Thrivent Vote at the Synod Assembly

Today the Grand Forks Herald reported on the front page that the NW MN Synod assembly voted to advise Thrivent Financial for Lutherans to end its "neutrality policy" for Thrivent Choice dollars.  On Friday the bishop, as chair of the assembly, declared the resolution failed with a vote of 177 yes, 165 no, 51 abstentions with the abstentions effectively being "no" votes.  But on Saturday he reversed himself on the recommendation of the parlimintarian because the abstentions should not have counted either way.  So the assembly was closely divided on the issue.  As a voting member of the assembly I voted "no" because this is an issue that should be addressed at a Thrivent meeting and not at a synod assembly.  The synod has no business getting into this issue.  Secondly, Thrivent is right to try to avoid entanglement in contentious political and cultural issues that have divided Lutherans far too many times.  Like many others, I am tired of the wrangling over policy that some seem to enjoy and encourage.  For that reason, if this issue ever came up at a Thrivent meeting, as a member of Thrivent I would encourage the continuation of the "neutrality policy."   The church needs a united witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  If the church could discuss the limits or definitions of "the law" with civility and decorum, then none of this would come about.  But the bitter recriminations and disaffiliations that followed the 2009 churchwide assembly vote on equal rights for all its members shows clearly that some parts of the church continue to argue with one another while the witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ is compromised.  Let us hope that Thrivent ignores the advice of a slight majority of the 2014 NW MN Synod assembly.  The divisive debates in the church do not need to bleed over into the operation of Thrivent Financial.