A task force of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America recommended Thursday that its leaders make changes to allow gay and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as clergy.
-- From "Lutheran task force recommends changing gay-clergy policy" by Manya Brachear and Margaret Ramirez, Chicago Tribune reporters 2/19/09
If approved, the measures would change current church policy that allows ordination of gay clergy, but requires them to be celibate. In the report, the task force proposed a four-step process that outlines a possible path for change, starting with recognition of same-sex relationships.
"It is only within the last decades that this church has begun to understand in new ways the need of same-gender oriented individuals to seek relationships of lifelong companionship and commitment," the statement said.
The 4.7 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which is based in Chicago, is the nation's largest Lutheran denomination. The Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod are separate denominations that accept a literal interpretation of the Bible and do not ordain gays.
The recommendation will be voted on at the Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis in August.
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Attention frogs: The water surrounding you in the pot is near boiling; have you noticed?