Lutherans riven over gay clergy

Pastor policy spurs move by dissidents to split off
By Patrick Condon ASSOCIATED PRESS
Thursday, March 4, 2010

Until a few weeks ago, the Rev. Gail Sowell was pastor at two Lutheran churches in the small Wisconsin town of Edgar. That was before members of both congregations jumped headfirst into the simmering debate over gay clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA).

"It was pretty gruesome," Ms. Sowell said, recalling shouting matches inside the sanctuary; the mass resignation of one church's council, except for one member; even whispers around town that she was a lesbian. "For the record, I'm not," she said.

When the smoke cleared, the congregation at St. John Lutheran Church narrowly voted to not leave the ELCA. Across town at Peace Lutheran, they voted to leave and fired Ms. Sowell. "Fortunately, I'm thick-skinned," she said. the rest