Posted on 07/07/2007 4:40:25 AM PDT by GFritsch
The openly gay pastor of Atlanta's oldest Lutheran church has been removed from his denomination's clergy roster.
But the Rev. Bradley Schmeling said Thursday he will not leave the pulpit of St. John's Lutheran Church, a decision that could open the 350-member congregation to disciplinary action from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
"The congregation issued a call to me in 2000 and as far as we are concerned, that hasn't changed," Schmeling said. "I'm disheartened (the decision) gives the impression the church is more interested in rules than in compassion."
In a decision issued Monday, a 12-member appeals committee ruled 10-2 to immediately remove Schmeling from the clergy roster. An earlier panel's ruling had allowed the pastor to stay on the roster until Aug. 15.
By ELCA rules, Schmeling is now a lay person within the denomination, who shouldn't wear a stole or perform sacraments, said Emily Eastwood of the Minnesota-based gay rights group Lutherans Concerned.
But the congregation's president, John Ballew, said that nothing will change at St. John's, though the church hopes to remain within the ELCA.
"Our respect has only grown in the last 14 months," Ballew said. "For us, it means nothing."
Schmeling told St. John's and his bishop that he is gay before he was chosen as pastor in 2000. But last year, when Schmeling announced he had found a lifelong companion, Bishop Ronald Warren of the ELCA's Southeastern Synod asked the 44-year-old pastor to resign.
When Schmeling refused, Warren started disciplinary proceedings against him, leading to a closed-door January trial in which a disciplinary hearing committee dealt with the case.
In that earlier decision, seven members of the 12-member disciplinary committee said they felt the church rule left them no choice but to defrock Schmeling, effective Aug. 15. But the committee also wrote that, if not bound by the rule, it "would find almost unanimously that Pastor Schmeling is not engaged in conduct that is incompatible with the ministerial office" and would order no discipline.
The committee suggested that the ELCA should remove its rule and reinstate gay clergy who were removed or resigned because they were in a same-sex "lifelong partnership."
Both Schmeling and Warren appealed the committee's decision, and the appeals members sided with Warren on Monday.
"My decision to seek Pastor Schmeling's removal from the ministry of this church was difficult because of my deep respect for the pastor and the congregation at St. John's, but the policy of this church is clear," Warren said in a statement Thursday.
The appeals committee ruled that the first panel had no right to delay Schmeling's removal until after the ELCA's biennial meeting churchwide assembly Aug. 6-12 in Chicago. It also said it exceeded its authority by suggesting the church should change its policies.
The acceptance of gay clergy has been at the core of a heated debate in many Protestant denominations. The ELCA, which has 4.9 million members, allows openly gay clergy, but only if they are celibate. Still, many Lutheran churches support ordaining partnered gays and perform same-sex blessing ceremonies despite the policy.
At the ELCA's most recent national meeting in 2005, a proposal failed that would have allowed synods to decide if they would accept a pastor in a same-sex relationship.
Perhaps the ELCA is waking up to the fact that there are Ten Commandments, not Ten Suggestions.
Shouldn't churches have some rules about who is a pastor? Like besides being gay, maybe believing in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, God, maybe having a good knowledge of the Bible, maybe having attended divinity school?
Why doesn't this guy find a job at a church that accepts gay preachers? Or start his own church?
The problem here is he likes roosters instead of chicks.
Good one.
He belongs in the classroom teaching young skulls full of mush about the glories of homosexual life.
It really is a lifestyle full of pride and wholesomeness.
Putting one's pee-pee up another's poo-poo should be a no-no.
This says so much about how these people don't get the fact how they've succumed to an utterly convoluted and perverted path.
This is the exact opposite about how God instructs his church to behave.
"But the committee also wrote that, if not bound by the rule, it "would find almost unanimously that Pastor Schmeling is not engaged in conduct that is incompatible with the ministerial office" and would order no discipline."
Dream on :(
tell the Reverend to MOVE ON, over to the Anglican church they welcome any rooster from a fallen ranks. No questions asked. Even could be a Muslim in disguise. I think it would be great if all of the Roosters got together for their deal on Sunday with the Hens...and people who are roosters who like roosters, need to start their own church and let well enough alone.
They are not like you or me, in fact they are not like anything that I wish to be associated with.
Maybe the Church is more interested in following the word of God. The church can have compassion for the sinner, but that compassion is to help the sinner see the error of his ways, help if possible the sinner overcome the temptation of sin, to go forward and sin no more.
It does NOT mean ignore the word of God And embrace sin into the church, condemning it.
"Make sure that no one traps you and deprives you of your freedom by some secondhand, empty, rational philosophy based on the principles of this world instead of on Christ." Colossians 2:6-8
"This people honors me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless; the doctrines they teach are only human regulations." (Matt.15:8-9).
Gay ministers/ priests is a joke, a mokery of God's word and comandments. In the end, their reward will be death.
"It is not those who say to me 'Lord, Lord', who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven." (Mt.7:21).
Somewhere along the way the Seven Deadly Sins became the Seven New Sacraments. Good is called evil and evil is called good, right in our churches.
“Putting one’s......etc”
LOL!!
Exactly!
What is it about these churches who willfully disobey God, having gays as ministers? How can a gay minister preach about morality? But then again, Jesus warned us about the ‘wolfs in sheep clothing, but underneaths are raven wolfs to carry you away as prey!” Nothing surprises me anymore.
Sadly, even the LCMS is headed in this direction - pleading to the rules and regulations of man rather than The Word of God which is not mentioned AT ALL in either of the above decisions.
They are the God-less, socialist, politically correct Democrat-voting American family haters.
It is disgusting to see some leftist fool yapping about his/her "fighting for families." They despise traditional families and their values as they stand in the way of their marching orders handed to them by satan.
Where did you get this? Not in our LCMS.
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