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Lutherans Prepare To Vote On Accepting Gay Clergy by Barbara Bradley Hagerty National Public Radio, August 15, 2009 First it was the Episcopalians, now it's the Lutherans. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America — one of the largest Christian churches — is on the brink of sanctioning gay clergy members. When more than 1,000 members of the clergy and lay people begin a weeklong meeting in Minneapolis on Monday, they will be asked to decide whether to change their policy and allow pastors in gay relationships to serve in the ministry. What's remarkable is that this once incendiary issue has...

Gay, lesbian priests nominated for bishop LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Two Episcopal priests in same-gender relationships are among the nominees for assistant bishop of Los Angeles, officials said Sunday. The Rev. John L. Kirkley of San Francisco and the Rev. Mary Douglas Glasspool of Maryland will be among six candidates on the ballot when lay people and clergy vote in December, despite a long-standing request from world Anglican leaders for a moratorium on consecrating openly gay bishops. Los Angeles Bishop Jon Bruno said in a statement Sunday that he was "pleased by the wide diversity" of the nominees. Separately, the...

Episcopal Church leaders in Los Angeles today nominated an openly gay priest and an openly lesbian priest as bishops, becoming one of the first dioceses in the national church to test a controversial new policy that lifted a de facto ban on gays and lesbians in the ordained hierarchy. The nominations of the Rev. John L. Kirkley of San Francisco and the Rev. Canon Mary Douglas Glasspool of a Baltimore-based diocese are likely to further inflame theological conservatives in the U.S. church and their global partners in the Anglican Communion, who have repeatedly warned about the repercussions of such action....

Q: What has been the fallout of all of this on your own diocese, in New Hampshire? Have you lost many church members? A: Except for one parish in Rochester early on, no. That left about 15 people in that congregation, they met for about a year, and then asked me to close them down because there weren’t enough people to sustain a continued parish. That’s all. That’s it. There’s no one, no priests or parishes associated with the breakaway groups. Our diocese grew by 3 percent last year. … Q: Who are you pulling in? A: We have received...

The Episcopal Church approves blessing same-gender unions Lutherans Concerned / North America celebrates the decision of the US Episcopal Church at its triennial General Convention to approve the blessing of some same-gender lifelong, committed relationships. The change in policy was passed yesterday, July 17, 2009, the last day of the 10-day meeting. The resolution passed also included directions to the church leadership to develop liturgies for the rites of blessing. Characterized in the press as carefully worded, the resolution did not change the stated definition that a marriage is between a man and a woman. The rites called for will...

For a decade now, the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) has been bitterly divided over the issue of ordaining openly gay clergy. The matter reached a new intensity this past week when the church's triennial convention ended the ban on gay candidates serving in ordained ministry. After years of protesting ECUSA's liberal policies and doctrines, seceding conservatives have now organized a rival church -- the Anglican Church in North America, or ACNA -- which claims 100,000 believers, compared with two million in ECUSA. This week's dramatic decision is sure to widen the rift even further, causing what church historians might officially...

Episcopalians overwhelmingly favor tossing a previously approved resolution that bans ordaining openly gay bishops. In discussions that began Thursday afternoon and continued Friday morning during The Episcopal Church's triennial General Convention, Episcopalians spoke frankly, testifying passionately either for throwing out the ban or against rescinding it. "Gays and lesbians are asked to make sacrifices the rest of us are not asked to make," said the Rev. J. Frederick Barber of Fort Worth, according to the Episcopal News Service. Debate centered on resolution B033, which was approved by the General Convention in 2006. It calls for restraint in ordaining bishops "whose...

The Episcopal Church moved Monday toward affirming their acceptance of gays and lesbians for all roles in ministry, despite pressure from fellow Anglicans worldwide for a decisive moratorium on consecrating another openly gay bishop. Bishops at the Episcopal General Convention in Anaheim, Calif., voted 99-45 with two abstentions for a statement declaring "God has called and may call" to ministry gays in committed lifelong relationships. Lay and priest delegates to the meeting had comfortably approved a nearly identical statement, and were expected to adopt the latest version before the meeting ends Friday. Leaders of the Anglican Communion have been pushing...

Homosexual Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson. (UPPA) In defiance of the majority of the Anglican Communion, the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. has voted in favor of ordaining homosexual bishops. The unilateral action by the Episcopal Church, courtesy of a vote by its General Convention, moves the deeply divided Anglican Communion closer to formal schism. The Los Angeles Times reports today: Bishops, clergy and lay leaders voted overwhelmingly at the denomination’s General Convention in Anaheim to open “any ordained ministry” to gays and lesbians. The liberalized policy represents a reversal from guidelines adopted by the church at its last convention in...

ANAHEIM, CA - Episcopalians are moving toward affirming an open role for homosexual clergy in their church despite pressure from fellow Anglicans not to do so. Episcopal bishops voted at a national meeting yesterday for a statement that says "God has called and may call" homosexual men and women to ministry. Delegates to the meeting already approved a nearly identical statement. This latest version is likely to be approved by Friday. Episcopalians caused an uproar in 2003 by consecrating the first openly homosexual bishop, Vicki Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. That decision has nearly split the world Anglican Communion, which...

