Lutheran (EL
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Marantha--Come, Lord Jesus!
Posted on 12/07/2009 7:36:15 AM PST by SmithL
Six area churches in the Wolf River Region have voted in recent weeks to sever ties with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America,
Two other churches have votes coming up, said the Rev. John Justman, bishop of the East-Central Synod of the ELCA in Appleton.
All eight of the churches are in either Waupaca or Oconto counties.
Justman said he thinks several of the churches will eventually leave the ELCA.
“It makes me sad — they’re all special, and they’ve been good partners,” he said. “And if they do leave, we will wish them well. There’ll be sad feelings, not bad.”
He added: “I’m just going to miss them because they are part of the family.”
The vote last August by the ELCA Churchwide Assembly to allow gays in committed relationships to serve as clergy raised the ire of conservative ELCA congregations throughout the nation.
Justman said gay clergy would not be forced by the ELCA on any member church.
“I don’t see the need to separate,” he said. The ELCA policy change “doesn’t mandate something, it allows it.”
Justman said he’s not sure why the opposition to the policy change has surfaced primarily in Waupaca and Oconto counties, though he noted it was the most rural region of the synod.
“But it’s not a rural or small-town issue,” he said. “That’s not making this decision. We have churches in many rural areas that haven’t taken this step.”
Two other churches in Waupaca County have considered leaving the synod. A vote at one failed, while the congregation at the other decided not to have a vote for the time being, Justman said.
For those churches that have voted by a two-thirds majority of the membership to dissociate with ELCA, they enter into a 90-day consultation period. During that time, “the goal is to discern that proper constitutional order has been followed and that the members have been given thorough and balanced information about the matters before them,” Justman said.
He praised Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oconto Falls. He said the church has had a very open process with plenty of discussion. Justman said he has also visited with church officials and members two or three times in the past year.
“I believe they’ve come to the decision that they will leave,” he said.
“We’ll always be partners in the gospel, even though we’re part of different organizations,” Justman added.
Justman raised the story of the Prodigal Son, where the father held out hope the family would stay together.
“If there is a departure,” he said. “We hope the departure isn’t as long as in that story.”
Exodus continues.
What with these guys? Are they really this clueless?
Yes, they really are this clue-less. They live in ivory towers of like-minded mis-believers, and forget that the rest of us ordinary folks read our Bibles and we know what it says.
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Marantha--Come, Lord Jesus!
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