Bishop responds to pastor's resignation letter resigning from ELCA

Bishop David Zellmer of the South Dakota Synod finally has responded to my letter resigning from the ELCA clergy roster because I had been received as a pastor of the North American Lutheran Church. You can read my letter here.

Here are some excerpts from the bishop's letter dated August 17 (please note parts in bold):

"I write to acknowledge your letter of resignation from the roster of ordained ministers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, effective April 12, 2011. . . .

"Please bear in mind that, from the perspective of this church, you are now to function as a layperson in a congregation. While you are not on this church's roster of ordained ministers, your ordained status is in suspension.

"As someone who is not on the roster of this church, you must no longer perform any duties or acts associated with ordained ministry. You are not to use the title "Pastor" or "the Rev." Neither are you to baptize, preside for Holy Communion, perform marriages, or wear vestments normally associated with an ordained minister such as a stole or clerical collar.

"If under some circumstances, you were asked to substitute due to the absence of a pastor, you could do so not as a supply pastor but as a layperson serving without clerical vestments in leading a Service of the Word. Only in the most unusual circumstance and then only with the explicit permission of the synodical bishop could you preside for Holy Communion, in keeping with the policy of this church, as defined in "The Use of the Means of Grace--A Statement on the Practice of Word and Sacrament."

Thank you for your years of service as an ordained minister. Be assured that this church remains grateful to you for your pastoral ministry. God bless you in your new arena of endeavor.

Sincerely,

Bishop David B. Zellmer