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(Harrisburg, PA)…Barry R. Herr, former treasurer of the Lower Susquehanna Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, was sentenced today to serve 30 months in federal prison, two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $799,998 in restitution. Herr, 62, of Lancaster, was arrested on March 13, 2008, and charged with thirty-six (36) counts of Criminal Use of a Communication Facility (electronic transfer of funds) and one (1) count of Theft by Deception in the amount of $1,004,732. Each charge is a felony of the third degree. The charges stem from months of investigation by the synod, the...

ELCA NEWS SERVICE November 7, 2008 Augsburg Fortress Publishers Announces Changes in Business Model 08-186-JB CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Augsburg Fortress, the publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Minneapolis, announced Nov. 7 significant changes in its business operations. The publisher will focus its ministry on its "two most important callings"-- group-use materials for congregations, such as faith formation and worship materials, and textbooks and monographs for higher education, said Beth A. Lewis, Augsburg Fortress president and chief executive officer. Based on a year of analysis of market and business research, a strategic plan for the publisher's new...

Barack Obama continued his campaign tour of battleground Ohio with a stop at a Lima church, where he quietly attended services at a Lutheran church. Obama's presence wasn't acknowledged at the 10 a.m. service on Sunday until the church's pastor, Lars Olson, referred to him as a special guest. Obama is the first Democratic presidential candidate to visit Allen County, a longtime Republican stronghold, in decades. Olson said he was first told of the visit at about 8:30 a.m. Lima police officers received a call at about the same time. After the service, Obama chatted outside with supporters for about...

Lutheran denomination continues to lose members

ELCA NEWS SERVICE August 14, 2008 ELCA Congregations Report 4.7 Million Members in 2007 08-142-FI CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) reported a baptized membership of 4,709,956 in 10,448 congregations in 2007. The ELCA Office of the Secretary analyzed membership and income data obtained from parochial reports that ELCA congregations submit at the end of each year. David D. Swartling, ELCA secretary, said the data indicated a decline in membership of 64,247 and a decrease of 22 congregations from 2006. The membership decline of 1.34 percent in 2007 was less than the 1.58 percent decline of...

ELCA NEWS SERVICE July 31, 2008 ELCA Presiding Bishop Applauds New Global Aids Bill 08-129-JB CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), praised members of the U.S. Congress and U.S. President George W. Bush for their work to complete new global AIDS legislation. He called the legislation "an historic commitment to fighting deadly disease in the world." Hanson made the comments after President Bush signed the bill July 30 -- the 2008 Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act...

Officials of the declining 4.9 million Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have revealed what God’s priorities are in the U.S. presidential campaign. And remarkably, the divine priorities was very akin to the Democratic Party’s priorities, if not further to the left. Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, with three other ELCA officials generously wrote both presidential candidates a public letter with the divine guidance. Although famed Protestant Reformer Martin Luther championed the Bible as God’s exclusive revelation, modern ELCA activists have located more useful counsel in the secular welfare state and environmental agenda. “The Scriptures are clear about God's concern for...

Observe that the Lutherans cite government as “an important catalyst in God’s work.” In fact, their agenda implies that government is virtually God’s only instrument. The Lutherans want government to abolish poverty, prohibit war, cleanse the environment, engineer egalitarian justice globally, and seemingly usher in The Millennium through additional regulation and taxation. If government can achieve so much, who needs God, much less the church?

The Episcopal Church has been at the forefront of baptizing active homosexual lifestyle as God-blessed. Since 1960, that denomination has decreased in membership by 48%. The United Methodist Church has been roiled by those adamant on establishing homosexual lifestyles as Christian legitimate. In the fight for one side or another that denomination has decreased in membership by 25%. The Presbyterian Church (USA) has likewise been embroiled in the tussle. That denomination has decreased in membership by 44%. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has also been riddled with in-house fighting over homosexual lifestyles as anti-God or pro-God. That denomination's membership...

Lutheran Letter to the Candidates July 8, 2008 We write to you representing the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Lutheran Services in America, and Lutheran World Relief. Lutherans have a long history and wide experience with direct ministry and advocacy related to health and human services, relief and development, refugee protection and immigration. Lutheran ministries reach every state in our nation and are present in more than 60 countries, serving millions of the most vulnerable people in America and throughout the world each year. Loving and serving our neighbors -- Lutherans make a difference....

