A national assembly of Evangelical Lutherans urged its bishops Saturday to refrain from defrocking gay and lesbian ministers who violate a celibacy rule, but rejected measures that would have permitted ordaining gays churchwide.If they end up sanctioning gay clergy they'll probably go the way of the Episcopal church and will end up splitting their denomination into at least two parts as more conservative churches opt out of the denomination in much the same way conservative Episcopal churches have abandoned their US-based denomination in favor of aligning with more conservative churches overseas. I used to deal with a number of EV Lutheran churches and I can't imagine sanctioning gay clergy going over well with them at all.
Still, advocates for full inclusion of gays were encouraged, calling the resolution a powerful statement in support of clergy with same-gender partners. The conservative group Lutheran CORE, however, said bishops will now feel more secure in ignoring denomination policy.
The 538-431 vote came on the final day of a weeklong meeting in Chicago — and after emotional debate over how the denomination should interpret what the Bible says about homosexuality.
Like other mainline Protestant groups, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has been struggling for decades to reconcile differences on the issue. An ELCA task force is near the end of an eight-year study on human sexuality, which is expected to culminate in the 2009 release of a social statement that will heavily influence church policy.
The assembly voted to refer proposals on ordaining gays and blessing same-sex couples to the task force so the panel can make policy recommendations part of its report.
In the other story, a megachurch canceled a funeral service for a gay veteran:
That may seem awfully harsh to the family and friends, but at the same time I could see how the church would not want to appear to be approving of a lifestyle they preach against. It's a very tough situation for both the church and the family, and the church will undoubtedly pay the highest price since they'll certainly get no sympathy from anybody in the press. It's not okay to stand up for your beliefs if your beliefs are politically incorrect.ARLINGTON, Texas (Aug. 10) - A megachurch canceled a memorial service for a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay.
Officials at the nondenominational High Point Church knew that Cecil Howard Sinclair was gay when they offered to host his service, said his sister, Kathleen Wright. But after his obituary listed his life partner as one of his survivors, she said, it was called off.
"It's a slap in the face. It's like, 'Oh, we're sorry he died, but he's gay so we can't help you,"' she said Friday.
Wright said High Point offered to hold the service for Sinclair because their brother is a janitor there. Sinclair, who served in the first Gulf War, died Monday at age 46 from an infection after surgery to prepare him for a heart transplant.
The church's pastor, the Rev. Gary Simons, said no one knew Sinclair, who was not a church member, was gay until the day before the Thursday service, when staff members putting together his video tribute saw pictures of men "engaging in clear affection, kissing and embracing."
Simons said the church believes homosexuality is a sin, and it would have appeared to endorse that lifestyle if the service had been held there.
"We did decline to host the service - not based on hatred, not based on discrimination, but based on principle," Simons told The Associated Press. "Had we known it on the day they first spoke about it - yes, we would have declined then. It's not that we didn't love the family."
Let's turn the situation around a little bit. What if the deceased turned out to be a Nazi sympathizer with a history of racist behavior and that information was discovered by the church during the process of making the memorial tribute. Would anybody (but the family) be upset with the church for canceling the service?
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