Posted on 09/30/2009 6:15:38 PM PDT by SmithL
St. Paul, Minn. — Members of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Minneapolis decided to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America after a 96 percent vote by members on Sunday.
The decision to leave came after the ELCA Church-wide Assembly vote on Aug. 21 in Minneapolis, that allowed gays and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as clergy.
Before the ECLA's decision, gay clergy were allowed to be ministers only if they were celibate. Some church members object to the new policy, saying it goes against Scripture.
The St. Paul's congregation's council set a policy in October 1990 that stated if the ELCA ever moved to allow such ordinations, the congregation would immediately begin the process to leave.
"We feel quite affirmed by the hundreds of congregations who are contemplating the same move," St. Paul's Senior Pastor, Rev. Roland J. Wells, Jr. said in a news release.
According to Wells, there are many pastors and members who are withholding funds from the national church, and are working to establish a new denomination called Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ.
(Excerpt) Read more at minnesota.publicradio.org ...
“You also may want to look into this group, if you want to maintain your Lutheran beliefs but don’t feel comfortable being a member of any of the “official” major Lutheran denominations...”
No, I don’t want to join a “group.” I want the church I was raised in, and the doctrine it taught, back. I want the Anerica I was raised in back.
Thanks for trying, though. I have no problem becoming Catholic. I would have no problem staying Lutheran if they’d get it together. The church deserted me with all their PC foolishness, not the other way around.
I know I’m not the only one out there that’s angry about this stuff. No wonder so many churches are bleeding members. Just get back to the basics.
Some ELCA folks who are leaving will not join the LCMS because they consider it too exclusive on communion.Close Communion has always been one of my issues with the LCMS. However, I visited a LCMS congregation last Sunday, and was pleasantly surprised when all believers were invited to commune.
Please tell me more. I’m a (former?) Lutheran who has converted to Catholism but to be honest miss my Lutheran roots. Is there a group of Lutherans negotiating with the Catholic church for reentry?
My own view is that many if not all of Luther’s objections have been dealt with over time and that Catholicism has evolved to meet Luther’s demands. NOTE: The Lutheran church, however, has continued to fragment (gay clergy marriage issue is prime example) and it would be best for both churches for the Lutherans to come back.
Yes, that's the idea. I figured it might spark some interest here on FR with many disgruntled Lutherans who are looking into rejoining the Catholic church but want to maintain their Lutheran traditions, like the Augsburg Confession. Sadly though, you're the only one who replied.
They had a similar situation back in 1980 when the Anglican Church had gotten so liberal that many Episcopalians were looking to rejoin the Catholic church after 400 years, but had trouble adjusting to all the changes in Catholicism since that time. The Pope authorized an “Episcopal Rite” of the Catholic church that allowed Anglican priests who left the Anglican Church and took their whole congregations with them to maintain their old traditions while they assimilate into the Catholic church. There are still several “Anglician Rite” Catholic churches in the USA today, especially after the fallout from the Episcopalian Church ordaining a gay bishop.
The ACLC is an offshoot of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod that started in 1997 because they are willing to actively negotiate with the Catholic Church for re-entry. Their goal is to set up an network of Lutheran-descended congregations within the Catholic Church. So far they are not officially in the Catholic Church but it seems they've resolved just about every major issue that's divided the two churches for 500 years.
I got interested in this stuff about two years ago when I got tired of all the liberal American bishops in the Catholic church and the archdiocese of Chicago but I wanted to maintain my Catholic faith, so I joined the Byzantine Catholic Church. They're under the authority of the Pope but operate separately from the Roman Catholic Church of the U.S. Like the other churches I mentioned, they used to be in the Orthodox church for 600 years, but in 1642 they reunited with the Vatican and became the Byzantine Catholic Church.
Catholicism is the largest branch of Christianity, with over a billion members, so they're pretty flexible with integrating different Christian traditions and movements under their umbrella.
Some links you may find helpful:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Lutheran_Catholic_Church
http://www.anglolutherancatholic.org/
http://www.christalcc.org/ALCC.html
http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?1518&cuTopic_topicID=14&cuItem_itemID=23798
http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Anglo-Lutheran_Catholic_Church
Our church just north of Mlps, MN dropped as well...
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