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.
Doesn't the Miss. Synod preach that a wife must by subserviant to her husband? I'd heard that a few years ago.
How old school is it? I'm an ELCA from about the mid- 1980's, on the scale. This outed homosexuals-as-pastor is making me think about a switch. I don't like drums and guitars in churches, either.
I want reverence but not too rigid. I was thinking of going to a M.S. service soon. I may have too chose between too liberal and too conservative, I guess.
Missouri Lutheran Church
We should fear and love God that we may lead a chaste and decent life in words and deeds, and each love and honor his spouse.
Missouri Seminary at Ft. Wayne IN
A. We must fear and love God, so that our words and actions will be clean and decent and so that everyone will love and honor their spouses.
Several have commented that the Missouri Synod is more conservative yet their catechism is more liberal; whereas the others specifically state husband and wife.
Contrast those with this one from the CCC.
1603 "The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws.... God himself is the author of marriage."[87] The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in different cultures, social structures, and spiritual attitudes. These differences should not cause us to forget its common and permanent characteristics. Although the dignity of this institution is not transparent everywhere with the same clarity,[88] some sense of the greatness of the matrimonial union exists in all cultures. "The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life."[89]
CATECHISM CATHOLIC CHURCH
Each of us must increase our prayer time.
Pray for the conversion of sinners. Pray for the clergy. Pray for the bishops, Pray for the cardinals
The church I was raised in and where I still consider my roots, is ELCA. But it behaves more like a MS church, simply because of the type of congregation, and it bein' southern and all ;)
Thanks. I did not know that. Regards.
When you did your search, though, did you bother to find out who did the interpreting, since you're making that broad accusation? (Besides the obvious ELCA switch in the order of husband and wife.)
By the way, this is the one that really matters for LCMA, since it is in the current Small Catechism that everyone receives and is taught from and ought to memorize. "We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other." My only complaint about this book is that the convention didn't approve switching to ESV for the Bible verses.
The LCMS and Fort Wayne ones you presented follow the German the best, because they don't add the "husband and wife," which is not found in "in der Ehe einander lieben und ehren." Maybe that comes from the Latin version, which I couldn't find online. I wish I had a copy of the Triglotta.
That's interesting. I didn't know we could "vote" on God's laws. So if 2/3 majority decided to scrap the Ten Commandments, we could do away with them?
Seems like some demoninations have already done just that.
Just as long as they recognize the needs of sinners of the likes of murderers rapists, and child molestors. If they are able to ordain all of these people then I say go for it.
If not.. you are singling out a single class of sinners for special treatment.
See #90. It is more conservative. But don't forget that the purpose of the Small Catechism is instruction; "husband and wife" is fine too and doesn't change the meaning or the commandment.
The ELCA is slowly losing congregations already. The churches leaving the denomination have been few but outnumbering the new congregations being established.
Depending on how this Assembly in August is handled, there could well be a serious increase in departures of congregations, as well as a significant outflow of individual members and their families. From the drift of actions so far, the future of the ELCA doesn't look good.
Thank you for your sanctimonious comment.
Is it a church policy, that which is widely accepted and a part of everyday church business, or just the actions of a few churches?
That's a huge difference, IMHO.
Just how does this work?
And how do they know they are homosexuals if they are celibate?
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Speak the truth in love. Eph 4:15
Wow, can you imagine the pluperfect purple fit that Martin Luther would have had? O_o
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