STATEMENT ON THE ANTICHRIST Introduction to the StatementAs Martin Luther grew in his appreciation of the gospel, he also grew in his recognition that the Papacy is the Antichrist. A 1954 WELS pamphlet entitled Antichrist put it this way: “It was because Luther cherished the Gospel so dearly that his faith instinctively recoiled and protested in unmistakable terms when the Pope put himself in the place of Christ and declared His work insufficient and in vain. That is the use to which Luther’s faith put the prophecy of Scripture. For him the tenet that the Pope is the Antichrist was...

ARUSHA, Tanzania (ELCA) -- The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) can help create a global movement to limit or halt environmental degradation, but it must have many partners and large numbers of people to be effective, said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Hanson made the comment at a June 25 news conference following his report to the LWF Council, which is meeting here through June 30. The LWF is a global communion of 140 churches in 78 countries, representing 68.6 million of the...

June 20, 2008 ELCA Bishop Calls for Prayer, Action Concerning Domestic Disasters 08-095-MRC CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), asked the 4.8 million-member church to join him in "prayer and action" for people facing adversity this spring after tornadoes and floods struck the central United States and the humanitarian crisis following an immigration raid in Postville, Iowa. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested about 390 workers May 12 at a meat processing plant in Postville, making the raid the largest at a single location in U.S. history....

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...

ELCA Presiding Bishop, Other Religious Leaders, Meet with Obama 08-087-JB CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was among more than 30 national Christian leaders who met here June 10 with U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. Hanson was invited by Obama's staff to meet privately with the Senator in a meeting in which Darfur, the Iraq war, gay rights, abortion and faith issues were discussed, the Associated Press reported. Hanson said the meeting's purpose seemed to be an effort by Obama "to begin...

A local church conference questions how much the CEO of a social services nonprofit earns. A local congress of Lutherans wants to know why the top executive of a large, church-affiliated social services agency has a compensation package topping $1 million. In 2006, the Rev. Dr. Daun E. McKee, CEO and president of Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries, collected $385,947 in salary, $582,925 in benefits and a $63,591 expense account for a total $1.03 million, according to tax records. McKee's compensation topped all other nonprofit executives in the region, according to the Central Penn Business Journal. Diakon officials defend McKee and...

Joint Statement on Sudan: Presiding Bishops Urge Prayers for Peace, International Action for Stability by The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, The Episcopal Church June 4, 2008 Over the past several weeks, we have watched with great sorrow as the new outbreak of violence in Sudan has threatened the resumption of widespread conflict in a nation just three years removed from decades of civil war. Our sense of foreboding is heightened because the violence has come in and around Abyei, a town whose history, resources, and proximity to the border...

Federal prosecutors are reviewing the case of a Lancaster man accused of stealing more than $1 million from the regional governing body of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, lawyers said. Lower Paxton Township police arrested Barry R. Herr, 61, of the 2100 block of Creek Hill Road in March and accused him of misappropriating $1,004,732 in church money. Herr was charged with 36 felony counts of criminal use of a communication facility and one felony count of theft by deception in a scheme police said dates to at least 1991. Herr was released on $25,000 unsecured bail. Prosecution of...

Comments on the "Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality" by Dr. Hans Schwarz (ELCA Pastor and Professor at the University of Regensburg, Germany) May 5, 2008 [You may also download Comments as a pdf file] "ELCA social statements are theological and teaching documents that assist members in forming judgments on social issues. They offer a framework for moral discernment. They also set policy for this church, guide its advocacy, and aid its life as a public church" (I). This means that a social statement does many things: teach, assist members in forming judgments, set policy, and above all provide a...

he Rev. Steven L. Ullestad, bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Northeastern Iowa Synod, Waverly, and Ralston H. Deffenbaugh Jr., president, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Baltimore, expressed concern about the impact of immigration enforcement raids on children and families in a May 20 statement submitted to the U.S. Congress and entered into the Congressional Record. The statement is in response to the May 12 federal immigration raid at a meat processing plant in Postville, Iowa, where federal agents arrested more than 310 men and 76 women working at the plant. "Adults were immediately separated from their children and...

ELCA NEWS SERVICE May 19, 2008 Michael Burk Elected Bishop of ELCA Southeastern Iowa Synod 08-065-JD* IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The Rev. Michael L. Burk, executive, Worship and Liturgical Resources, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Chicago, was elected May 17 to a six-year term as bishop of the ELCA Southeastern Iowa Synod. He was elected on the fourth ballot for bishop during the synod assembly here May 16-18. On the fourth ballot, Burk received 312 votes to 92 for the Rev. Kurt R. Nordby, assistant to the bishop, ELCA Southeastern Iowa Synod, and director, Illowa Lutheran Coalition, Rock Island,...

