Posted on 06/17/2008 2:45:18 PM PDT by SmithL
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany could elect its first openly gay Lutheran bishop next month, a move conservatives say would alienate many Christians and open divisions in the Church.
The July 12 election brings to Germany the question of gay clergy and same-sex unions which has caused rifts in several countries and faiths, including the Anglican community.
Horst Gorski, a senior cleric from Hamburg, is standing for the post of bishop of Schleswig in northern Germany against Gerhard Ulrich, a senior cleric from the Schleswig area. The incumbent bishop is retiring in September.
Gorski is a widely respected theologian and he helped set up a centre for gay and lesbian Lutheran pastors.
His open homosexuality angers some Lutheran conservatives who argue his election as bishop would leave many Christians with no spiritual home.
"Many members of the community would have little understanding for a bishop with this kind of lifestyle," Ulrich Ruess, a pastor in the northern city of Hamburg, was quoted as telling Die Welt newspaper.
Others have been quoted as saying Gorski's appointment would damage the standing and weight of the Lutheran Church, founded by German Martin Luther in the 16th century and now one of the largest Protestant denominations.
The election committee is standing by its choice of candidates.
"After careful consultation, we have nominated two experienced provosts as candidates who have excelled in their localities and in the region in a variety of ways," said election committee member Bishop Maria Jepsen, the world's first woman Lutheran bishop.
In an Internet statement, she said the two candidates earned respect with their theological and pastoral work as well as through their strong charisma.
The Lutheran World Federation, which represents nearly 69 million Christians, says it will not get involved as it has no common line on the question of homosexuality.
"This is a pastoral issue that each church individually must deal with," LWF General Secretary Reverend Ishmael Noko told Reuters.
"We have no position on this issue at the moment," he said, adding the body, which has 140 churches in 78 countries, has commissioned a study on marriage, family and sexuality.
Last year the largest U.S. Lutheran body, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), said it would allow homosexual clergy in sexual relationships to serve as pastors.
The 77 million-member Anglican Communion, a global federation of national churches, has been in turmoil over the issue of homosexuality and blessing of gay unions in recent years.
An abomination and open rebellion against God. The gay agenda tops all, and they will force it down everyones throat.
I guess the Lutherans, like the Episcopalians, don’t know how to play chess. They can’t tell a queen from a bishop.
Unbelievable.
This issue will split the Anglican and Lutheran Churches, and I am afraid will speed their decline in membership in the West. Will these two faiths even exist in 50 years?
Unfortunately much of what is left in Germany is like the rest of Europe. A dieing civilization
There are remnants, and some signs of a return to faith, but it is going to be worse before it gets better.
I’m not a religious man but how can a man of God think he is normal or doing Gods work and then preach about Adam and Eve etc
It takes a man and a woman, not Adam and Adam or Eve and Eve no matter how many times they tell themselves they are normal
Surely the church any church can throw these people out, other wise what stops raving homosexuals joining a church etc and the a few years later saying they are into mens arses.
Slightly off topic but it always amazes me how the libs and the queers think that if you stand for what is right and do not accept their perverted view then you have to be religious.’
It shows their ignorance to the matter it really does.
Evil will always prevail when good men and women keep silent, to stop this madness is to fight it, speak up and not give up
this is why we cannot stand idly by and let them push their perverted sick twisted views onto our children or us.
I have told my children from an early age and have spoken out every day to friends , neighbours, work associates etc that they are trying to impose their sick lifestyle onto us.
RE
to be silent is to let them win with their queer agenda
This is not a “conservative” issue. It is one of orthdoxy and faithfulness. It’s a pity they attach political labels to it, but it shows that some people can see only the political.
“Regel Eins...KEINE SCHWULEN!”
>> Germany could elect its first openly gay Lutheran bishop next month, <<
GERMANS could elect the first openly gay Lutheran bishop in their country, next month.
Zheesh, you’d think Angela Merckl was voting.
Seriesly, this could be hugh (tm). Unlike America, Germany has two prominent churches, Lutheran and Catholic. And the German Catholic Church boasts the current the pope.
OTOH:
This is NOT a situation like the ECUSA (TEC). The Lutheran church is not a singular organization. Rather, 23 Lutheran, Uniting and Reformed churches make up Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, or the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). A Lutheran church in one province has scantly more ties to a Lutheran church in another province than to a Reformed church.
But OT3H (On the third hand!):
These 23 churches do not overlap. They each respect each others’ jurisdictions. If you’re a Protestant in Munich, you go to the ELC-Bavaria. There’s no Reformed or Uniting Church to go to.
Largest churches outside the EKD and the Catholic church:
New Apostolic Church (350,000)
Baptist / Union of Protestant Free Churches (85,000)
Pentecostal Free Churches (45,000 adults)
Methodist Church (62,000)
Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church (37,000)
7th Day Adventist (36,000)
That’s less than a million total members, including the churches too small to mention. Notice that Germans call non-denominational and congregational churches Free Churches (”Freikirchlicher”).
(I don’t know German, so I can’t guess what “licher” means. I’m getting most of this from Wikipedia.)
Other religions:
21 million atheist or skeptical (25%).
3.2 million Muslim (3.9%)
1.4 million Orthodox (1.7%)*
200,000 Jews (.25%)
166,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses
140,000 Buddhists
98,000 Hindu
36,000 Mormon
(* Consider that a correction of my previous post; I hadn’t been aware of the Orthodox church in Germany. The largest Orthdox National Churches are Constantinople (450,000), Romanian (300,000), Serbian (250,000), and Russian (150,000))
More than anything, this sad episode illustrates the theological vapidity of state churches.
der Staat: the nation
staatlich: national etc.
You describe the situation of the churches in Germany quite well. However, in the public, the EKD (Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland) is seen as one entity. So, if one Landeskirche makes its move, it is seen as an act of the Protestant Church - though the Landeskirchen vary widely...
Thanks.
(we have lots of “lich”-es hanging off the staat in America, too, but I’m pretty sure that’s spelled differently.)
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