LOS ANGELES — An brazenly transgender cleric from San Francisco, who made historical past final yr with an appointment as a bishop by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has resigned amid allegations of racism after firing the pastor of a predominantly Latino congregation.
The Rev. Megan Rohrer, who makes use of the pronoun “they,” led one of many church’s 65 synods, overseeing almost 200 congregations in Northern California and northern Nevada. They have been elected in Might 2021 to serve a six-year time period as bishop of the Sierra Pacific Synod.
In a letter to the synod Saturday, Rohrer mentioned they have been resigning due to “the fixed misinformation, bullying and harassment” they skilled after the synod voted to take away the pastor of Mision Latina Luterana on Dec. 12, the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a big vacation for congregants of the Stockton, California, church.
Rohrer fired the Rev. Nelson Rabell-Gonzalez after an investigation by the church into verbal harassment and retaliation allegations in opposition to the pastor, all of which he has denied. The synod council voted on Dec. 11 to vacate Rabell-Gonzalez’s name as a mission developer and to terminate his employment after they mentioned he refused to satisfy sure obligatory necessities.
Rohrer was not accessible to talk with The Related Press on Tuesday, saying they have been “attempting to relaxation and be with my household.”
A spokeswoman for the ELCA declined additional remark Tuesday.
After Rabell-Gonzalez’s elimination upset members of the Mision Latina Luterana, the Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, the denomination’s presiding bishop, appointed a three-person “listening panel” in March to evaluate Rohrer’s actions.
That report launched June 1 made a number of suggestions to the ELCA, together with publicly apologizing to the Latino church group for the damage precipitated, planning anti-racism coaching for churchwide employees and leaders, paying a “therapeutic go to” to the group and making a job drive to evaluate the church’s insurance policies and procedures.
Church leaders initiated the method to self-discipline Rohrer on Sunday following their resignation on Saturday. Eaton posted on Twitter that the Convention of Bishops met Sunday, a gathering she mentioned Rohrer “selected to not attend.”
“I shared that I’m initiating the self-discipline course of instantly together with suspension of Bishop Rohrer, based mostly on extra info that has come to gentle.”
She added that the method will take time and that she is going to proceed “to supply updates as acceptable.”
On Twitter, Rohrer questioned the church’s transfer to proceed with the disciplinary course of following their resignation “with out offering any specifics about what I allegedly did.”
“That seems to be in battle with their very own procedures,” Roher mentioned.
Members of the listening panel reported that the Mision Latina Luterana congregation had no thought their pastor was fired on Dec. 12. The congregation comprising principally Mexican immigrants had deliberate an elaborate program that day with mariachi singers, conventional dancers and performances by youngsters, all led by their pastor.
A video, which one of many congregants recorded stay, exhibits distraught congregants voicing their considerations. One girl mentioned in Spanish: “Pastor Nelson has labored rather a lot for this present day to occur. He has accomplished rather a lot for our group. He has fought for our rights.”
Others mentioned the transfer to fireplace him was “unfair” and “racist.” The report mentions different congregants requested if the complaints in opposition to Rabell-Gonzalez have been sexual in nature and have been additional upset when they didn’t get a response from Rohrer or different leaders.
The report additionally mentioned Rohrer threatened a baby and her father with calling the police if they didn’t go away the vestry – a risk that’s seen as racist by the immigrant group. Rohrer wore a bulletproof vest through the service, the report mentioned, as a result of they’d “considerations about their security and well-being.”
Eaton introduced in a Might 27 report back to the church that she had requested Rohrer’s resignation from the synod.
“There are problems with damaged belief in any respect ranges, from particular person members and communities to the broader church, which is able to want work to restore,” she mentioned in that report.
She mentioned she intends to behave on and discover a number of of the listening group’s suggestions significantly the necessity for anti-racism and cultural sensitivity coaching.
The church’s Latino Ministries Affiliation had sturdy phrases for Eaton in a Might 28 assertion criticizing her for not bringing disciplinary expenses in opposition to the bishop for “racist actions” in opposition to the congregation.
The affiliation’s leaders referred to as Eaton’s assertion “weak and compassionless” and framed racist actions as “unwise selections” and “unlucky occasions.” Additionally they mentioned her message ignored the struggling of a whole group and gave “a white aggressor the chance to resolve their very own destiny – a choice deeply rooted in white supremacy and systemic racism.”
In a earlier assertion, the synod council mentioned it determined to terminate Rabell-Gonzalez’s employment after “continuous communications of verbal harassment and retaliatory actions from greater than a dozen victims from 2019 to the current.” However church officers haven’t particularly said what the pastor’s transgressions have been.
Rabell-Gonzalez was one of many candidates within the election for bishop. After Rohrer’s appointment, church officers recognized obligatory steps for Rabell-Gonzalez to take, which officers mentioned he refused to adjust to, on Dec. 9. The council’s motion to vacate his name got here two days later.
The choice to vacate the pastor’s name additionally reduce off funding for the congregation, the report mentioned, leaving the group with out a pastor or a church constructing.
Rabell-Gonzalez, who spoke to the AP from his native Puerto Rico on Tuesday, mentioned he’s persevering with to steer the congregation beneath a brand new title, Iglesia Luterana Santa Maria Peregrina, on the First Congregational Church in Stockton.
Rabell-Gonzalez mentioned he by no means declined to comply with the synod’s suggestions, and easily needs the chance to make his case.
“I’ve been taken off the roster with out due course of, with none disciplinary listening to and with out being accused of something,” he mentioned.
Rohrer will now have the chance to mount a protection as a part of a disciplinary course of – a possibility Rabell-Gonzalez says he has been denied. He additionally mentioned he didn’t refuse the synod’s mandate to see a therapist. When Rohrer turned bishop, Rabell-Gonzalez mentioned he anticipated to get an ally.
“I obtained an oppressor as a substitute,” he mentioned.
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