Augustana Lutheran Church of Hyde Park

Dear friends,

“THIS Obedience” (2003) begins with the ordination of Anita Hill in 2001, and continues to follow the action through the firestorm that raged in the ELCA for months and years after. Filmmaker Dawn Mikkelson has given Augustana a rare chance to see this film and remember, or learn for the first time, this history.

Pastor Hill, a lesbian in a committed relationship, was ordained to the Lutheran Ministry of Word and Sacrament in an extra ordinem service on April 28, 2001. One seated bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) participated in her ordination along with three retired bishops, nearly 200 clergy persons, and over 1,100 others in an extraordinary show of support for the ordination of gay and lesbian ELCA candidates who were in committed relationships. Pastor Hill was called to serve St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church, Saint Paul, Minnesota, where she first joined the staff of Wingspan Ministry in 1983, and became Pastoral Minister in 1994.

I invite you to come watch this movie with me Wednesday, October 22, at 5:30pm, in the Gustavus Adolphus Room at Augustana. For me, this is a personal remembrance – I went to seminary with some of the people interviewed, and served with others in ministry. This was a wild, contentious time in the life of the wider church, a time that can help us understand what is happening in the church today, as we reaffirm our commitments as a congregation to our LGBTQ+ siblings this Reformation Sunday. The film is about an hour and a half. We’ll have pizza to sustain us. Come, bring a friend, and take advantage of this opportunity.

Yours,
Pastor Nancy Goede