North Dakota Lutheran Synod Votes No on Gay Clergy

I and many other gay ELCA Lutherans will be watching to see the out come of the Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis in August, 2009, when the ELCA will vote on giving parishes the option to roster partnered gay clergy. Sadly, the reactionary forces prevailed in a vote in the Eastern North Dakota Synod. I intend to write to each of the voting delegates from the Virginia Synod who will be attending the Churchwide Assembly in the hope of conveying to them the message that a "no" vote sends to gay Lutherans, not to mention the younger generations that favor the recognition of gay unions. A denomination can say all it wants about treating gays with dignity, etc., but if it will not recognize our committed relationships, the true message is that we are not welcome and/or that we are less than full members. The Advocate as a story on the unfortunate vote in the East North Dakota synod. Here are some highlights:

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Delegates at the annual assembly of the Eastern North Dakota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted 187 to 167 on Sunday to reject a proposal to allow gay clergy members to be in same-sex relationships, reports the Associated Press. Congregations in the 4.7 million–member ELCA currently are voting on whether to allow openly gay clergy members to be in monogamous same-sex relationships. The present policy allows clergy members to be openly gay, but requires them to be celibate. Input from the 65 individual synods will be considered when the national ELCA votes on the issue at its Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis in August.

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In February, a task force of the ELCA recommended that the church allow gays and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as clergy. The task force also asked that the church respect congregations that disagree. It proposed a social statement, “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust,” that recognizes marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman, but also acknowledges same-sex couples.

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I sincerely hope that a majority of the voting attendees at the Churchwide Assembly will vote yes and save the denomination from being viewed in the future as akin to denominations that voted in the past to support slavery and other deprivations of civil rights to their fellow man.