Rev. Dr. Megan Rohrer resigned as Bishop. How did we get here? And where do things stand for Rev. Nelson Rabell González and his congregation? This article addresses these questions.
On June 7, 2022, the Synod Council of the ELCA’s Sierra Pacific Synod issued a statement confirming that “Rev. Dr. Megan Rohrer has formally resigned as Bishop of the Sierra Pacific Synod.” This followed on the June 6th announcement by Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton and the Conference of Bishops that they had decided to bring disciplinary charges against Rohrer.
Both of these statements came in the aftermath of what is probably the most emotionally and spiritually traumatizing Synod Assembly in the history of this denomination.
The question of holding Rohrer accountable for their actions against the congregation of Misión Latina Luterana on Dec. 12, 2021, and the months that followed, consumed the June 2-4 Assembly. The resolution asking Rohrer to resign was supported by 57% of the assembly, but not enough to meet the 2/3 requirement. (Also, the resolution contained problematic language maintaining accusations against Rev. Nelson that had not been adjudicated. This created a kind of “Sophie’s Choice” for those who supported Rev. Nelson, but also wanted Rohrer to step down.)
Many people who spoke against Rohrer prefaced their remarks by noting that they had initially celebrated the election of Rohrer as bishop in 2021. As the first trans person elected to this position, the entire ELCA rejoiced and looked forward to their leadership. But that joy has turned to dismay in light of what Rohrer said and did to the Community. This included Rohrer threatening to call the police on a 10-year-old Latina girl and her father who had come to the sacristy to prepare for worship. You can read about that and Rohrer’s many other egregious actions in the Listening Team Report here.
Clergy bravery in the face of intimidation
Many clergy expressed fear when speaking out against Rohrer’s actions. Rohrer has reportedly used tactics of intimidation, bullying, gaslighting, fearmongering, manipulation, and threats of removal from the roster against those who dare challenge them. All of this became symbolized by the use of their insignia on the ballots used to vote for or against their dismissal.
Also, note that a clergy person was attacked and stalked at the assembly by a Rohrer supporter. The pastor was specifically told they were being attacked for speaking out against Rohrer. [Author’s note: This pastor has asked me to extract their information from this article due to ongoing harassment and fear of continued retaliation.]
And now, Rohrer is waging a campaign against synodical leadership including innuendo and accusations of harassment and bullying. Just like they did against Rev. Nelson.
This pattern of behavior was evident in the first and only congregation Rohrer served as a pastor, Grace Lutheran in San Francisco. This behavior is well documented in the court case brought against Rohrer, the documents of which are available here (see the ten documents from June 10, 2018 – March 15, 2021). That congregation was closed by Rohrer when they became bishop. And questions remain about how Rohrer directed the funds from the sale of the church property just last month.
Despite their trepidation and fear of retaliation, these clergy and many others bravely shared their concerns about what Rohrer had done and asked that they resign.
In response, Rohrer claimed time at the microphone and made the bizarre remark that Rev. Nelson had told them (meaning Rohrer) that if he weren’t a pastor, he would be a “serial killer.”
Many people have asked about this, so, with Rev. Nelson’s permission, let me set the record straight. Sometime in early 2021, before Rohrer was elected bishop, the two of them were having a conversation in which they were acknowledging that everyone sins and only by the grace of God could either of them be pastors. Nelson joked, “Yeah, if I weren’t a pastor, I’d probably be a serial killer.” In the same way that there are memes such as, “I knit so I don’t choke people.” Or, “I bake so I don’t kill people.”
So, Rohrer took an off-hand remark, a hyperbole, a joke, and tucked it away.
And for the last six months they have been repeating that remark to partially justify their decision to remove Rev. Nelson from his call.
Right there in front of the whole synod assembly they admitted that this was the reason for the urgency in removing him from his congregation on the Feast Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe. And why Rohrer wore a bulletproof vest in the meeting with Rev. Nelson that morning. And why they wore that bulletproof vest to the worship service.
There are many things I could say about this. But I will let that stand right where it is.
The more damaging remarks from both Rohrer and their supporters were the repeated assertions that there were more than a dozen people who made claims of abuse and harassment against Rev. Nelson over the course of three years.
Not 100% Puerto Rican?
But thus far, the only person who has made a public accusation is the same person who, in the Synod Assembly, declared that she was 100% Puerto Rican, and that Rev. Nelson is not (because he is Afro-Puerto Rican). This is a racist remark about the purity of Rev. Nelson’s ethnicity. (Note that he was born and raised in Puerto Rico.) And this should be taken into consideration when listening to the accusations made against Rev. Nelson.