A Critique of the "Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality" Prepared by the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality, Church in Society Evangelical Lutheran Church in America by Carl E. Braaten (May 2008) [You may also download the Critique as a pdf file.] I am aware that this social statement is a first draft. The Task Force has asked for suggestions and criticisms that might be helpful in producing an improved and final version. The authors of the document claim that it is based on Lutheran theological foundations. My critique will examine whether this proposed social statement is faithful...

United Methodists declared Monday a "banner day" as they approved a full communion agreement with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The new relationship between the two major Protestant denominations is not a merger but a recognition of each other's ministry and mission. Full communion recognizes that each church has "the one, holy, catholic and apostolic faith" expressed in the Scriptures and confessed in historic creeds and the core teachings of each denomination. The two churches also recognize the authenticity of each other's baptism and eucharist and the full interchangeability of all ordained ministers. "It's not merger," said Bishop Melvin...

Dear sexuality task force, First I must compliment you, the Human Sexuality Task Force of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, on a well-documented and thorough study of the sexuality issue. You have put much work into a very difficult subject, and at the present I’m not sure what more you could do given your stated assignment and the lay of the land. I felt that you tried to be open to all views, but I do have some critical comments that I hope will help bring this topic to light from a different perspective. First I have to comment...

Several U.S. mainline Protestant denominations are about to face their latest showdowns on one of the most vexing issues since slavery: whether to break from biblical morality as traditionally understood to allow clergy with homosexual partners and to sanction blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples. "Mainline" groups (predominantly white, with early American roots, and affiliated with the National Council of Churches) contain vocal, well-organized liberal and evangelical combatants. The resulting dispute "certainly has taken a big toll," says Jack Haberer of Presbyterian Outlook, an independent magazine that airs varied views. "For some, it's the total compromise of all things moral. For...

Divestment: Coming to a Denomination Near You   By Dr. Earl TilfordFrontPageMagazine.com | Thursday, April 03, 2008 For a generation after World War II, particularly given revelations of the Holocaust, most American Protestant denominations embraced a more tolerant attitude toward Jews. Since the 1980s, however, there has been a marked shift, evident in the anti-Israeli positions adopted by more liberal denominations like the United Methodist Church (UMC); the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA); the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA); and the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. (PCUSA).At its April meeting in Fort Worth, the National Conference of...

RIVERSIDE, OH (WIVB) - - Missing since Wednesday, Lyndonville pastor Craig Rhodenizer was found early Friday morning inside a strip club, KC Lounge, in Riverside, Ohio near Dayton. Officer Rhett close spoke with the pastor in the parking lot. Rhett Close, Riverside Police Officer, "He started to become a little bit emotionally stressed at that point. State he didn't know how he got there or why he was even ther." While the pastor may not remember how he got to the club, at least one dancer there claims to remember what he did while he was there. According to the...

A pastor whose disappearance from a small town in upstate New York triggered a search by police and the FBI was found earlier today — inside an Ohio strip club. Police said that when the Rev. Craig S. Rhodenizer, 46, was confronted by an officer, he began crying and said he couldn't remember anything about the 36 hours he was missing. But dancers at the club remembered Rhodenizer. They told investigators that Rhodenizer spent two hours drinking, soliciting dances and making threatening comments. He also said he wanted to take the dancers back to his motel, according to the police...

A task force drafting a statement on sexuality for the nation's largest Lutheran group said Thursday that the church should continue defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. However, the panel did not condemn same-gender relationships. The committee expressed regret that historic Lutheran teachings have been used to hurt gays and lesbians, and acknowledged that some congregations already accept same-sex couples. The report released by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is part of the denomination's yearslong effort to bridge internal differences over the Bible and homosexuality.

A task force drafting a statement on sexuality for the nation's largest Lutheran group said Thursday that the church should continue defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. However, the panel did not condemn same-gender relationships. The committee expressed regret that historic Lutheran teachings have been used to hurt gays and lesbians, and acknowledged that some congregations already accept same-sex couples. The report released by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is part of the denomination's yearslong effort to bridge internal differences over the Bible and homosexuality. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, a separate, smaller group, is...

February 28, 2008 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, "Proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable ... do the work of an evangelist ... " (2 Timothy 4:2a, 5b) "Bishop Hanson, what is your number one priority for the ELCA?" The question was addressed to me recently with great clarity and a desire for specificity. My answer? That we be an evangelizing church. The questioner nodded with what I took to be a gesture of agreement and walked away. I am curious how my questioner would have responded to his own question. And I am...

