August 21, 2009
Lutherans to Allow Sexually Active Gays as Clergy
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 7:59 p.m. ET
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The nation's largest Lutheran denomination took openly gay clergy more fully into its fold Friday, as leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to lift a ban that prohibited sexually active gay and lesbian people from serving as ministers.
Under the new policy, individual ELCA congregations will be allowed to hire homosexuals as clergy as long as they are in a committed relationships. Until now, gays and lesbians had to remain celibate to serve as clergy.
The change passed with the support of 68 percent of about 1,000 delegates at the ELCA's national assembly. It makes the group, with about 4.7 million members in the U.S., one of the largest U.S. Christian denominations yet to take a more gay-friendly stance.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/08/21/us/AP-US-Lutherans-Gays.html?hp=&pagewanted=print
1 comment:
Can't wait to bring this up to my mother-in-law.
Post a Comment