Lutheran (EL C S*A) Ping!
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Posted on 09/04/2009 6:14:42 PM PDT by rhema
There is no authoritative biblical or theological guidance in the church. There are only many voices.
During last week's biennial Church Wide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the church affirmed major policy recommendations to allow for the blessing of same-sex unions (which practice will soon inflate to same-sex marriage) and the rostering of gay and lesbian pastors in partnered relationships.
Earlier in the week it also passed by one vote—out of over 1,000 total votes cast—a Social Statement on Sexuality that admitted there was no consensus on the moral evaluation of homosexual conduct, and offered no compelling biblical or theological reasons to support the policies it later in fact adopted. The Statement was firm and bold on issues that everyone agreed upon—the moral condemnation of promiscuity, pornography, sexual exploitation, etc.—but indecisive and vague about contested issues—co-habitation, premarital sex, the importance of the nuclear family, and, of course, homosexual conduct.
Right before the vote on the Social Statement a totally unexpected tornado hit the Minneapolis Conference Center where we were meeting as well as the huge Central Lutheran Church next door, knocking the cross off one of its towers. Orthodox voting members saw the work of God in the tornado's cross-toppling effects and in the vote that passed with a .666 majority. Revisionists noted that the sun came out after the vote. In response the orthodox quipped that the sun comes out almost every day, but rogue tornados are pretty rare!
Those in the orthodox camp warned the assembly not to vote on binding church doctrine, especially if it had no convincing biblical or theological arguments to overturn the moral consensus of the one holy, catholic, and apostolic church held throughout the ages and by 99 percent of the world's Christians.
(Excerpt) Read more at christianitytoday.com ...
Yo.
What’s the Missouri Synod’s take on all this? Are they allowing homosexual pastors and weddings, etc.?
no
For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. John 12:43
As the article noted, this action was not a big surprise when the ELCA endorsed homosexual behavior. It was the inevitable result of women's ordination. People tried to warn the ALC and LCA long before the ELCA was established that if they chose to ignore Scripture and adopt the secular agenda, it would come to this. They didn't listen then, and they are not listening now. The ELCA has adopted liberal cultural relativism as the norm for interpreting Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.
The battle cry of Martin Luther was SOLA SCRIPTURA. The ECLA have now done away with SCRIPTURA. This is simply the consequence of what they’ve done.
I wonder why they still use the name of “Luther” for their organization.
I say HOW DARE THEY use the name Luther.
My family worshipped at both LCA and ALC churches as I grew up (we moved a lot) and I attended a LCMS school for 8th grade. Very sad.
Lutheran (EL C S*A) Ping!
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Some churches are even teaching that, really, there is no such thing as sin. It's all relative...imagine that!
I hope the Missouri Synod churches are ready for the influx.
Definitely no...LCMS is not like the ELCA...
I hope they all enjoy their reward here on earth.
Seems to me, though, that not many people will leave. There's an organization of liberal Lutherans who want to remain true to their heritage (Lutheran CORE) but, at the end of the day, I don't think they identify with LCMS. Those folks are more likely to form their own associations.
It's just as well. If there were a great influx, they'd just "re-invent" the LCMS and spoil it within a generation.
The LCMC is a step in the right direction but they will eventually be right back to where they are now as one of the reasons they don't want to take a complete step away from the ELCA is because they still believe in women in the clergy.
The people who made the Yugo would have used the name "Cadillac" if they could have.
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