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There will be NO Wednesday Divine Service 1/30/19 due to the Weather conditions.
Saturday, October 27, 2018, 1:30pm-4pm at Zion Lutheran Church 2313 S. Hanna St Admission $5 for adults kids 14 & under free.
Supreme Court hears case of Colorado baker under fire for marriage view
https://blogs.lcms.org/2017/supreme-court-hears-case-of-colorado-baker-under-fire-for-marriage-view
By Roger Drinnon
Oral arguments were heard Dec. 5 in the case of Colorado cake artist Jack Phillips, sued by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission for sexual-orientation discrimination for refusing to make a custom cake for a same-sex wedding ceremony.
The contentious case of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission likely will determine whether the government can compel Americans to use their abilities and vocations to perform services that violate their faith and conscience. Arguments were extended from the scheduled 60 minutes to 90 minutes to accommodate both sides of the case.
“I am here at the Supreme Court today because I respectfully declined to create a custom cake that would celebrate a view of marriage in direct conflict with my faith’s core teachings on marriage,” said Phillips at a rally following the oral arguments.
He spoke amid chants of “We got Jack’s back!” from a crowd of supporters.
“For that decision, which was guided by an established set of religious beliefs, I’ve endured a five-year court battle. It’s been very hard on me and my family,” he said. “There have been tears and many difficult days for us.”
Phillips said he and his family have faced death threats and harassment, and he has been forced to stop creating the wedding art that he loves while also losing much of his business, as the family struggles to pay bills and keep the shop afloat.
“It’s hard to believe that the government is forcing me to choose between providing for my family and employees and violating my relationship with God. That is not freedom. That is not tolerance,” Phillips added.
The LCMS joined an amicus brief for the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Phillips earlier this year with seven other organizations advocating for religious freedom in the case. The LCMS brief was one of approximately 50 briefs that included scores of religious organizations filed in support of Phillips.
Download amicus brief
In July 2016, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys and allied attorneys petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case. According to ADF case details, an administrative-law judge ruled in December 2013 against the cake artist, saying that designing cakes for same-sex wedding ceremonies is not speech protected by the First Amendment.
The commission also ordered Phillips and his staff to design cakes for same-sex wedding celebrations; take “corrective action,” including comprehensive staff training; implement new policies to ensure compliance with Colorado anti-discrimination laws; and file quarterly “compliance” reports for two years to show that Phillips has implemented the changes and to document any patrons denied service.
ADF attorneys indicated that when the U.S. Supreme Court rules in this case, it will have a major impact on religious freedom in America, collectively stating, “It could very well be the most important decision in our lifetime” in terms of religious liberty.
ADF also has appealed a related right-of-conscience case to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the case involving Arlene’s Flowers, the Washington Supreme Court upheld a ruling against florist Barronelle Stutzman, who declined to create custom flowers for a longtime customer’s same-sex wedding.
The U.S. Supreme Court could consider this case along with Masterpiece Cakeshop or hold it until its Masterpiece decision is made, and then send the case back to the lower court for reconsideration in light of the new opinion. Last year, the Synod also joined an amicus brief for Stutzman’s case, State of Washington v. Arlene’s Flowers.
Read about Barronelle Stutzman
Although neither Phillips nor Stutzman is an LCMS Lutheran, the outcome of each case may pose significant ramifications for the Synod, its agencies, affiliated institutions and members of LCMS congregations.
“Tolerance should be a two-way street. Phillips gladly serves anyone who walks into his store, but, as is customary practice for many artists, he declines opportunities to design for a variety of events and messages that conflict with his deeply held beliefs. In this case, Jack told the couple suing him he’d sell them anything in the store but just couldn’t design a custom cake celebrating their wedding because of his Christian faith,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kristen Waggoner after filing an opening brief with the high court in August.
Waggoner represents both Phillips and Stutzman.
“The First Amendment protects Jack’s right to create artistic expression that is consistent with his core convictions,” she said. “Individuals can support both same-sex marriage and Jack, and people should have the right to disagree on critical matters of conscience. The same government that can force Jack to violate his faith and conscience can force any one of us to do the same.”
The U.S. Supreme Court now must decide, in effect, whether Christians who do not support same-sex marriage have the same liberty as others to live consistently according to their religious beliefs and whether Christians can be compelled to express messages or promote events that violate their faith.
If the high court rules against Phillips (and Stutzman), the ADF says potential ramifications include lawsuits against other creative professionals and Christian business owners who express themselves through their business activities, a rule of law that would not support First Amendment rights for all people.
