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From The Morning Call
June 9, 2007
Allow gay pastors, local Lutheran synod says
But don't make changes until 2009 when sexuality report is due, members decide.
By Michael Duck Of The Morning Call
The United States' biggest Lutheran church should change its policy on gay pastors, but not anytime soon, agreed Lutherans from across northeastern Pennsylvania while meeting Friday in Bethlehem.
At the gathering of more than 600 representatives from 293 congregations in 14 counties, a narrow majority urged the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to end its prohibition on pastors in same-sex relationships.
However, a majority also directed the church not to make changes until 2009, when a years-old church study on sexuality is expected to wrap up.
The Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod appears to be the first in the country to adopt both resolutions, which were proposed by national groups on opposite sides of the church's debate on gay clergy.
''I think it demonstrates … how
divided the synod remains, particularly over moving quickly to liberalize our policies,'' Bishop David Strobel said. ''We want change, but patiently.''
Joshua Buzzard of West Brunswick Township, Schuylkill County, who introduced the resolution urging the delay until 2009, said he believes the seemingly contradictory votes show there was ''confusion as to what people thought they were voting for.''
At Friday's 20th annual synod assembly, held at Bethlehem's First Presbyterian Church because no local Lutheran churches were big enough, representatives also approved a proposal asking bishops not to discipline pastors who violate the church's policy on same-sex relationships.
Friday's discussions, like similar ones in synods across the country, were triggered by disciplinary actions against a gay pastor in Georgia who last year told his bishop he was in a same-sex relationship.
With Friday's vote, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod became at least the 16th to ask for the policy change, at least the eighth to ask that bishops not discipline gay clergy, and at least the 11th to ask for a delay until 2009, according to activists on both sides. Fifteen other synods also meet this weekend, and many will discuss the same issues.
There are no openly gay pastors in the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod, which includes about 70 congregations in the Lehigh Valley, said the Rev. Catherine Ziel, the synod's head administrator.
But nationally, ''it's kind of an open secret that there are a lot of gay ministers on the ELCA roster,'' the Rev. Jane Ralph of the Lutheran Lesbian and Gay Ministries Board said in a phone interview.
Ziel agreed, noting that the synod almost certainly includes several gay or lesbian pastors who haven't told church officials about their orientation.
''The ELCA has long said it's fine to have gay pastors as long as they're celibate,'' Ziel added.
Christians traditionally have believed the Bible forbids gay relationships. ''Quite simply, the Word says the only appropriate place for a sexual relationship is in the lifelong marriage of one man and one woman,'' the Rev. Mark Chavez, the director of WordAlone Network, said in a phone interview. His organization supports delaying action until 2009.
But Strobel, who believes some people are born gay, said it may be time to re-evaluate the handful of Bible passages that seem to forbid homosexual relations explicitly.
Those verses don't seem to refer to committed, long-term relationships, he said, and many Christians also disregard other Biblical prohibitions. For example, Strobel said, most Lutherans ignore the Apostle Paul's statement in his First Letter to the Corinthians that all women must pray with their heads covered.
Like other mainline Protestant denominations, Lutherans have been debating these questions for years. In 2005, the church's national assembly rejected a proposal to allow gay pastors in relationships, while also directing officials to start work on a new church statement on sexuality.
With that study and statement not due until 2009, church officials hadn't expected to reopen the issue until then, Strobel said. But the case in Georgia forced the issue back open in February. A disciplinary committee ruled that current church policy required a non-celibate gay priest to be defrocked, but it also urged the church to change that policy.
The case rallied supporters of gay pastors, but Chavez and Buzzard said the committee's move short-circuits church procedures. ''They didn't like the outcome [of the 2005 vote], so they have to bring it up again,'' Buzzard said.
Those procedural concerns seemed to sway many representatives on Friday, including some who support gay and lesbian pastors.
The Rev. Robert Argot, pastor of Evangelical Lutheran Friedens Church in Bernville, Berks County, said he believes the church will someday allow gay and lesbian pastors who are in long-term relationships.
''The question is,'' he said, ''how do we get down that path? … By doing it this way, are we pushing it too fast?''
