Ind. Lutheran Church Votes to Leave Over Gay Issues

by Kilian Melloy
Friday Jul 9, 2010

An Auburn, Indiana Lutheran church has decided to split from the mainstream faith rather than see committed gay and lesbian people of faith allowed to serve as clergy.

The church, St. Mark’s, took a vote on July 4 and the majority opted to break away from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), reported KPC News.com on July 9. The reason for the split is the August, 2009 decision by the ECLA’s leadership to allow openly gay and lesbian people who are in committed same-sex relationships to serve in a clerical capacity. The church’s previous stance on gays was that they could only serve as clerics if they were celibate.

Such splits and divisions have roiled other faiths. The global Anglican church faces breakaway parishes, the creation of a parallel, anti-gay Anglican church in North America, and the possibility of full-fledged schism over the issue of what gays, lesbians, and--to a lesser degree--straight women may play in the church. the rest

ELCA RELEASES NEW NUMBERS ON CONGREGATIONS VOTING TO LEAVE
"As of June 30, the Office of the Secretary has been advised that 462 congregations have taken first votes to terminate their relationship with the ELCA (some congregations have taken more than one first vote). Of these 462 congregations that have taken first votes, 312 passed and 150 failed. Synods also have informed the Office of the Secretary that 196 congregations have taken a second vote, 185 of which passed and 11 failed. (The numbers previously reported on June 3 for second votes contained an error; the correct number of failed second votes as of June 3 should have been 10, not 21. Thus, the number of second votes that passed as of June 3 should have been 151, not 140.)"