Why is there such a need to do this? Do they so desire to open up their congregations to this silly crap? Christianity has a clear mandate and it looks even more foolish playing this game. There are only two valid relationships endorsed in the bible in both the new and old testament. Only celibacy and cleaving to one’s wife are biblical. You can not be a believer and endorse homosexuality or any other pseudo sexual relationship without endorsing a clear contradiction to your faith. Whether it be religious or secular the idea of a homosexual relationship is a contradiction and it should be seen even more so by those who do not believe because such relationships make an organism less fit, more prone to disease, with a shorter lifespan.
Those who believe accepting homosexuality and other ideas sourced from a hedonist/low/primitive worldview are proving they are faithless because faith has at its core the idea that through grace we are forgiven and that we can become more like Christ not simply resign ourselves to indulge the low beliefs no matter how popular of a sinful world.
www.americansfortruth.com
"Silly"? You mean "amoral",don't you?
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Good question. One reason is pressure exerted by a small but well organized group. Beyond that, I couldn't say.
All of the big denominations with hierarchies have found it necessary to take advantage of the lower cost opportunities presented by homosexuals.
The source of the difficulty is most likely Fidelity Investments, but there may be others in the business of peddling retirement annuities to churches.
Rather than renounce Christian theology and tradition it would be better for these churches to simply trim back the hierarchies and reduce the overburden.
No doubt the Missouri Synod folks look safe ~ but that's just for the moment. The long term retirement annuity problem is going to stir their hierarchy up as well.