wfn.org | Lutherans retain ban on gay clergy, ask for more study

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #6794 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Note #6788 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

14-August-2001
01273

Lutherans retain ban on gay clergy, ask for more study

by Kevin Eckstrom
Religion News Service

INDIANAPOLIS - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted Aug. 13 not
to overturn a ban on noncelibate gay clergy, opting instead to launch a
churchwide study on homosexuality and craft a timeline for a final decision
on the issue.

	The decision to keep the policy sparked nonviolent protests, resulting in
50 arrests. Opponents promised to continue to openly challenge the ban by
irregularly ordaining gay pastors.

	Delegates voted 596-409 to direct the church to "create a specific plan and
timeline" on how to finally decide whether noncelibate homosexuals should be
ordained. The vote reflected an ongoing reluctance by the nation's
fifth-largest Protestant church to make wholesale changes on gay policy
until there is a more visible consensus between progressives and
conservatives.

	The vote leaves intact an 11-year-old church policy that says, "Ordained
ministers who are homosexual in their self?understanding are expected to
abstain from homosexual sexual relationships."

	Bishop Donald J. McCoid of Pittsburgh, chairman of the ELCA's Conference of
Bishops, said the decision was an acceptable compromise that does not
presuppose any kind of outcome or final decision.

	"We need to get beyond the immediacy and emotionalism of the moment," said
McCoid, who added that the church is not united enough to have made a more
definitive stance.

	Before they approved the creation of a timeline, delegates rejected
language that would have directed church leaders to take "whatever steps are
necessary" to remove the ban. Some delegates said it would be premature to
change the policy before discussions had even started.

	In a separate action, delegates voted 899-115 to approve a "churchwide
study on homosexuality" to study such issues as ordination and blessing
same-sex unions. A final report and "action steps" will be issued at the
ELCA's 2005 meeting.

	Some delegates said the church should look to Jesus, not society or
science, for guidance. "He said nothing about different sexual orientations
not being accepted into the church," said lay member Y.T. Chiu Jr. of the
Northeastern Ohio Synod. "What would Jesus do? He showed us acceptance again
and again."

	Others said the church simply isn't ready to welcome gays in the pulpit.
Kevin Boatright, board chairman of the ELCA's Division for Ministry, said
the current policy "remains a good and useful middle ground for this church
at this time. It is a practical, pragmatic compromise. There is no consensus
yet."

	Throughout the biennial Churchwide Assembly meeting here, members of an
ecumenical pro-gay group, Soulforce, maintained silent vigils outside the
convention center protesting the ban. They were joined by a small but vocal
faction of anti-gay activists led by the Rev. Fred Phelps.

	Nearly 100 protesters gathered in a rally outside the convention center and
50 people blocked a sidewalk and refused to move. Arrestees faced a $100
fine and citation for failure to obey an officer. Soulforce founder Mel
White accused the ELCA of perpetuating "spiritual violence."

	"They could have been prophets, they could have led the way," said White,
who is not a Lutheran. "Studies kill us. They just passed four years of
study, which is four years of suffering and death."

	The move to lift the ban was brought by Anita Hill, a lesbian pastor in St.
Paul, Minn., who was ordained last April in open violation of church rules.
One bishop who presided at that ordination, Paul Egertson of Los Angeles,
resigned his office because of his participation. He and his family were
among those arrested.

	The Rev. Mark Hanson, the St. Paul bishop who put the church that ordained
Hill under public censure for her ordination, was elected as the church's
presiding bishop on Aug. 11. He is widely seen as sympathetic to gays and
lesbians, although he has vowed to uphold policies adopted by the church.

	"We have got to find a way to live together at a time when we do not agree
on this issue," he said.

	Hanson also said he wants to consider the idea of possibly allowing gay
clergy to serve in particular churches in a limited manner. "I want to have
that conversation," he said.

	Among mainline Protestant churches, only the United Church of Christ
officially allows noncelibate gay clergy. In June, the Presbyterian Church
(USA) General Assembly voted to remove its ban on sexually active gay
clergy, but that measure still needs to be approved by a majority of its 174
presbyteries (regional governing bodies).
------------------------------------------
Send your response to this article to pcusa.news@pcusa.org

------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send an 'unsubscribe' request to

pcusanews-request@halak.pcusa.org
.
------------------------------------------
Send your response to this article to pcusa.news@pcusa.org

------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send an 'unsubscribe' request to

pcusanews-request@halak.pcusa.org