Rev. Lauren D. Ekdahl This is Me

Education

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1. 1. Lincoln Journal Star

   www.journalstar.com/articles/2 - [Cached]

   Published on: 2/28/2004   Last Visited: 2/28/2004

   In 1969 Lauren Ekdahl was a student pastor at the United Methodist Church in the small town of Douglas.
   ...
   "Her pastor happened to be someone she felt could benefit from that experience," Ekdahl said.
   
   And benefit he did.
   
   "It was a consciousness-raising experience," he said.
   ...
   That concern grew stronger over the years as Ekdahl advanced in his ministerial career, including serving as senior pastor at Lincoln's Trinity United Methodist Church since1991.
   
   On Friday Ekdahl will receive the Erasmus Correll award from the Lincoln-Lancaster Women's Commission for his long history of advocacy and support of women's issues at the local, state and denominational level.
   
   When he first became a pastor, Ekdahl said, the country was in the midst of a debate about the Equal Rights Amendment.He championed the cause of equity and fair treatment of all people, regardless of gender, and wrote many letters to members of Congress and other leaders in support of equal rights.
   
   "I had a vested interest," he said."I had my wife and three daughters in my household.I thought about the inequities my daughters would experience.I knew they were bright, independent women and they needed that opportunity."
   
   Ekdahl became sensitive to "exclusive language," especially in the church, that used masculine terms to refer to nearly everything divine.He also became an advocate for leadership roles for women in the church.
   
   When he became a student pastor in 1967, there were only a handful of women pastors in the denomination.Now 50 percent of the students at St. Paul School of Theology, where Ekdahl got his degree, are women, and many United Methodist churches across the state and nation are led by women.
   
   In 1992, he taught a class entitled "Churches in Solidarity With Women" as part of the Schools of Christian Mission sponsored by the Nebraska Annual Conference of the UMC.
   
   Over the years, he has spoken out - both from the pulpit and in other forums - in support of laws and policies supportive of women.He has spoken to the state Legislature on many bills promoting reproductive health and reproductive choice.He established a sexuality education program for parents and youth at his church, has served on the board of Planned Parenthood-Lincoln and currently is a member of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.
   
   "Whenever there's a bill that would limit a woman's right to make her own moral choices, I tend to provide testimony," he said.
   
   That strong stance on the pro-choice side has brought him some criticism, but he said most of the comments he gets from the public and from members of his church are supportive.
   
   Ekdahl has"always felt called to be involved in social action issues," said the Rev. Patsy Moore, a member of Trinity and former director of the Women's Institute of Theology at Nebraska Wesleyan University."He has been very supportive of having an inclusive church," with leadership positions open to all, regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation, she said.
   
   "It's courageous for a man" to champion rights of women, she added."He stands out where other men fear to go."
   
   Ekdahl has also been an outspoken opponent of both gambling and the death penalty, two other issues that deal with fairness and equality, he said.The uneven penalties given by the courts in capital cases and the unfair effect of gambling on families are two key issues for him."Gambling causes an increase in domestic violence and all kinds of family (problems) affecting both men and women," he said.
   
   He recently spoke in support of a proposed city ordinance requiring employers with city contracts to pay a living wage.Economic disparities are especially hard on women and children, he said.
   
   He frequently gives emergency assistance in the form of $15 food or gas vouchers to people in crisis."The vast majority of those are women who have been abandoned by their men," he said.
   
   Ekdahl's wife, Shirley, is a former high school teacher, and their three daughters are married and have careers."They're self-assertive young women.They know who they are and they celebrate that," he said.
   
   The Ekdahls have three grandsons, two granddaughters, one great granddaughter and a step granddaughter.
   
   "Rev. Ekdahl first demonstrated his support for women and their issues nearly 35 years ago, a time when few men had the courage to publicly advocate equality for women," said Bonnie Coffey, director of the Lincoln-Lancaster Women's Commission.
   ...
   Besides Ekdahl, others being honored by the commission are: Gerise Herndon, director of women's studies at Nebraska Wesleyan University, winner of the Alice Paul award; Sara Mason, a senior at Lincoln High School, winner of the Young Feminist award; and Judith K. Hart, executive director of the Angels Theatre Company, winner of the Woman Artist in Performing Arts award.

2. 2. Life Insight 2001 Pt 1

   www.nebcathcon.org/life_insigh - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/5/2001   Last Visited: 5/16/2008

   Rev. Lauren Ekdahl, a Methodist minister and board member of Planned Parenthood of Lincoln routinely resorts to such attacks when discussing issues related to the beginning of human life and concomitant human rights.His most recent deposit of intellectual and moral nonsense was featured as a guest editorial in the March 31, 2001 edition of the Lincoln Journal-Star.
   
   In his article, Rev. Ekdahl defines the debate about fetal tissue and embryonic stem cell research as one between "the progressive spirit of scientific discovery [and] the conservative, fearful and controlling spirit of dogmatic religious tradition."He goes on to say that "[r]ather than viewing scientific discovery as a gift from God to be used for the benefit of humanity, it is seen as a threat to the authority they use to exercise control over their adherents and others."
   
   For those who don't know Rev. Ekdahl or his writing, "dogmatic religious tradition" is his code word for the Catholic Church.And so Rev. Ekdahl apparently thinks that the only (or primary) reason the Catholic Church opposes the use of tissue from induced abortions or embryonic stem cells is because she believes that "scientific discovery" is a "threat to the authority [she] use[s] to exercise control over [her] adherents and others."This ad hominem attack against the Church is nothing short of unmitigated and bigoted nonsense.Predictably, Rev. Ekdahl provides NO substance to back up this attack.
   
   Rev. Ekdahl says that those who want to prohibit the use of tissue from induced abortions are attacking "religious and academic freedom in an attempt to wrest decision-making away from the democratic principles of our republic.It would replace those principles with a dogmatic and sectarian position claiming universal knowledge that disregards the dissent of the other equally legitimate religious traditions in our society."Once again, Rev. Ekdahl levels baseless charges against opponents of using aborted fetal tissue without as much as an explanation of the charge.
   
   First, those of us who want to prohibit the use of fetal tissue from induced abortions cannot "wrest decision-making away from the democratic principles of our republic" short of overtaking the government.What we are doing is utilizing the legislative process to try to get our view on this issue enacted into law.That is precisely how the democratic process is supposed to work.What part of this process doesn't Rev. Ekdahl understand?Ironically, the only abortion-related act that supplanted the legislative process was the U.S. Supreme Court's edict of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton which even some pro-abortion legal scholars say was undemocratic judicial activism.
   
   Second, there is nothing sectarian about the proposition that our public institutions shouldn't collaborate with the intentional destruction of prenatal human beings.Rev. Ekdahl's assertion is based upon false notion that one's view of the moral status of prenatal human beings can only be based upon sectarian doctrine.
   ...
   Rev. Ekdahl believes that some human beings (those prior to birth) should not be included in the family of personhood.

3. 3. Life Advocate Magazine In The Nation -- November shooter strikes again in Canada -- January/February 1998 Issue

   www.lifeadvocate.org/11_98/nat - [Cached]

   Published on: 6/12/2006   Last Visited: 6/12/2008

   Lauren Ekdahl, pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church and leader of the demonstration, noted that freedom of religion is mentioned before freedom of speech in the Bill of Rights."How is it we deal with each other in the midst of theological differences?"he asked.