July 14, 2009 Schism closer as US Anglicans vote to overturn ban on gay ordinations Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent A formal split in the Anglican Church worldwide moved closer yesterday after clergy and laity in the US voted to allow the consecration of openly gay bishops. The Archbishop of Canterbury expressed “regret” over a decision by Anglicans in the US that represents a blow to his hopes for Church unity. Dr Rowan Williams made clear his concern after the Episcopal Church voted at the triannual General Convention in California to overturn a moratorium on gay ordinations. Clergy and laity in...

Bishops of the Anglican Church in the United States have voted to overturn a three-year moratorium on the election of gay bishops. The decision seems likely to lead to the Episcopal Church's eventual exit from the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Communion has been fighting to avoid disintegration since the Episcopal Church consecrated the openly gay bishop Gene Robinson in 2003. The decision is expected to be confirmed in the next few days. Archbishop's regret The election of the Bishop of New Hampshire, the Right Reverend Gene Robinson, created an apparently irreconcilable rift between liberal and traditional Anglicans. Liberals believe the...

"The Church of Sweden has appointed a lesbian as the Lutheran bishop of Stockholm. Eva Brunne, who is in a registered partnership, is believed to be the world's first lesbian bishop. She won the post by 413 votes against 365 votes and will succeed Bishop Caroline Krook, who is to retire in November. Brunne, 55, has a three-year-old son with her partner Gunilla Linden, who is a priest."

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) It was tough enough to get New Hampshire's lawmakers and governor to approve gay marriage, but Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson says there's an even tougher job ahead: getting churches to fully embrace gay marriage and gay people."What we have to work against is countless centuries of tradition which has judged homosexual people to be an abomination before God," said Robinson, the Episcopal church's only openly gay bishop.Robinson sat in the front row of the gallery in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, hands clasped at times, praying for lawmakers to push a little green button that...

LONDON - The Church of Scotland has approved the appointment of an openly homosexual minister - the latest case of tensions over sexuality to prompt division in the Anglican Communion. The church's ruling body voted Saturday by 326 to 267 to support the appointment of the Rev. Scott Rennie, 37, who was previously married to a woman and is now in a relationship with a man. Rennie was first appointed as a minister 10 years ago, but has faced opposition from some critics since he moved to a church in Aberdeen, Scotland, last year. The case threatens to divide Scottish...

The first openly gay Episcopal bishop told a Studio City gathering today that the church should begin mending divisions over the issue of same-sex marriage by getting out of the civil marriage business altogether. During a visit to St. Michael & All Angels Church this morning, the Rev. V. Eugene Robinson said he favored the system used in France and other parts of Europe in which civil marriage – performed by government officials – is completely separate from religious vows. In the U.S., the civil and religious ceremonies are often combined with the cleric signing the government marriage license. "In...

Gene Robinson, Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, gave the opening prayer for the inaugural festivities in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. Ignoring the theme of unity set for the inauguration, Robinson gave not a prayer but a political speech, one worthy of a college sophomore hot to tweak his parents. Robinson explained his non-Christian "prayer" by saying he thought previous inaugural prayers were "aggressively Christian." In hope of excluding no one, he excluded Christ. Except, he mentioned God, so he left the athiests out in the cold. Oh, well. By Robinson's own logic, he should not have been allowed to pray...

The inauguration invocation is the high profile event for a member of the clergy. It’s only been around since 1937, but it’s grounded in a rich, religious history that’s helped shaped this country. At President-elect Barak Obama’s inauguration, Pastor Rick Warren will have the honors. Pastor Warren is the senior minister of Saddleback Church in Southern California and the uber-bestselling author of “The Purpose Driven Life.” Liberals objected to Warren because of his conservative views, specifically his support of Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that banned gay marriage in California. What some see as a move to placate the gay...

Here's video of the prayer that the openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson delivered at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday as part of President-elect Barrack Obama's inauguration kick off event. Turned out, Obama's people told HBO not to include Bishop Robinison in the worldwide broadcast. Someone contacted HBO and was told it was Obama's team who banned Robinson from the televised event. Can't believe that he banned this video because Robinson is gay. http://www.youtube.com/comment_servlet?all_comments&v=kWWAnitUCw4&fromurl=/watch%3Fv%3DkWWAnitUCw4%26eurl%3Dhttp%3A//perezhilton.com/page/4/

Here is video of the bizarre Episcopal Gay Bishop, Gene Robinson, praying at the inaugural concert held yesterday, January 18, 2009, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Robinson addressed his prayer to the "God of our many understandings." It is a model of politically correct gobbledy-gook. Perish the thought that an Episcopal Bishop would mention the name of Jesus in his prayer, even though Jesus happens to be the Savior of the World according to his own church's theology. . . . . . (watch video)