[Apologetics] Lutherans Affirm Ban on Gay Clergy

[Art Kelly]

This article shows that the liberal Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is more Bible-based
than the Episcopal/Church of England/Anglicans (ECEA).

If conservatives in the ECEA cannot become Catholics
or Eastern Orthodox for some reason, they ought to
join either ELCA, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod
(LCMS), or the Wisconsin Evangelical Luthran Synod
(WELS).

When ELCA can take a stand for what is right, that
makes the ECEA look all the more hopeless by
comparison.

Art

Lutherans Affirm Ban on Gay Clergy
Evangelical Body Rejects Exception for Those in
Committed Relationships

By Rachel Zoll
Associated Press
Saturday, August 13, 2005; A03

ORLANDO, Aug. 12 -- A national meeting of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America rejected a
proposal Friday that would have allowed gays in
committed relationships to serve as clergy under
certain conditions.

The measure would have affirmed the church ban on
ordaining sexually active gay men and lesbians, but it
would have allowed bishops and church districts, or
synods, to seek an exception for a particular
candidate -- if that person was in a long-term
relationship and met other restrictions.

Delegates voted against the measure 503 to 490. The
proposal needed a two-thirds majority to pass.

Earlier in the day, delegates voted 851 to 127 to keep
the church unified despite serious differences over
homosexuality. They also rebuffed what many saw as an
attempt to push the denomination toward approval of
blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples.

The complete article is at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/12/AR2005081201606_pf.html



ART KELLY, ATM-S
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