German Lutheran Church May Elect Gay Bishop

Depending upon how the final vote turns out, Yahoo News is reporting that the Lutheran Church in Germany may soon elect a gay bishop. Sadly, the un-Christian far right faction within the Church is whining and protesting about that prospect. Obviously, as a Lutheran myself, the more sister churches to the ELCA adopt gay accepting policies, the more pressure there will be on the ELCA to official grant full acceptance to gays as members of all levels of the clergy and as committed couples. Personally, I find it amazing that an allegedly well educated denomination like the ELCA - a few weeks ago I did a post that compared the inverse correlation between the education level of various denominations with their acceptance of biblical literalism where the Lutherans ranked high on education and low on biblical literalism - continues to have an element that refuses to accept modern advances in medical and mental health knowledge. These Neanderthals prefer to cling to the medically and scientifcally ignorant writings of more than 2000 years ago as a basis for hating and denigrating other human beings. Are they so lacking in self-esteem that they need to cling to a sense of being superior or what? Here are some story highlights:

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BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany could elect its first openly gay Lutheran bishop next month, a move conservatives say would alienate many Christians and open divisions in the Church. The July 12 election brings to Germany the question of gay clergy and same-sex unions which has caused rifts in several countries and faiths, including the Anglican community.

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Horst Gorski, a senior cleric from Hamburg, is standing for the post of bishop of Schleswig in northern Germany against Gerhard Ulrich, a senior cleric from the Schleswig area. The incumbent bishop is retiring in September. Gorski is a widely respected theologian and he helped set up a centre for gay and lesbian Lutheran pastors. His open homosexuality angers some Lutheran conservatives who argue his election as bishop would leave many Christians with no spiritual home.

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The election committee is standing by its choice of candidates. "After careful consultation, we have nominated two experienced provosts as candidates who have excelled in their localities and in the region in a variety of ways," said election committee member Bishop Maria Jepsen, the world's first woman Lutheran bishop.

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The Lutheran World Federation, which represents nearly 69 million Christians, says it will not get involved as it has no common line on the question of homosexuality. "This is a pastoral issue that each church individually must deal with," LWF General Secretary Reverend Ishmael Noko told Reuters. "We have no position on this issue at the moment," he said, adding the body, which has 140 churches in 78 countries, has commissioned a study on marriage, family and sexuality.

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Last year the largest U.S. Lutheran body, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), said it would allow homosexual clergy in sexual relationships to serve as pastors.