Those racist remarks aside, however, the accusations against Rev. Nelson still stand and have now been perpetuated by a story in the Washington Post. The story (originally in Religious News Service) included the talking points of the Synod statement about Rev. Nelson’s alleged “continual communications of verbal harassment and retaliatory actions from more than a dozen victims from 2019 to the present.”
But now Rohrer is no longer bishop.
And there are people who know the truth about this list of accusers. The right and just thing now is for those people to come forward and tell the truth about what they’ve seen and what they know. Rohrer can no longer threaten their jobs or their positions in the church.
So it’s time to come clean and tell the truth.
There are also people who know that Rev. Nelson repeatedly asked Rohrer to talk with the Latina women in his congregation about the harassment they endured from a white male at their former congregation, St. Paul Lutheran in Lodi. But Rohrer never did. The right and just thing now is for those people to come forward and tell the truth about what they’ve seen and what they know. Again, Rohrer can no longer threaten their jobs or their positions in the church. So it’s time to come clean and tell the truth.
The truth is that instead of listening to the Latina women in Rev. Nelson’s congregation, Rohrer kept up the drumbeat of “listening to the victims” of Rev. Nelson’s alleged abuse.
That narrative fed a steady stream of lies about Rev. Nelson perpetuated by Rohrer’s mouthpieces on Facebook and Twitter. Those lies were on full display at the Synod Assembly where Rohrer’s supporters repeatedly attacked and disparaged Rev. Nelson’s reputation. (You can watch the entire discussion on Youtube here, minute mark 3:06:12-4:59:48.)
Not only was Rev. Nelson not there to defend himself, but no one – not one person – stood at a microphone and said, “Wait a minute. This isn’t right. It isn’t fair to attack a person who is not present and has no opportunity to rebut these statements.”
Not even Presiding Bishop Eaton would stop the attacks against Rev. Nelson.
Bishop Eaton, who was present for the assembly, had specifically instructed the Listening Team not to revisit the decisions that led up to firing him on the Feast Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe. And the discussion at the Synod Assembly was supposed to be about Rohrer’s actions on that day and the days and months that followed. But did Bishop Eaton shut down those attacks against Rev. Nelson and redirect the Assembly to the business at hand? No.
Blame “the media”
Instead, Bishop Eaton spoke against those of us who have used our platforms to bring attention to the injustices committed against Rev. Nelson and the people of Misión Latina Luterana. This is like Republicans going after the “leaker” of the brief intending to overturn Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court instead of focusing on the content of the brief (an attack against women’s rights). In a similar fashion, Bishop Eaton has expressed frustration with those who are yelling, “Fire!” instead of attending to the fire of injustice itself.
Here’s the thing. If the video of that worship service had not been released (start at minute mark 32:50 to see the start of the protest), if the blog posts had not been written, if the Facebook and Twitter discussions had not ensued, all of this would have been swept under the rug as “unfortunate events,” to use Bishop’s Eaton’s precise words. Only through the heroic efforts of the people of Misión Latina Luterana to stand up for their dignity and their worth in the eyes of God would anyone ever know about what happened.
Exercising restraint
I can tell you that as early as last June during the Synod Assembly when he was forced to defend the hazy allegations against him, I had told Rev. Nelson that I was willing to write about his plight on my blog. (You can watch Rev. Rabell-González’s 5-minute speech here at minute mark 1:16:28.) I’ve known him for more than twenty years since we were students together at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (now United Lutheran Seminary). He had been telling me about what was happening to him at St. Paul ever since January 2021. But he consistently declined my offer to write about his situation because he trusted that his bishops would do the right thing and initiate the disciplinary process so that the truth would be revealed.
When that did not happen, and he was told that all he had to do was to see a counselor and the issue would be resolved, he trusted Rohrer when they told him that the request for him to seek counseling was not punitive. Then Rohrer committed an ethical violation by contacting his counselor in an email to say that Rev. Nelson “lacked integrity” for speaking publicly about the NDA that St. Paul wanted him to sign. Even still, Rev. Nelson did not want me to write anything about his situation.
Seeking help from Bishop Eaton, but refused
When Rev. Nelson’s lawyer wrote to Bishop Eaton on his behalf in November 2021 to inform her about what was happening – including Rohrer’s past history of abuse and violations at Grace Lutheran – he trusted her to do the right thing. They even had a conversation where he reiterated his points in the letter about the harassment of the Latina women in his congregation, asking her to intervene. But instead of helping, Eaton refused. The attorney for the ELCA stated that because Rohrer was not an employee of Bishop Eaton, she could not get involved. Even then, Rev. Nelson did not want me to write about what was happening to him.
The hammer dropped
When Rohrer met with Rev. Nelson on the morning of the Feast Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe and told him he was being fired from his position as mission developer, he shared the news with me right away. I repeated my request to let me write a piece about what Rohrer had done. But no, Rev. Nelson still thought that there could be some positive resolution to the situation.
