wfn.org | ELCA Council Asks for Data on Possible Study on Gay Ordination

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 16, 1999

ELCA COUNCIL ASKS FOR DATA ON POSSIBLE STUDY ON GAY ORDINATION
99-289-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) asked the ELCA Department for Research and
Evaluation to prepare a "feasibility report" regarding a possible study
on the ordination of non-celibate gay and lesbian people.  The
feasibility report, to be brought to the council at its April 2000
meeting, will include possible budget implications and time frames for
such a study, the council determined.
     The council met here Nov. 12-14.  It functions as the ELCA's board
of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church
between churchwide assemblies.  Assemblies are held every other year;
the next is Aug. 8-14, 2001, in Indianapolis.
     The council's action is in response to a motion considered by the
1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly which resulted in the assembly's Reference
and Counsel Committee referring the matter to the Church Council, asking
that the council determine whether to initiate the study based on the
department's evaluation.
      The referred resolution called for a "full study" to be
undertaken with the guidance of the ELCA Division for Ministry,
Department for Synodical Relations and the Conference of Bishops.   The
resolution was proposed by Bruce H. Davidson, an assembly voting member
from the ELCA New Jersey Synod.  It asked for strategies "that might
allow for the ordination of non-celibate gay and lesbian people."
     Presently, non-celibate gay and lesbian people are precluded from
the ordained ministry in the ELCA.
     Kenneth W. Inskeep, director of the ELCA Department for Research
and Evaluation, told the council the costs of a study regarding the
ordination of non-celibate gay and lesbian people would vary depending
on the type and degrees of study the council wants to do.
     "It's going to have costs," Inskeep said. "The question for us is
what's adequate to gather this information."
     Some council members expressed concern that the council's action
to call for a feasibility report regarding a possible study might be
misunderstood as authorization for such a study.
     If the council chooses to approve a study, it would be one piece
of data the council could use to confront the entire question of
possibly ordaining non-celibate gay and lesbian people, said the Rev.
Robert L. Dasher, council member, Columbia, S.C.
     The council's action to seek a feasibility report would show the
church is "moving forward cautiously," said the Rev. Karen L. Soli,
council member, Virginia, Minn.  The action is a "measured" approach
allowing time for study, she added.
      This year the ELCA has completed study materials related to the
subject.  A hospitality study, "Congregational Ministry with Gay and
Lesbian People," was completed under the direction of the ELCA Division
for Outreach.  It was provided to congregations with which the division
works and as information to the 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Denver,
and it is being made available to people on request, said the Rev.
Richard A. Magnus, executive director, Division for Outreach, in remarks
to the council.
     This summer a print and videotape resource, "Talking Together as
Christians about Homosexuality," was made available by the ELCA Division
for Church in Society through Augsburg Fortress Publishers in
Minneapolis.  Some 2,000 sets have been distributed and there are back
orders for several more, the Rev. Charles S. Miller, executive director,
Division for Church in Society, told the council.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html