In August, some version of all three resolutions passed Friday in Bethlehem will go before this year's churchwide assembly in Chicago.
michael.duck@...
610-861-3637
At the gathering of more than 600 representatives from 293 congregations in 14 counties, a narrow majority urged the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to end its prohibition on pastors in same-sex relationships.
However, a majority also directed the church not to make changes until 2009, when a years-old church study on sexuality is expected to wrap up.
The Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod appears to be the first in the country to adopt both resolutions, which were proposed by national groups on opposite sides of the church's debate on gay clergy.
''I think it demonstrates … how
divided the synod remains, particularly over moving quickly to liberalize our policies,'' Bishop David Strobel said. ''We want change, but patiently.''
Joshua Buzzard of West Brunswick Township, Schuylkill County, who introduced the resolution urging the delay until 2009, said he believes the seemingly contradictory votes show there was ''confusion as to what people thought they were voting for.''
At Friday's 20th annual synod assembly, held at Bethlehem's First Presbyterian Church because no local Lutheran churches were big enough, representatives also approved a proposal asking bishops not to discipline pastors who violate the church's policy on same-sex relationships.
Friday's discussions, like similar ones in synods across the country, were triggered by disciplinary actions against a gay pastor in Georgia who last year told his bishop he was in a same-sex relationship.
With Friday's vote, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod became at least the 16th to ask for the policy change, at least the eighth to ask that bishops not discipline gay clergy, and at least the 11th to ask for a delay until 2009, according to activists on both sides. Fifteen other synods also meet this weekend, and many will discuss the same issues.
There are no openly gay pastors in the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod, which includes about 70 congregations in the Lehigh Valley, said the Rev. Catherine Ziel, the synod's head administrator.
But nationally, ''it's kind of an open secret that there are a lot of gay ministers on the ELCA roster,'' the Rev. Jane Ralph of the Lutheran Lesbian and Gay Ministries Board said in a phone interview.
Ziel agreed, noting that the synod almost certainly includes several gay or lesbian pastors who haven't told church officials about their orientation.
''The ELCA has long said it's fine to have gay pastors as long as they're celibate,'' Ziel added.
Christians traditionally have believed the Bible forbids gay relationships. ''Quite simply, the Word says the only appropriate place for a sexual relationship is in the lifelong marriage of one man and one woman,'' the Rev. Mark Chavez, the director of WordAlone Network, said in a phone interview. His organization supports delaying action until 2009.
But Strobel, who believes some people are born gay, said it may be time to re-evaluate the handful of Bible passages that seem to forbid homosexual relations explicitly.
Those verses don't seem to refer to committed, long-term relationships, he said, and many Christians also disregard other Biblical prohibitions. For example, Strobel said, most Lutherans ignore the Apostle Paul's statement in his First Letter to the Corinthians that all women must pray with their heads covered.
Like other mainline Protestant denominations, Lutherans have been debating these questions for years. In 2005, the church's national assembly rejected a proposal to allow gay pastors in relationships, while also directing officials to start work on a new church statement on sexuality.
With that study and statement not due until 2009, church officials hadn't expected to reopen the issue until then, Strobel said. But the case in Georgia forced the issue back open in February. A disciplinary committee ruled that current church policy required a non-celibate gay priest to be defrocked, but it also urged the church to change that policy.
The case rallied supporters of gay pastors, but Chavez and Buzzard said the committee's move short-circuits church procedures. ''They didn't like the outcome [of the 2005 vote], so they have to bring it up again,'' Buzzard said.
Those procedural concerns seemed to sway many representatives on Friday, including some who support gay and lesbian pastors.
The Rev. Robert Argot, pastor of Evangelical Lutheran Friedens Church in Bernville, Berks County, said he believes the church will someday allow gay and lesbian pastors who are in long-term relationships.
''The question is,'' he said, ''how do we get down that path? … By doing it this way, are we pushing it too fast?''
In August, some version of all three resolutions passed Friday in Bethlehem will go before this year's churchwide assembly in Chicago.
michael.duck@...
610-861-3637
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