Posted on 12/22/2014 8:15:01 AM PST by shove_it
Then the ELCA promotes debauchery and perversion and it also promotes heresy and apostasy.
It's also apparent that a large number of FORMER ELCA members and congregations would agree with me:
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) was formed in 1987, when three Lutheran denominations merged to create the largest Lutheran church in America. For most of its history, gay men and women were permitted to be pastors, so long as they remained celibate. But in a narrow vote at its 2009 Churchwide Assembly, ordination was extended to gay men and women in committed monogamous relationships. In addition, the Assembly passed an amendment allowing churches to recognize, support and hold publicly accountable life-long, monogamous, same-gender relationships.
From ELCAs formation in 1987 to 2009, the average decrease in membership each year was only 0.62 percent. But after the liberalization of the ELCAs stance on sexuality, membership declined a whopping 5.95 percent in 2010 and 4.98 percent in 2011. Since 2009, more than 600 congregations abandoned the denomination, with almost two-thirds joining conservative Lutheran denominations like the North American Lutheran Church and Lutheran Churches in Ministry for Christ.
By the end of 2012, ELCA had lost 12.3 percent of its members in three yearsnearly 600,000 people. If the present rate of defections holds steady, ELCA will cease to exist in less than two decades.
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