"Jodi Barry is not the first lesbian to be ordained into a Lutheran ministry. But her ordination Saturday was a new step toward what supporters hope will be greater acceptance of gays and lesbian pastors by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
The ceremony was hosted by Grace University Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, where Barry has been a youth minister intern for a year, but it was conducted by Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (ELM), a national network committed to full acceptance of gay and lesbian pastors in the Lutheran church.
The ceremony marked one of the first ordinations since the ELCA adopted a "refrain and restraint" policy in August 2007. Intended to ease a divisive issue without changing the ELCA's position against gay clergy, the policy instructs church leaders not to respond harshly when individual congregations or other groups choose a gay or lesbian minister."
Train wreck, thy name is ELCA.
2 comments:
Pray for us, man.
I'm in the ELCA as a voice for Biblical truth, as a Joshua in a land full of giants. There are a few of us trying to protect our flocks from this nonsense, but we are somewhat rare (there are more of us than I once thought, but still not as many as there could be.) The "hearing" on the upcoming sexuality statement was quite the trainwreck, but those committed to the Bible were there in force. I think Bishop Johnson (of Minneapolis) was somewhat surprised.
I've mentioned this before here on the blog - My family is still part of an ELCA church, and I grew up in that same church. So I still have skin in the game, even though I wouldn't be part of the ELCA personally.
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