Then Rohrer took over the worship services of Misión Latina Luterana.
Rev. Nelson called to tell me that the congregation had walked out in protest against Rohrer for disappearing their pastor, telling them to wait to find out why, and refusing to answer their questions. Rev. Nelson was not present at that service. He had no idea what was happening until his parishioners began calling and texting him as they were marching down the street with the statue of the Virgin, the cross, and the flowers. They had no idea where they were going. But they were not going to endure yet one more white colonizer’s domination of them, especially in their own worship service.
“Now. Now, you must write about this, Leah.”
Only after his congregation was attacked did Rev. Nelson want me to write. And so I did. (You can read the first post here.) I’ve tried to tell their story, guided by what members of the congregation have told me, and what Rev. Nelson has explained to me about their culture, their language, their suffering, and – most importantly – their faith.
And as I’ve continued advocating for Rev. Nelson and his congregation, I’ve learned more about the deeply-ingrained institutional racism within the ELCA, the whitest denomination (97%) among mainline Protestantism in America. This leads to a double standard in the way clergy and congregations are treated by denominational leadership (which I wrote about here.)
We must point out that even now, Rohrer – a white (former) bishop – is getting due process with the ELCA’s disciplinary procedure. This is the due process that Rev. Nelson – a pastor of color – still has been denied.
I’ve also come to understand that there are governance structures that are built into the ELCA that enable the kind of abuses of power that we’ve seen in the Sierra Pacific Synod. I call it the Corporate Captivity of the ELCA, which I wrote about here.
So, while we are relieved that Rohrer is finally removed from the position of bishop, we are still waiting for justice.
Unless Rohrer also resigns from the roster of Word and Sacrament ministry, the Conference of Bishops must continue in the disciplinary process.
Also, I believe that Bishop Eaton must recuse herself because she has been involved in this case since the fall of 2021. Thus, there would be an undeniable conflict of interest for her to have a role in the adjudication process. In fact, Rohrer themself alleged that they were acting under Bishop Eaton’s orders when firing Rev. Nelson. If this is true, she is implicated in this case and must stand down.
Will Rev. Nelson be restored to the roster?
We don’t know. But even if he is allowed to reenter the ELCA, Rev. Nelson has told me that he will refuse to do so until a full investigation is conducted where evidence from all parties can be fairly adjudicated and the truth revealed. That process must happen with full transparency – while protecting the identity of anyone who comes forward with accusations. And there must be full accountability for anyone who has not told the truth or engaged in any kind of misconduct. This includes Rev. Nelson, if, indeed, any misconduct can be proven with evidence in a fair and independent adjudication process.
Will Rev. Nelson’s congregation return to the ELCA?
They are hopeful. The congregation reincorporated as the first independent Latiné Lutheran Church in California as Iglesia Luterana Santa María Peregrina and is nesting in a UCC church for the time being. Remember that the ELCA removed their pastor. And their funding as a mission start. And their trust in the denomination.
Yet they love Lutheranism and are proud of their theological heritage. They are also a generous and forgiving people. So there might be a chance for reconciliation.
But they have been clear with me that there can be no reconciliation without the process of investigating and then restoring Rev. Nelson to the roster. Full transparency, accountability, restoration, restitution, and reparations are necessary for reconciliation to begin.
Who will we choose to be?
We are Lutheran people who believe that the power of God is revealed in the place where the world is convinced God can never be – in the crucified body of Jesus.
We are a people who believe in the Resurrection – the divine power of life triumphing over evil and death.
And we are a Pentecost people who believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to breathe new life across broken and scattered people traumatized by systemic evil.
The prayer of the people of Santa María and the prayer of Rev. Nelson, is that the whole church believes in and acts according to this divine power as well.
Read also:
Part Two: ELCA Fires Whistleblower, Rev. Nelson Rabell-González
Part Five: Why the ELCA Needs to Investigate the Case of Rev. Nelson Rabell-González
Part Nine: Sierra Pacific Synod Attacks Rev. Nelson – and Indicts Itself
For a complete compilation of all documents, blogs, commentaries, and posts from all parties about the situation in the Sierra Pacific Synod, visit this website created by Shruti Kulkarni: https://whathappenedinthesps.weebly.com/. This website compiles communications relating to the controversy for accountability, clarification, and ease of access.
The Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade is ordained in the ELCA. She does not speak for the ELCA; her opinions are her own. She is the author of Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019) and Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit (Chalice Press, 2015). She is the co-editor of Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019). Her latest book, co-written with Jerry Sumney is Apocalypse When?: A Guide to Interpreting and Preaching Apocalyptic Texts (Wipf & Stock, 2020).
Twitter: @LeahSchade
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeahDSchade/
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