NPR’s Barbara Bradley Hagerty, reports on the upcoming meeting of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the likely outcome of its vote on the ordination of gays and lesbian who have spouses,
First it was the Episcopalians, now it’s the Lutherans. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America — one of the largest Christian churches — is on the brink of sanctioning gay clergy members. When more than 1,000 members of the clergy and lay people begin a weeklong meeting in Minneapolis on Monday, they will be asked to decide whether to change their policy and allow pastors in gay relationships to serve in the ministry. What’s remarkable is that this once incendiary issue has become humdrum. And humdrum with breathtaking speed, at least for the 4.6 million baptized members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
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Consider the story of Bradley Schmeling, pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Atlanta. Early on, he told his bishop that he was gay, but that he was not in a relationship, which was OK by church rules. “In 2004, I met Darin Easler — at church, just like your mother wants you to do,” Schmeling says, laughing. “And our relationship progressed, and it became clear that this was a relationship for life, so I did go tell and the bishop.” The bishop asked Schmeling to resign. Schmeling’s church reacted differently.
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Schmeling’s trial ignited a debate that had been smoldering for years. At the national assembly a few months after the trial, the Lutherans passed a resolution saying bishops did not have to enforce the rule barring gay ministers if they didn’t want to.
No one knows how many bishops look the other way, but people on both sides believe there are at least one or two dozen churches with these “irregular” pastors.
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Now that disagreement is being put to the test. And it looks as if the liberals have a good chance of winning.
So conservatives … are already preparing to create a new church within the ELCA, with its own constitution, education system and rules for calling ministers.
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