http://www.zionshaffers.com/bylaws.html
2009 Bylaw Amendments
The following Bylaws were adopted by supermajority vote at the 2009 Annual Congregation meeting held on Reformation Sunday, October 25.
C09.01.01 - Pastoral Chastity and teaching on Marriage
Only a pastor who subscribes to and lives according to the November 23, 1990 document, Vision and Expectations: Ordained Ministers in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America shall be eligible to be called as a pastor of this congregation:
“The expectations of this church regarding the sexual conduct of its ordained ministers are grounded in the understanding that human sexuality is a gift from God and that ordained ministers are to live in such a way as to honor this gift. Ordained ministers are expected to reject sexual promiscuity, the manipulation of others for purposes of sexual gratification, and all attempts of sexual seduction and sexual harassment, including taking physical or emotional advantage of others. Single ordained ministers are expected to live a chaste life. Married ordained ministers are expected to live in fidelity to their spouses, giving expression to sexual intimacy within a marriage relationship that is mutual, chaste, and faithful. “
The Christian tradition defines marriage as a covenant of faithfulness between one man and one woman and chastity in singleness as abstinence from sexual activity, heterosexual or homosexual. Only a pastor who preaches, teaches, and lives according to these understandings shall be eligible to be called as a pastor of this congregation.
C09.01.02 - The Rite of Marriage
This congregation adheres to and follows Resolution CB93.10.25 of the ELCA Conference of Bishops (October 1993): “We...recognize that there is basis neither in Scripture nor tradition for the establishment of an official ceremony by this church for the blessing of a homosexual relationship. We, therefore, do not approve such a ceremony as an official action of this church’s ministry.”
Are there any churches currently in the ELCA that use this language in their constitutions?
My sense of the issue for ministers is a bit different. We are “licensed” by the state to be “legal” solemnizers of marriage. No place on that license that I can see does it say anything about who can/will/must be married by that licensed pastor. I would say, then, that even though that church might not be forced to conduct a homosexual marriage service that the license of the pastor to be a ‘legal’ agent of the state can be revoked for not being an available resource.