Lutheran Head Says Gay Struggle Not Central to Church Health
The head of the nation's largest Lutheran denomination said Tuesday he hoped the debate over homosexuality would not split his church.
The head of the nation's largest Lutheran denomination said Tuesday he hoped the debate over homosexuality would not split his church when it meets for a biennial gathering next month.
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, told reporters during a conference call that the church's stance on homosexuality is not what defines its success.
"I don't look to a tension-free church as the mark of a vital and healthy church in mission," he said, according to the Associated Press.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The ELCA will be holding its General Assembly in Orlando, Fla., from Aug.8-14. The thorniest debate at the assembly will likely surround three major Lutheran proposals regarding the role of homosexuals in the church. The three resolutions, a fruit of nearly four years of debate, reflection, and labor, address whether active homosexuals should be ordained and if pastors should be allowed to hold same-sex "marriage" ceremonies.
The measures, each to be voted upon separately at the Assembly, would:
-- reaffirm the church ban on ordaining non-celibate gays, but allow bishops or church synods to give exceptions for a particular candidate;
-- uphold the denomination's unofficial prohibition of giving same-sex blessings, but give bishops and pastors discretion in deciding how to minister to gay couples - even if it means recognizing homosexual unions;
-- call for unity despite differences over what the Bible says about homosexuality.
Most conservative Lutherans criticized the proposals, calling it a "toothless" approach to the issue since it would give exceptions to the current rules. Evangelicals say the issue strikes at the heart of a larger debate over Biblical interpretation and understanding.
Hanson agreed that the tension is a sign of a greater struggle.
"I think as a large church body we have great capacity to be in mission together that is diminished when we are apart," Hanson said, adding that he hope "we will not take the tensions they create as evidence of a divided church but as a sign that a church is struggling with what it means to be centered in Christ."
The ELCA, with 5 million members, is one of the largest mainline Protestant denominations in the U.S. Bishop Hanson also serves as the president of the Lutheran World Federation, which serves over 60 million Lutherans worldwide.