“I’m profoundly thankful to the Supreme Court of the United States for taking my case. I hope and pray it will affirm the freedom of artists to peacefully express themselves in ways consistent with who they are,” said Phillips.
Last year, the Synod in convention adopted Resolution 14-01 to encourage intentional leadership in matters of religious freedom.
Resources:
To learn more about what the Synod is doing regarding religious liberty, visit its “Free to be Faithful” webpage.
To read about other amicus briefs the LCMS has joined, go to lcms.org/board/amicusbriefs.
Roger Drinnon (roger.drinnon@lcms.org) is director of Editorial and Media Relations for LCMS Communications.
Posted Dec. 6, 2017
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New President of Concordia University Chicago
Gard Elected 11th President of
Concordia University Chicago
Rear Admiral Daniel Gard seems to have done it all. He’s taught future LCMS pastors how to read Hebrew, won meritorious service medals in his extended military career and comforted grieving families at the Pentagon on September 11 in his role as chaplain.
He’s ministered to military and civilian personnel at Guantanamo Bay, served as pastor in a Midwestern parish and,
only months ago, was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the 18th Deputy Chief of Chaplains for Reserve Matters.
Some days he’s buried in textbooks in his office at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind., where he serves as professor of Exegetical Theology. On others, he’s in uniform in his Pentagon office, where he tends to the pastoral care of sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen.
And he’s just getting started. On Friday, May 30, Gard was elected 11th president of Concordia University Chicago (CUC), located in River Forest, Ill. “The word ‘honored,’” he says when considering his election, “doesn’t quite cover it.”
“Admiral Gard is an outstanding choice,” notes the Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). “This kind of leadership quality comes only occasionally in the church. CUC and Dr. Gard remain in our prayers as the call is considered.”
“Concordia University Chicago can rejoice in the election of Dan Gard,” agrees the Rev. Dr. Dean Wenthe, president of the Concordia University System. “President-elect Gard brings outstanding academic credentials, a rich administrative experience and a winsome Christian vision to the university.”
The oldest in the Concordia University System, which is comprised of 10 LCMS colleges and universities, CUC is currently celebrating its 150th academic school year. The university’s influence on Lutheran education, and specifically that of church work careers, Gard notes, has been significant in the history of the LCMS.
“Concordia University Chicago is an historic Lutheran school with a long and distinguished record of service to the Church and to the world,” he says. “For 150 years, Concordia has exemplified the Lutheran tradition of serious scholarship rooted in the certain conviction that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. By keeping Christ at the center and with a strong identity as a Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod university, that record of service will continue far into the future under the mercy and grace of God.”
Gard’s talents — a varied set honed on the battlefield, in the classroom and at the bedside — will be a great blessing to the school, Wenthe believes. His gifts “are imbedded in a caring, pastoral heart that faculty, staff and students will find refreshing and inspiring.”
Military chaplaincy prepared him for such a role, Gard says, especially after “26 years of working in a pluralistic, multicultural environment that is the Navy” alongside “sailors and Marines about the same age as traditional college students.”
His pastoral care for those men and women — and his students at the seminary — hasn’t gone unnoticed. “In a culture that increasingly reduces humanity to no more than passing material beings, Dr. Gard will witness to the beauty, wonder and truths of Christ’s love for each and every human being as so clearly portrayed in sacred Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions,” Wenthe says.
“We are very proud of and exceedingly thankful for Dr. Daniel Gard,” agrees the Rev. Dr. Lawrence R. Rast, president of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne. “For over 25 years, he has used his God-given gifts in exemplary service to the Synod at Concordia Theological Seminary and in the Navy Reserve. His proven ability to work with people from all backgrounds and abilities will serve Concordia University Chicago well, should he be led by God’s Spirit to accept this call.”
As Gard — who was given 15 days to accept or decline the election — deliberates, he is encouraged by the good gifts God has in store for CUC. “The best days of Concordia are not the days of the past but the future into which God will lead,” he explains. “I will be praying for the university as I have been for quite a while: that it will always have a self-identity as part of the educational mission of the LCMS, and that it will maintain a close connection to the Synod.”
“CUC has a unique urban environment, a rich history and strong academics,” he says. “But most especially, it is a place where Jesus Christ is at the center. This is the university that doesn’t belong to us; it belongs to Christ, serving both the Church and the world.”
Click here to read Gard’s faculty bio and here to read his military credentials.
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