{"id":315,"date":"2009-08-21T23:25:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-21T23:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2009\/08\/lutherans-vote-to-allow-gay-clergy.html"},"modified":"2009-08-21T23:25:00","modified_gmt":"2009-08-21T23:25:00","slug":"lutherans-vote-to-allow-gay-clergy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2009\/08\/lutherans-vote-to-allow-gay-clergy.html","title":{"rendered":"Lutherans vote to allow gay clergy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>What many predicted would happen has, in fact, come to pass.<\/p>\n

From the New York Times<\/a>: <\/p>\n

After an emotional debate over the authority of Scripture and the limits of biblical inclusiveness, leaders of the country\u2019s largest Lutheran denomination voted Friday to allow gay men and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as members of the clergy.<\/p>\n

The vote made the denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the latest mainline Protestant church to permit such ordinations, contributing to a halting sense of momentum on the issue within liberal Protestantism.<\/p>\n

By a vote of 559 to 451, delegates to the denomination\u2019s national assembly in Minneapolis approved a resolution declaring that the church would find a way for people in \u201cpublicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous same-gender relationships\u201d to serve as official ministers. (The church already allows celibate gay men and lesbians to become members of the clergy.)<\/p>\n

Just before the vote, the Rev. Mark Hanson, the church\u2019s presiding bishop, led the packed convention center in prayer. When the two bar graphs signaling the vote\u2019s outcome popped up on the hall\u2019s big screens seconds later, there were only a few quiet gasps, as delegates had been asked to avoid making an audible scene. But around the convention hall, clusters of men and women hugged one other and wept.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to be a full member of the church is really a lifelong dream,\u201d said the Rev. Megan Rohrer of San Francisco, who is in a committed same-sex relationship and serves in three Lutheran congregations but is not officially on the church\u2019s roster of clergy members. \u201cI don\u2019t have to have an asterisk next to my name anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the passage of the resolution now raises questions about the future of the denomination, which has 4.6 million members but has seen its ranks steadily dwindle, and whether it will see an exodus of its more conservative followers or experience some sort of schism.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we have stepped beyond what the word of God allows,\u201d said the Rev. Rebecca M. M. Heber of Heathrow, Fla., who said she was going to reconsider her membership.<\/p>\n

Conservative dissenters said they saw various options, including leaving for another Lutheran denomination or creating their own unified body. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can find more at the link<\/a>. <\/p>\n

PHOTO:<\/b><\/span> Voting member Janet Metcalfe, of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., pauses for a moment of prayer along with more than 1,000 members of the Evangelical Lutheran Chruch of America (ELCA) on Wednesday Aug. 19, 2009 after a tornado warning was announced at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Members of the ELCA are meeting this week at the Minneapolis Convention Center to vote on the future of gay clergy and their leadership in the church. (AP Photo\/Dawn Villella)<\/span> <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What many predicted would happen has, in fact, come to pass. From the New York Times: After an emotional debate over the authority of Scripture and the limits of biblical inclusiveness, leaders of the country\u2019s largest Lutheran denomination voted Friday to allow gay men and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as members of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links-r-us","category-ripped-from-the-headlines"],"yoast_head":"\nLutherans vote to allow gay clergy - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2009\/08\/lutherans-vote-to-allow-gay-clergy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lutherans vote to allow gay clergy - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What many predicted would happen has, in fact, come to pass. 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