More Light Presbyterians

Lutheran Churchwide Assembly votes to support clergy in same-sex relationships

Posted Saturday, August 22 2009 @ 08:49 AM by Michael Adee

The National Board & Staff of More Light Presbyterians rejoice with our sisters and brothers within Lutherans Concerned North America as the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly voted today in Minneapolis to support clergy in same-sex relationships.
 
"We give thanks to God for this affirmation of clergy in same-sex relationships within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.  This vote inspires me to continue the dialogue within the Presbyterian Church (USA)," said Rev. Janet Edwards, Co-Moderator, More Light Presbyterians.
 
Lutherans Concerned North America, a sister organization to More Light Presbyterians, is in a collaborative partnership called Good Soil: Where Justice Takes Root that works for the full participation for persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities within the ELCA.

Michael Adee, Executive Director & Field Organizer, MLP said, "As More Light Presbyterians, we are grateful for the moral and spiritual leadership demonstrated by the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in today's historic vote.  Surely this will inspire and encourage the Presbyterian Church (USA) to do the same by recognizing the faith, integrity and call to ministry of its own LGBT daughters and sons." 
 
The report from Reuters' new service follows this good news from the ELCA's Churchwide Assembly.  For more news and reflections on this vote and other LGBT initiatives, you can go to www.lcna.org and www.goodsoil.org
 
"The Evangelical Lutheran Church's decision and witness today is clearly part of living out the extravagant welcome and God's love for all persons, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or any other human difference.  This is a day to rejoice and give thanks," said Vikki Dearing, Co-Moderator, MLP.
 
with hope and grace,
Michael
 
Michael J. Adee, M.Div., Ph.D., Executive Director & Field Organizer
More Light Presbyterians, 369 Montezuma Avenue # 447, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 USA (505) 820-7082, michaeladee@aol.com, www.mlp.org
 
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God's Whole Family!
 
PS -- Don't miss the Pro-LGBT Event of the year ... you still have time to register and join us for "God's Whole Family!" September 4 - 6, The National Welcoming & Affirming Presbyterian Conference, hosted by Second Presbyterian Church, Nashville, TN and produced by MLP.  For more information and to register go to www.mlp.org
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U.S. Lutheran branch loosens gay clergy policy
Reuters

Fri Aug 21, 2009 6:40pm EDT
By Ed Stoddard
 
DALLAS (Reuters) - The largest American Lutheran denomination cleared the way on Friday to allow gays and lesbians in committed relationships to serve in ministry, ending a policy that had opened leadership posts to them only if they remained celibate.
 
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America also encouraged its congregations to find ways to support or recognize members in "accountable lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships."
 
But it did not give official sanction to gay marriage or approve any rites for such ceremonies.
 
Still, the stance taken by the 4.6-million-member church is one of the most liberal by any U.S. denomination on matters of sexual orientation, which are among the most divisive political and religious issues in America today.
 
The church adopted the resolution at its biennial meeting in Minneapolis.
 
"It is about people in committed, same-gender relationships," said John Brooks, the director of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's news service and a spokesman for the church.
 
Previously gays and lesbians had been barred from service unless they stayed celibate.
 
The resolution, approved by a vote of 559 to 441, said the church was committed to finding ways to allow people in "accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as rostered leaders of this church."
 
The measure applies to clergy as well as professional lay leaders.
 
The assembly still has to approve procedural changes to allow the resolution to go forward. Brooks said he expected the new policy to be in place by 2010.
 
WIDER DEBATE
 
The move follows the lifting last month of a de facto ban by the U.S. Episcopal Church on the consecration of gay bishops, setting the stage for wider conflict in the global Anglican Communion.
 
The Episcopal Church, which is the U.S. branch of Anglicanism, is also in the process of developing official rites or liturgies to bless same-sex unions.
 
All of this is unfolding against the backdrop of America's wider debate over issues such as gay marriage, child adoption by same-sex parents and the status of homosexuals in the military. Gay marriage has been approved in six U.S. states but it is being challenged in Maine.
 
According to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, the United Church of Christ is alone among major U.S. Christian denominations in officially recognizing gay marriage.
 
Polls consistently show gays enjoying growing acceptance in American society, a fact readily visible in popular culture. But fast-growing faiths in the United States such as many evangelical Protestant churches and the Mormon church regard homosexual relations as sinful and proscribed by scripture.
 
Ballot initiatives to ban gay marriage at the state level have been a regular feature in recent U.S. election cycles and commentators say they have helped boost turnout among the Republican Party's conservative Christian base.
 
(Editing by Xavier Briand)

Ref: http://www.mlp.org/article.php/20090822084909895