Imagine future ELCA ordinations.
ELCA ready to issue stance on gay ordination
By JEFF STRICKLER, Star Tribune
Last update: February 13, 2009 - 2:47 PM
The battle lines are about to be drawn for this summer's confrontation over the ordination of gay people by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
With the matter scheduled for a vote at the biannual national convention in Minneapolis in August, church leaders will release a position paper Thursday that is expected to indicate their stance on the issue.
This is the second public step in a process that began in 2001 when the ELCA Churchwide Assembly commissioned a social statement on human sexuality.
A draft version of that study, "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust," was released last March and distributed to congregations for reaction. That report, which did not take a stand on gay ordination, also will be released in a revised version that incorporates members' comments.
But the main focus is going to be on the second document, which will address recommendations for possible changes in the standards for clergy and professional lay workers in the ELCA.
