Evangelical Lutherans vote to allow gay pastors (There are Evangelical Lutherans???)

slampoet

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Sun Aug-23-09 03:48 PM
Original message

Evangelical Lutherans vote to allow gay pastors (There are Evangelical Lutherans???)

Edited on Sun Aug-23-09 04:17 PM by slampoet

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/faith/53859967.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O

This story Surprised me.

Not because the church voted to accept gay pastors. I'm just surprised there are Evagelical Lutherans. i guess you learn something every day. Color me educated.

"In a historic change, noncelibate gays and lesbians can now lead parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

On a 559-451 vote taken Friday in Minneapolis at their biennial conference, delegates repealed the ELCA ban on gay clergy unless they agree to remain celibate. It makes ELCA, with 4.8 million members nationwide and 830,000 in Minnesota, the largest denomination in the country to welcome gays into the pulpits without restriction."

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FSogol

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Sun Aug-23-09 04:23 PM
Response to Original message

1. That's just the term they use to distinguish their branch of Lutheranism from other branches.

They have no connection to what you are thinking of as the Evangelical movement. They don't act like fruitcakes either. ;-)

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InkAddict

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Sun Aug-23-09 04:26 PM
Response to Reply #1

2. The Missouri Synod is the rigid "fundamentalist" branch. n/t

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shirlden

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Sun Aug-23-09 04:33 PM
Response to Reply #1

3. Not fruitcakes??

I came from a long line of Evangelical Lutherans and I can assure you they are "fruitcakes". I left that church in the 60's because they refused to get involved in civil rights. Not our problem, I was told by the church council......let it go. So, I went.

:thumbsdown:

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Ocracoker16

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Sun Aug-23-09 04:44 PM
Response to Reply #3

5. Wrong, ELCA was formed in 1988 and wasn't around in the sixties

You have the wrong church. I am going to guess that you are thinking of another Lutheran denomination that was more conservative. The ELCA is liberal.

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shirlden

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Sun Aug-23-09 04:56 PM
Response to Reply #5

7. Here it is

Missouri Synod and name of church was St Pauls Evangelical Lutheran Church.

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Ocracoker16

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Sun Aug-23-09 05:15 PM
Response to Reply #7

10. The Missouri Synod is not part of the ELCA

The fact that the word Evangelical is used in the church name does not make it part of the ELCA. The Missouri Synod is very conservative. It is much smaller than the ELCA which is the largest Lutheran denomination.

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myrna minx

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Sun Aug-23-09 05:02 PM
Response to Reply #3

8. The ELCA is the liberal wing of the Lutheran church.

The other two Synods (Wisconsin and Missouri) will not allow female Pastors, whereas the ELCA has female Pastors and now allows openly gay Pastors who are in committed relationships. Prior to this decision, the ELCA allowed openly gay Pastors, but they needed to be committed to celibacy. This is a wonderful decision. :bounce:

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Critters2

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Sun Aug-23-09 04:39 PM
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4. "Evangelical" from the Greek "euangelion" meaning "good news".

It technically means "having to do with the New Testament". The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant Church, formed by merging 3 mostly ethnic Lutheran churches--the American Lutheran Church (Swedish American), The Lutheran Church in America (Norwegian American), and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, a group of congregations who left the Missouri Synod after rejecting the LCMS' literal reading of scripture.

So, the ELCA, for the most part, isn't "Evangelical" in the way that term is usually used.

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Bluerthanblue

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Sun Aug-23-09 04:46 PM
Response to Original message

6. another Positive step forward-

I'm glad to read this.

:hi:

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myrna minx

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Sun Aug-23-09 05:04 PM
Response to Original message

9. Here is another discussion on this topic...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4026597&mesg_id=4026597

Some very thoughtful posters provide some insightful information about the ELCA church. :hi:

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MineralMan

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Sun Aug-23-09 07:14 PM
Response to Original message

11. Evangelical is another word stolen by the Religious Right Fundies

and corrupted to their own meaning. All it means, in reality, is that a church is actively seeking to spread the word and attract new members. It has nothing to do with politics.

The Fundies have corrupted it to mean something ugly and foetid, much as are their beliefs.

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