Draft of Proposed ELCA Social Statement on Sexuality Available March 13 08-008-MRC CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The draft of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) proposed social statement on human sexuality will be available March 13. The Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality met here Jan. 25-26 to complete its work on the draft and give final instructions to its writing team. The task force received a final report on responses for "Free in Christ to Serve the Neighbor: Lutherans Talk about Human Sexuality" -- part three of the "Journey Together Faithfully" study materials for members of the ELCA...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The presiding bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Episcopal Church called for members of their churches "to advocate for just national policies on resettlement and migration." The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, and the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, made the comment in joint statement released Jan. 30 at a gathering here with refugees, staff and friends of Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Ministries (IRIM). The gathering was at the Episcopal Church of the Atonement. Jefferts Schori is here in advance of the Feb. 2...

You only have a few more hours to call Jen Nagel Jen. After her ordination at 2 p.m. today, you have to start calling her the Rev. Nagel -- unless you're a member of the national board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), in which case you probably don't want to call her at all. Nagel is being ordained despite being committed to a same-sex relationship. The national ELCA doesn't approve of the ordination of gay ministers. But an exemption in the bylaws was passed at the national convention in August allowing local synods to not object to...

Friday, December 14, 2007 Lutheran CORE News 1.6 A blessed Christmas to you and yours from Lutheran CORE, the coalition for reform! Most of us have other things on our mind than the struggles of our church body during this season, as we should. For the hope we claim is that the God who sent His Son to redeem our fallen humanity is the Lord of the whole Church, including that part of the Body of Christ in which we find ourselves. And we believe that just as the Holy Child was saved from the machinations of Herod and all...

ELCA NEWS SERVICE December 13, 2007 ELCA Advocacy Offices Purchase Carbon Offset Credits 07-205-AL WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Washington Office, ELCA Corporate Social Responsibility, Pittsburgh, and Lutheran Office for World Community, New York, have purchased carbon offset credits to mitigate their carbon emissions accumulated through air travel. "Our offices have been working to reduce our carbon footprints by turning off lights and power strips when we're not in our offices, for example. But short of turning off all electricity and ceasing to travel, it's very difficult to eliminate your carbon emissions entirely," said Mary...

LWF Publication Develops Theological Insights to Resist the Domination of Empire Today SAN DIEGO, California, USA/GENEVA, 5 December 2007 (LWI) - The venue and host of their meeting was strategic—a downtown congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) surrounded by corporate high-rise buildings that symbolize *empire, but gathering, around a meal prepared by a formerly homeless person who currently feeds the poor, elderly and those without shelter. The group comprising seven authors of a recently published book of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) gathered on 16 November at the First Lutheran Church in San Diego, California’s second largest...

Title: ELCA Bishop Mark Hanson Featured in CBS's 'In God's Name' Dec. 23 ELCA NEWS SERVICE December 4, 2007 ELCA Bishop Mark Hanson Featured in CBS's 'In God's Name' Dec. 23 07-201-MRC CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and president of the Lutheran World Federation, is featured in the two-hour primetime television special "In God's Name," airing Dec. 23 at 9:00 p.m. EST on CBS. Produced by French filmmakers Jules and Gedeon Naudet, the special explores "complex questions of our time through the intimate thoughts and beliefs of...

Sitting in sight of her father and grandfather, both Lutheran ministers, Jen Rude on Saturday became the first ordained lesbian pastor since the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America urged bishops to not penalize congregations who violate the celibacy requirement for gay clergy. Several of the more than 100 congregants present wept as the 27-year-old stood before them, a beaming smile drawn across her face. Under church policy, homosexual ministers are required to make a vow of celibacy before they can be ordained. But heterosexual ministers are not, and Rude, who is not in a relationship, refused to make that vow...

The Roman Catholic Church has continuously and steadfastly opposed the legalization of abortion and has supported virtually all meaningful pro-life legislation and public policies. The bishops have testified before Congress on numerous occasions pleading for restoration of respect for all human life. The National Conference of Catholic Bishops has prepared several pastoral letters clearly defining the Catholic Church’s pro-life position. Most dioceses have active respect life offices and parish pro-life committees. Many dioceses are beginning to establish Project Rachel programs to assist women (and men) who are recovering from postabortion syndrome. And a large number of dioceses also maintain hotlines...

