ELCA Assembly to Consider Sexuality Issues

Posted on: August 17, 2009

Lutherans who are in full communion with The Episcopal Church will vote this week on resolutions concerning same-gender relationships, including those involving clergy.

The Churchwide Assembly of the Lutheran Church in America convened on Monday and will meet through Saturday at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Delegates to the assembly will consider four resolutions proposed by the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality.

The first three resolutions ask the assembly to answer these questions:

• “Should the ELCA commit itself to finding ways to allow congregations and synods that choose to do so to recognize, support, and hold publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships?”

• “Should this church commit itself to finding a way for people in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as rostered leaders of this church?”

• “As it implements its decisions to find ways to roster people in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships, can this church commit to doing so in ways that bear one another's burdens, love the neighbor, and respect the bound consciences of those with whom they disagree?”

If the assembly answers all three questions in the affirmative, it then would vote on a fourth resolution for “structured flexibility in decision-making to allow, in appropriate situations, people in publicly accountable, monogamous, lifelong, same-gender relationships to be approved for the rosters of the ELCA.”

The task force does not propose approving an official rite for blessing same-sex couples, “because this church does not have biblical and theological consensus on this matter.”

The report includes two statements of dissent. One asks the church to reaffirm its earlier teachings in opposition to same-sex blessings. The other asks the church to say that sexual orientation does not represent a barrier to rostered ministry within the ELCA.

The assembly also will discuss whether to approve a 34-page statement, “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust,” as an official ELCA social statement.

The assembly will begin discussing the issues Tuesday morning.

This article comes from The Living Church Foundation
http://www.livingchurch.org/

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