Lutherans Welcome (Non-Celibate) Gay Clergy

Last August, the Lutheran Church voted to accept non-celibate, partnered gay and lesbian people of faith into the ranks of its clergy. Now the church is following through: seven gay and lesbian pastors were officially anointed in a July 25 ceremony in San Francisco, reported the New York Times on July 25.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) voted last summer, during its national assembly, to lift the restriction on non-celibate open gays and lesbians by allowing them to become clergy if they were in committed relationships. The vote sparked the creation of a parallel Lutheran church in North America, similar to the parallel denomination established by breakaway Episcopalians unhappy with that faith's acceptance of gays.

Religious conservatives believe that the Bible condemns same-gender sexual contact, regardless of the context in which it takes place: a committed, long-term couple of the same gender enjoying intimate physical contact is regarded as being as "sinful" as a casual sexual encounter by those who object to accepting gays.

But critics of that stance say that the Biblical injunction against homosexuality is not based on any modern concept of sexuality, and has little to do with human sexuality or relationships; rather, they argue, the Bible condemns non-Christian and non-Jewish sex rites that other faiths sometimes practiced in antiquity.

The issue has proven to be deeply divisive, with devout people of faith on both sides of the debate. "To be able to be a full member of the church is really a lifelong dream," the Rev. Megan Rohrer told the New York Times last August, following the church's vote on gay clergy at the Minneapolis assembly. "I don't have to have an asterisk next to my name anymore," Rohrer added, referencing her then-unofficial clerical status.

"I think we have stepped beyond what the word of God allows," another cleric, the Rev. Rebecca Heber, told the Times.

Reactions remained divided nearly a year later. Attendees to the July 25 ceremony at St. Mark's in San Francisco expressed jubilation, with openly gay pastor Jeff R. Johnson saying, "Today the church is speaking with a clear voice. All people are welcome here, all people are invited to help lead this church, and all people are loved unconditionally by God."

Others were not so sure. "It's just another steady step taken by the E.L.C.A. to move the denomination further and further away from most Lutheran churches around the world and from the whole Christian church, unfortunately," the Rev. Mark Sanchez told the New York Times. Sanchez heads up an embryonic parallel denomination, the North American Lutheran Church that is slated to begin officially later this summer.

Of the ELCA's 10,500 churches, fewer than 200 have, as yet, elected to leave the faith's mainstream over the issue of gay clerics, but it's possible that a substantial number might still do so. The process entails two consecutive votes, and in hard economic times--with mainstream congregations in decline already and the economy is sluggish shape--some churches may feel fiscally pressured into abandoning the ELCA if they stand to lose too many parishioners over the issue.

Parishioners Walk, Money Talks

Such was the case for an Auburn, Indiana Lutheran church, St. Mark's, that saw an initial vote on breaking away fail by four votes--only to reconsider once the church subsequently lost a significant portion of its membership.

With the congregation shrinking--and its income falling to half its previous levels--the church was forced to reconsider the issue for its own fiscal health. Noted St. Mark's pastor Stephen Kummernuss, "The congregation can survive, but staffing cuts would be needed if the lost membership--and revenue--could not be reclaimed." Eventually, the church voted once more on the issue. Kummernuss had reached out in the interim to tell congregants that voting to leave the ELCA over the issue of gay clergy would not mean that the church was "anti-gay."

Such splits and divisions have roiled other faiths. The global Anglican church faces breakaway parishes, the creation of a parallel, anti-gay Anglican church in North America, and the possibility of full-fledged schism over the issue of what gays, lesbians, and--to a lesser degree--straight women may play in the church. The Catholic church, meantime, remains steadfastly opposed to legal parity for GLBT individuals and families, seeking to obstruct and rescind laws that would extend legal protections to gays, and launching efforts to weed out gay seminary candidates.

But among mainstream protestant churches, a greater acceptance for GLBTs has become something of a trend. Before the Lutherans voted to accept openly gay, partnered clergy, the Episcopalians and the United Church of Christ also accepted them, the New York Times noted; after last summer's vote, the Presbyterian church also voted for acceptance of gays.

The American church's vote also preceded a similar vote overseas by a mere two months: on Oct. 22, the Lutheran leadership in Sweden brought marriage equality to the faithful of that denomination. The vote took place just three days after the thirtieth anniversary of the removal of homosexuality from the list of pathologies in Sweden.

The decision also followed in the wake of marriage equality being granted to gay and lesbian Swedish families by the Swedish government. The family parity law took effect in May, 2009.

"The Synod's decision takes a stance in favor of an inclusive view of people. Regardless of whether one is religious or not, this affects the entire social climate and the view of people's equal value," said Swedish GLBT leader �sa Regn�r, who heads the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education.

Online newspaper SF Appeal reported on July 26 that the ELCA's vote cleared the way for a long-outcast Lutheran parish to be readmitted to the official faith. The article said that St. Francis Lutheran Church in San Francisco had been expelled two decades ago for allowing two lesbians--a couple--to serve as assistant pastors. Another area church, The First United Lutheran, similarly stood against the church's policy, and was also tossed out of the faith's national body.

"The process of healing from the pain of being removed from the ELCA will take time," stated St. Francis' Brandee Markman. "However, we all rejoice that the church is now welcoming sexual minority people, and we embrace our future as a member of the larger church with faith and hope."

The article noted that, "In total, seven Bay Area gay and transgender Lutheran pastors were reinstated into the church after being expelled for 20 years."