“The Synod Council believed then and now that it would be irresponsible to postpone our decision until a later meeting for the severity of the situation required immediate action to safeguard the Latinx community,” it said.
The council has publicly apologized for disrupting Misión Latina Luterana’s celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
So has Rohrer.
“I understand that trust can be lost with one action and must be rebuilt with hundreds of trustworthy actions,” Rohrer wrote in late December.
“I am grateful to all who have educated me about the needs of the Latino/x/é community and remain committed to doing the work needed to repair relationships. The Sierra Pacific Synod and I seek to be ever-reforming in our anti-racism and anti-bias work.”
In addition to criticism from Asociación de Ministerios Latinos de la ELCA and African Descent Lutheran Association, Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries suspended Rohrer’s membership in late December after they dismissed Rabell-González. In a written statement at the time, Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, which organizes queer ministry leaders in the ELCA, accused Rohrer of “an existing pattern of behavior” that doesn’t align with its vision, mission and values — “specifically as it pertains to being an anti-racist organization.”
Rohrer’s election in May 2021 made Rohrer the first openly transgender bishop in the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States — or any major denomination in the country. Rohrer also has celebrated being a neurodivergent bishop, part of Rohrer’s identity the bishop said gets less attention.
On Friday, Rohrer responded to several posts on Twitter expressing support for the bishop.
“As requested, I’m listening deeply and prayerfully discerning,” Rohrer said in one tweet.
In another, Rohrer wrote, “There has been so much more kindness and compassion expressed to me than anger, frustration and hurt. This fully human human appreciates all the prayers.”
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This story has been updated.
This article originally appeared on ReligionNews.com.
