Do SOMETHING GOOD for the sake of Jesus!
A Word from the Pastors
We mentioned during a recent Sunday morning Zoom worship gathering that Pastor David O. Maddox II, who grew up in this St. Peter’s congregation and was ordained in our sanctuary on June 18, 2005, has decided to resign as an ordained pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Below is an excerpt from his letter to Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod (ELCA) current Bishop, the Rev. Patricia A. Davenport, a letter that was written on April 15, 2021. It is shared with David’s permission.
I write because the time has come for me to extricate myself from Rostered leadership in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I am resigning my call as an Ordained minister of the ELCA. As you know, I have experienced being On-Leave from call for six of my fifteen years of service as an Ordained Lutheran pastor. The journey has been bittersweet. Experiencing full communion when it comes to receiving a call as a person of color within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has been a painful undertaking. Too many of our colleagues living under On-Leave from call have suffered from questioning their sense of call, struggled in providing for their families, and wrestled with their sense of worth as a called people of God. Too many of our colleagues have struggled with the reality of not having their humanity and experiences validated and affirmed: God’s Welcome Table has been designated for the select few. Too many of our colleagues have waited too long for the opportunity to pastor congregations. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has served as a microcosm of this nation in that people of color within the church have struggled far too long to simply breathe.
I leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America harboring no acrimony. As God has called me to serve this church, God now calls me to take my exodus. I leave safeguarding my own health, spirit, purpose and sense of call as God’s child serving Her Church in spirit and truth.
The Reverend David O. Maddox II
David subsequently received a letter from Bishop Davenport, dated May 17, 2021, indicating that “your name is to be removed from the roster of Ministers of Word and Sacrament, effective December 31, 2020.” Oddly, his ordination officially ended before he decided to end it, perhaps to create some sort of official clarity and administrative order for the ELCA bookkeeping records. This must have stung. And a word of gratitude for David’s faithful service to Jesus Christ as an ordained minister might have been appropriate and affirming. Perhaps there are ELCA guidelines for these “removal letters” that intentionally don’t include this.
Since learning of David’s decision, Pastors Gwen and Neil have been flooded with so many memories and emotions related to that journey of David that became “bittersweet” for him [and not just after he was ordained… we know the story well of how he was “‘buked and scorned ” almost from his very first days in our Synod’s candidacy process… so that Pastor Neil apologized to David on his ordination day on behalf of missteps by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod]. We have many tears and also some anger about all that has happened. We feel the need and the desire for some sort of “follow-up”, in part to perhaps set the record straight about David, in part to help prevent this from happening to others, particularly Black men and women who sense a call to professional vocation, including ordained ministry, within our ELCA denomination. In truth, the pandemic of systemic racism even affects the church. Go back to the New Testament and see its early infection there, long before there was an ELCA..
With both regrets and support, Pastors Gwen and Neil understand Pastor David’s decision. Our love for him and our appreciation for his faith and faithfulness continue. David has a pastor’s heart and giftedness, and we pray that the journey ahead will include possibilities and opportunities to go and say and do. The company known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America just lost a good and dedicated employee. We believe that the Employer, the Almighty One who gave him the breath of life and the grace of new life and the peace and power of the Holy Spirit, will whisper and nudge, will shout and shove, will burn and blow, will push and pull him into new witness and service to Jesus Christ. God’s not finished with him yet. But now he can exhale, now he can breathe in some fresh Spirit air.
Keep Pastor David and his parents, David and Frances, in your thoughts and prayers! Stay safe, stay sane, stay in the Spirit.
Pentecost calls us to recognize that the Spirit is alive and active not just on a spectacular day in the first century but constantly and always – even now. Like the first disciples, we are not alone, we are not forever abandoned by Jesus, we are not helpless. A Helper has been provided! Trust in the Lord. Be patient. Stay prayerful. Receive that blessing, that truth, and that strength that will make all the difference as you seek to live faithfully and love fervently.
Do SOMETHING GOOD for the sake of Jesus!
Pastor Neil & Pastor Gwen