disapproval of such practices. And for those who want to further the argument and cause of ordaining practicing homosexuals in the Lutheran church - they had better scream long and loud as well! Why? Because one of their arguments is that the reason God called homosexuality an abomination was because it was being done as part of the Canaanite pagan cults. When (and yes, I'm probably stereotyping given the location of the church in question) lesbians get together and want to start "goddess worship" among the pagan ruins of Crete, it's not a huge leap for the next few steps into full-blown pagan practices to start taking hold once again. Female sexuality has long been a practice of "goddess worship" throughout the world. In the age of "Christendom" the practices were essentially squashed to only a few adherants, but with the rising tide of interest in the "old" religions and practices of our ancestors, neo-paganism is on the rise - and is finding ways to utilize Christianity so that it doesn't seem like it's "paganism" on the surface. Yet, that's exactly what it is. At the very least, it's promoting pantheism. At the very worst - polytheism.
Now let's envision for a moment... women engaging in "Goddess worship" among the pagan altars of Crete... feeling her power in holy mountains, sensing her mysteries in the darkness of caves (which is where the chosen priestess and male "stag" would traditionally copulate during the spring equinox festival of Beltane in the hopes of impregnating the priestess, who would then raise the child among the female priestessess of the cult. Both the man and the woman would wear a mask so the identity of each would be hidden), and pour out libations of milk and honey on Minoan altars....
Is anyone else seeing warning flags??
Now let's envision for a moment... women engaging in "Goddess worship" among the pagan altars of Crete... feeling her power in holy mountains, sensing her mysteries in the darkness of caves (which is where the chosen priestess and male "stag" would traditionally copulate during the spring equinox festival of Beltane in the hopes of impregnating the priestess, who would then raise the child among the female priestessess of the cult. Both the man and the woman would wear a mask so the identity of each would be hidden), and pour out libations of milk and honey on Minoan altars....
Is anyone else seeing warning flags??