Lutherans decline to ordain gays
Lutheran News Service, August 25, 1999
DENVER (ELCA) – The 1999 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has voted 820 to 159 not to consider selecting non-celibate homosexuals as candidates for the ministry.
The assembly turned down an amendment, 716 to 267, that sought to suspend enforcement of ELCA policies that preclude the ordination of practicing gay and lesbian people and expect ordained ministers to abstain from homosexual sexual relationships. It also defeated an amendment, 559 to 414, calling for a churchwide consultation aimed at proposing “strategies which might allow for the ordination of non-celibate lesbian and gay persons.”
The appoved resolution was offered as a response to a proposal from the ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod. The resolution:
- Acknowledged “the deep level of anxiety and anguish felt by many members, whether heterosexual or homosexual, lay or rostered, male or female, young or old, as this church addresses this concern.”
- Continued discussion in the church of issues involving homosexuality and the inclusion of gay and lesbian people in the life and mission of the ELCA.
- Said that there is no “arbitrarily set timetable for concluding the discussion” and that the church must “await a time of clearer understanding provided by the Lord of the Church.”
- Reaffirmed 1991 and 1995 Churchwide Assembly actions that “Gay and lesbian people, as individuals created by God, are welcome to participate fully in the life of the congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.”