Posted on 04/13/2005 5:50:35 AM PDT by NYer
Washington DC, Apr. 12, 2005 (CNA) - The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America may become the first U.S.-based Lutheran denomination to approve the ordination of active homosexuals as clergy and lay ministers, reported the Christian Post.
The Church Council released a statement Monday with three resolutions that ask whether the church should bless same-sex unions and ordain non-celibate homosexuals, provided they remain faithful to their partner.
The statement has been forwarded to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, which is scheduled to meet Aug. 8-14 in Florida. Delegates will then decide to accept, reject or amend the three resolutions.
Current ELCA policy allows the ordination of celibate homosexuals but not active homosexuals.
Should the Churchwide Assembly adopt the new policy, the ELCA will likely become the only Lutheran denomination in the United States with official guidelines for such ordinations.
Here we go with the old slippery slope argument. Just because people are lobbying to marry their dogs doesn't mean they will want to marry their horses. There's a distinct difference between dogs and horses. Dogs are part of the family. Horses are work animals.
Shalom.
I said in another thread that while I'm no longer a practicing Catholic and do not share some of the official church views, I admire the Church for not following trends or yielding to pressures to "get with it" because "other faiths are doing it." I am glad the Church refuses to compromise its core beliefs.
Well, actually God is VERY tolerant, or else we wouldn't even be here.
No, they don't profess the same faith. ELCA is only "Lutheran" because their parents were. They don't confess the same things anymore.
Wrong analogy on a homosexual thread.
Shalom.
The Episcopalian Church is dying..fast. When I was a boy their parking lots WERE filled on Sundays. But now I drive by Episcopalian churches and they are run down, unpainted, and obviously broke. The Lutherans are next.
That would be like saying we're the "United Nations of America" with the implication that Canada should join as a single unit.
Practicing homosexuals are not supposed to be ordained.
In the past, men with a homosexual orientation (supposedly not practicing) have been ordained, and there is debate within the Church regarding the wisdom of this practice, particularly in light of the sexual abuse of boys by priests.
A directive from John XXIII indicating that men with a homosexual orientation not be ordained (from 1961) had been largely ignored, prior to the sex-abuse scandal within the Church.
Careful Selection And Training Of Candidates For The States Of Perfection And Sacred Orders
Also, he told me that a high-powered group of theologians just came out strongly against the recent "non-decision". They are condemning the ELCA for not being able to reach a decision to lead and guide, but rather falling back on "local decision".
The bottom line to me is that the ELCA better decide whether it will lead, follow or get out of the way. I told my Pastor that passing this queer-ordination rule would be a boon for the Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Synod. He agreed.
What do you think this is about, finding and loving G-d? How silly. It's about them, not G-d.
With the homosexual community, everything is about them.
Shalom.
Please tell me this is a joke.
Yes, I am well aware of that. Post # 12 seemed to alude that the ordination of gays in the Catholic Church was policy. At least, that's how I read it.
"but it will take a 2/3 majority to pass and he believes that is unattainable"
Imagine how shocked we conservative Episcopalians were two years ago..........
What about sheep?
WELS might pick up though if a lot of former ELCA people join LCMS and then try to change it to be like their old LCA.
That's a toughie. In modern society sheep are seen primarily as production animals. However, in history it is unclear whether sheep were considered more like members of the family.
But that doesn't prove there is any such thing as a slippery slope. We can always find a hair to split to prove that there is no danger of slipping further. Or, in this case, a thread of wool.
Shalom.
Interesting, evidently they no longer use the Bible!
Missouri Synod is the most Conservative denomination of the Lutherans.
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