Lutheran (ELCA) Ping!
May Christ, the Son of the living God, be manifest in you!
Be sure also to read:
WordAlone Network responds to ELCA human sexuality proposals
Lutheran CORE leaders urge rejection of ELCA task force recommendations
Posted on 02/21/2009 10:38:18 AM PST by Zender500
The long-awaited position on ordaining gay clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America isn't a clear yes or no.
An ELCA task force admitted Thursday that it could not reach a consensus on the issue that has polarized its members for years. But with the matter expected to dominate this summer's national convention in Minneapolis, its position paper offers this suggested solution:
The ELCA will allow the ordination of gay pastors but will leave it up to individual congregations and synods whether to ordain or appoint pastors. The term used to describe this compromise is "structured flexibility."
While acknowledging that such an intentionally vague policy probably won't play well with "the bumper sticker crowd," the bishop of the St. Paul Area Synod, the Rev. Peter Rogness, said it reflects the ELCA's practice of trying to match ministers to congregations. He compared it to a rural congregation feeling that it would rather call a minister with a rural background, for instance.
"The Lutheran Church has never imposed anything on anyone," he said. "We never have, and we never will."
Leaders of Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Reform), a group that describes its mission as seeking "to preserve the authority of the Bible in the ELCA," quickly announced that it will work to defeat the proposal at the convention.
The Rev. Scott Grorud, pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Hutchinson and a member of the organization's steering committee, said the focus on trying to reach a consensus was misdirected.
"The history of Christianity is not based on trying to reach a consensus; it's based on distinguishing right from wrong," he said. Consensus-building is used for deciding things like "what color carpet to get. This is a recipe for disaster."
He pointed to a similar rift that threatens to split the Episcopal Church
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Worst.Comparison.Ever.
This, perhaps, is why the institutional churches are having their lampstands removed.
The commies seem to have learned a valuable lesson. All it takes is a few well-placed individuals to gain effective control over an institution. They’ve changed tactics since Marx’s days.
The ELCA stance on promoting homosexuality is not nearly as disturbing as their pro-abortion stance. A False Church,IMHO.
More honest comparison: "He [Rogness] compared it to the ELCA's current practice of picking and choosing which portions of the Bible the ELCA deigns to take seriously and which portions it's hastening to jettison, all in the hell-bent pursuit of earning praise from the world."
May Christ, the Son of the living God, be manifest in you!
Be sure also to read:
WordAlone Network responds to ELCA human sexuality proposals
Lutheran CORE leaders urge rejection of ELCA task force recommendations
Chicken shit heathens will pay for bucking Gods word.
Scripture being at the top of the list, evidently. Rampant leftism is why I left the ELCA and this quote just proves why.
They also know for them to come right out and state it will tick off a certain segment of those gullibles sitting in the pews. They carefully craft language to avoid taking a stand in hopes no one will notice enough to know they're being led down the primrose path right to hell.
No doubt too, as happened with women elders in the mainline Presbyterian (PCUSA) denomination, the “local option” on sodomist ordination will last only as long as they don’t have a SUBSTANTIAL majority in the ELCA denomination.
Then, it will be deemed utterly bigoted and discriminatory NOT to ordain active sexual perverts (homosexuals)—and this will be forced on all church congregations.
People are so afraid of looking bigoted, they're cowed into accept almost anything. We want to be inclusive, don't you see?
"If you are neither hot nor cold I will spit you out of my mouth." -- The Great I Am
The elca has been getting smaller since the day it was birthed. Spat out, one might say.
I have many family members still there. They don't like it one bit but keep hoping they can lead their churches away from the ELCA or some just ignore the unpleasantness.
I have given up trying to educate them. I found out without anyone telling me. Let them wake up on their own. They don't want to be bombarded with the truth. They know the truth but can't bring themselves to do anything about it.
You are right. As soon as they can, they will proclaim that “the debate is over” and demand all congregations be gay affirming or whatever they call it. Pastors will be told not to teach the law at all and to preach license instead of grace.
It has been over ever since they agreed to link up with the Episcopalian Church, better known as “The Gay Church.”
I predict a formal merger and the resulting denomination will be known as the Lutherpiss Church.
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