Posted by
Playful Walrus on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 4:34:03 PM
It's been a few months since we’ve had an update on ELCA Lutherans. Patrick Condon of the Associated Press reports the latest in respect to Lutherans who accept Biblical authority splitting off from the ELCA.
Leaders of Lutheran CORE said Wednesday that a working group would immediately begin drafting a constitution and taking other steps to form the denomination, with hopes to have it off the ground by next August.
What was the tipping point? Here's a reminder...
At its annual convention in Minneapolis in August, ELCA delegates voted to lift a ban that had prohibited sexually active gay and lesbian pastors from serving as clergy. The new policy, expected to take effect in April, will allow such individuals to lead ELCA churches as long as they can show that they are in committed, lifelong relationships.
And how is that to be determined, anyway? They live together? So what?
At a September convention, Lutheran CORE members voted to spend a year considering whether to form a new Lutheran denomination. However, its leaders said Wednesday that a heavy volume of requests for an alternative from disenfranchised congregations and churchgoers prompted them to hasten the process.
They can't get away fast enough. Some people will try to portray this as homophobia, but I doubt that most of these people are afraid of homosexual people. Instead, they submit to the teachings of the Bible.
John Brooks, spokesman at the ELCA's Chicago-based headquarters, said Lutheran CORE's move was not unexpected. He expressed hope that church members would ultimately opt to stay in the denomination as it strives to be "a place for all people despite any differences we might have on any issues."
Really? Any issues? How about authority of Jesus Christ? You’re supposed to be a church, not a social club. Churches have doctrines and standards.
I've already said plenty in previous blog entries on this issue.