Bishop Wayne Miller said Wednesday he won't discipline a congregation that's challenging the celibacy requirement for gay clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Resurrection Lutheran Church in Lake View plans to ordain a lesbian as associate pastor. Jen Rude says she won't pledge lifelong celibacy because she considers the rule discriminatory. In the ELCA, heterosexual pastors can marry. Miller, head of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod, said he wants to "stay in conversation" with the congregation rather than censure or drive it out of the denomination.

LUTHERAN ORDINATION | She's becoming a minister at Lake View church but won't take vow - The new bishop in the Chicago Metropolitan Synod faces his first test case on the celibacy requirement for gay clergy in the nation's largest Lutheran denomination.Resurrection Lutheran Church in Lake View plans to ordain Jen Rude as its associate pastor in a 2 p.m. public ceremony Nov. 17. She's a lesbian who won't vow a lifetime of celibacy because she considers the rule discriminatory.Heterosexual pastors can marry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Rude said she isn't in a committed relationship now, but...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In his final report to the Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary, shared some reflections about the strengths of the ELCA and specific concerns for its future. Almen also commented on how he has changed his mind about the size and role of the ELCA Church Council, the church's board of directors. Almen made the comments Oct. 6 to the Conference, an advisory body of the ELCA consisting of the 65 synod bishops, presiding bishop and secretary. The conference met here Oct. 4-9. Almen, 66,...

Racial Justice Statement from Bishop Hanson November 1, 2007 Dear sisters and brothers in Christ: On this All Saints Day we remember the saints who have gone before us and give thanks for their lives of faith and commitment. I particularly ask you to join me in giving thanks for all whose faith has led them to take a stand on civil rights, including Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the thousands of others, including many clergy and lay leaders in this church, who risked and sacrificed because of their belief that all people are made in God's image....

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and president of the Lutheran World Federation, Geneva, responded today to an Oct. 11 letter sent to him and several global Christian leaders by 138 Muslim leaders from throughout the world. The 29-page open letter, "A Common Word Between You and Us," calls for Muslims and Christians to work more closely together for peace. Muslims and Christians together make up well over half of the world’s population," the Muslim leaders wrote. "Without peace and justice between these two religious communities, there can be...

US Conference of Catholic Bishops Appoints Woman with Pro-Abortion Group Ties as Policy Director By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman WASHINGTON, September 17, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Kathy Saile, who once gave a speech on promoting liberalism at a conference held by a pro-abortion group, has been named Director of Domestic Policy for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Previous to the appointment, Saile was Associate Director of Public Policy for Lutheran Services in America (USA), an organization that serves the extremely liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), which recently declared that their "clergy" were free to participate in homosexual...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Leaders of the U.S. Episcopal Church face a wrenching decision in the next few days on whether to issue a clear-cut ban on allowing people in gay relationships to be bishops and on blessing same-sex unions. The issues have already fractured the global Anglican church and its liberal-leaning U.S. Episcopal branch, and threaten both with outright schism. The bishops of the U.S. church meet in New Orleans for six days beginning Thursday, including two days with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, leader of the 77-million-member Worldwide Anglican Communion, as the global church is called. At the top...

Vicki Curtis has been a member of St. Benjamin's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Westminster since 1981, but when her denomination appeared to be softening its stance on homosexuality, she didn't hesitate to act. She left her church. Now she's doing what she calls "search the church Sundays" by visiting congregations with convictions closer to her own."The Bible says in Leviticus 18:22 that homosexuality is a sin and its penalty is death. My faith is built on what the Bible teaches, and I will not go where it isn't being followed," she wrote in an e-mail. She was responding to the...

HAVE WATCHED my church – the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America – debate sexuality for 20 years. A key concern has been the role of gays and lesbians in the pastoral ministry. We allow gays and lesbians in our pulpits, but have expected them to abstain from sexual relationships, even if in a committed relationship comparable to marriage. Earlier this month, by a vote of 538 to 431, the highest decision-making body of our denomination urged bishops to exercise "restraint" in disciplining clergy who violate that policy. The action by our churchwide assembly did not change the policy, but clearly...

Gay clergy OK'd by Evangelical Lutheran Church in America August 11, 2007 BY SUSAN HOGAN/ALBACH Religion Reporter For the first time, clergy in same-sex committed relationships can serve the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America without threat of discipline to them, their congregations or their bishops. The historic decision, made today at a national assembly at Navy Pier, was spearheaded by Bishop Paul Landahl of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod. A day earlier, attendees voted down a measure that would have ended a ban on non-celibate gay clergy. But Saturday’s vote calls on church leaders to “refrain from or demonstrate restraint” in...