In December, Rohrer was suspended by Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (ELM), an LGBTQAI+ advocacy group that operates within the ELCA, for “racist words and actions” against “the Latinx community in Stockton, CA.”
“It is not lost on us, as an organization advocating for queer inclusion in the church for 30+ years, that the election of a trans Bishop was a dream for some until now,” ELM said in a statement. “Until recently, we have not had the explicit values or demonstrated capacity to facilitate an accountability process of this magnitude. ELM’s articulated commitment to anti-racist action contains a spiritual mandate to address the dynamic of race within our own community.”
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After Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church passed its resolution, Presiding Bishop Rev. Elizabeth Eaton released a statement, explaining that she had commissioned a “Listening Team who have begun their work and will soon travel to the territory of the synod to conduct a series of interviews.”
“These interviews will be times of holy listening to people who have been affected in various ways by the situation,” Eaton said. “Certainly, the work of the Listening Team is just one part of the lengthy and deep work that we must do in the ELCA to continue to be transformed by the gospel for the work of justice and peace.”
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Eaton said that the Listening Team would submit a report to her sometime after Easter.
, in light of allegations of racism and manipulative behavior will serving as a pastor, as well as bishop.){kind=link}