Talking Sex with Lutherans

I’ve been involved with the Upstate New York Synod for almost a decade, and today we had a Listening Post for the upcoming ELCA’s Social Statement on Sexuality (http://www.elca.org/What-We-Believe/Social-Issues/Social-Statements-in-Process/JTF-Human-Sexuality/Draft-Social-Statement.aspx), along with our Conference Assembly, down at First Lutheran in Albany. A Listening Post is an opportunity to have the people provide feedback on the subject matter, and when it comes to talking about sex and religion, people have lots of opinions. The Social Statement was well thought out, but a bit long winded for me. The “punch lines”, the dos and don’ts or practical examples, are apparently going to be provided in separate study guides. They’ll be necessary to understand the specifics on the statement. In the afternoon, we held our conference assembly. I was disappointed to not be voted to represent our Synod at the 2009 National Assembly. I had felt that my attendance at the 2005 Assembly where we spent a lot of time on discussing homosexuality, as well as my preparation and willingness to participate in this phase, would have made me a natural choice. However, I wasn’t elected and I have to remember that it is God’s plan and not my own.

This is a blog dedicated to beer, and I wouldn’t have brought up this day if there wasn’t some new beer involved. We were free to go out for lunch, so I went downtown to the Albany Pump Station (http://www.evansale.com/), which serves the beers of CH Evans brewing. I like the restaurant and was happy to see that they had several new beers on draft. I tried the Imperial Stout, but was really impressed with the Rauchbier Hefe-Weizen. The use of smoke with the Hefe-Weizen was excellent, and complimented my Chipotle Chicken Salad well. I would go the Pump Station more if there were more turnover on the different beers, so finding two that were new was a real treat for me.

It was a tough day for me, but I have faith that everything will work out for the best. - 4617

"It is better to think of church in the alehouse then to think of the alehouse in church." – Martin Luther