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ORLANDO, Fla. — A national meeting of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (search) rejected a proposal Friday that would have allowed gays in committed relationships to serve as clergy under certain conditions. The measure would have affirmed the church ban on ordaining sexually active gays and lesbians, but would have allowed bishops and church districts called synods to seek an exception for a particular candidate — if that person was in a long-term relationship and met other restrictions. Delegates voted against the measure 503-490. Even if it had won a simple majority of votes, that wouldn't have been enough;...

Bishop: We're united amid differences MILWAUKEE, WI (AP) - The Greater Milwaukee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has passed a resolution recommending the Churchwide Assembly permit gays and lesbians in committed relationships to be ordained. Bishop Paul Stumme-Diers said it was important to maintain unity within the church. "We are committed to remaining united even amid our differences, recognizing our center is not on our opinions but rather it is in Christ," he said. The recommendation was passed at its annual meeting Saturday. It is one of up to 65 that are expected to be delivered to...

Here’s a story that will throw you for a loop: a "chaplain” at the U.S. Air Force Academy is complaining that the school’s administration has a "systemic and pervasive” problem of promoting religious religious values with a Christian bent. The chaplain, Capt. Melinda Morton, a "Lutheran minister” spoke out publicly on Tuesday as an Air Force task force arrived at the academy to investigate charges that officers and staff members pushed their religious beliefs on cadets. And she claimed that a tolerance program developed at the academy, called Respecting the Spiritual Values of all People (R.S.V.P.), was watered down after...

Drivers passing by Advocate Lutheran General (Park Ridge, IL) on the second Saturday of every month are often surprised to see dozens of pro-lifer's holding graphic abortion photographs. They are even more shocked when they learn that a hospital with the cross of our Savior on its roof: * performs second trimester abortions (up to 23 weeks); * performs multiple gestation abortions (e.g. twins reduced to one child); * aborts babies by induced labor, also known as a "live birth abortion"; and * allows a minor to abort her unborn child without parental knowledge or consent (source: Advocate Health Care...

Swathed in a white robe with a rope cinched about his waist, Jay Wiesner stood in silence Sunday afternoon as parishioners clustered around, laying their hands on his shoulders while scores more stretched out their hands in his direction.

<p>CHANDLER - Holy Trinity Lutheran Church quietly has shared its sanctuary with Muslims for more than a year. Saturday it will be the site of a Ramadan dinner to raise money for construction of a mosque.</p> <p>"We are thankful for them," Muslim Arif Kazmi said of the Lutherans. "They are very nice people; we are knowing more about each other."</p>

Dear Editor: The Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service issued the following news release. President Bush signed the fiscal year 2004 presidential determination on refugee admissions October 21, setting the target for admissions of refugees at 70,000, of which 50,000 are allocated to specific geographic regions as follows: Africa-25,000; East Asia-6,500; Europe and Central Asia-13,000; Latin America/Caribbean-3,500; Near East/South Asia-2,000. "A refugee admissions level of 70,000 for FY2004 is good news!" said Ralston H. Deffenbaugh Jr, president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS). "Fortunately, low refugee arrival numbers in FY2003 did not change future US commitment to the refugee resettlement...

August 17, 2003 ELCA Assembly Considers "Listening Posts" for Gay, Lesbian People 03-CWA-51-MR MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- The 2003 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) considered a motion designed to encourage the 5 million-member church to organize "listening posts" for the purpose of hearing the experiences of Lutherans who are gay and lesbian. The assembly voted to refer the motion to the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality as "information." The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 11-17 at the Midwest Airlines Center. There are about 2,100 people...

LutheransForLife Welcome Friends To The 2002 Lutherans For Life National Convention! 2003LifeSunday MAIN MENU & NEWSPUBLICATIONSCALENDAR ABOUT LFLISSUESLINKS PROJECTSCHAPTERSSUPPORT US Volume 12, Number 1SPRING 1999God Loves Life SPECIALFEATURESKate Michelman'sBenedictionby Dr. David Reardon& Amy R. Sobie Beyond Symptoms ToFundamental Principlesby Rev. Edward Fehskens Look At The People!by Dr. Jean Garton 25 Years Laterby Linda D. Bartlett It's A Good Lifeby Mary Senander& Julie Grimstad A Man Named Donaldby Jane Almquist Too Many Kidsby Charles Colson REGULARFEATURESLIVING Today:Let Me Not Be AshamedOf My Hopeby Linda Bartlett Light For LIVING:God Loves Life!by Jon Jenkins 12-Week Family Devotions:God Loves Life!by Jon Jenkins The...

I have made fun of Lutherans for years--who wouldn't if you lived in Minnesota? But I have also sung with Lutherans and that is one of the main joys of life, along with hot baths and fresh sweet corn. We make fun of Lutherans for their blandness, their excessive calm, their fear of giving offense, their constant guilt that burns like a pilot light, their lack of speed and also for their secret fondness for macaroni and cheese. But nobody sings like them. If you ask an audience in New York City, a relatively "Lutheranless" place, to sing along on...