Since the merger of predecessor Lutheran groups into the present Evangelical Church in America in 1988, three pastors have been dismissed for involvment in same-gender, sexual relationships. Most recently, in July of this year the Committee on Appeals of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ruled that Pastor Bradley Schmeling of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Atlanta should be removed from his ministry because he was in a sexual relationship with another man.
The Chicago Tribune noted the dismissal last week and anticipated the ELCA’s Annual Assembly this week saying that, “Almost a third of the church’s synods, or regional governing bodies, have endorsed a proposal that would permit gay and lesbian pastors in committed relationships to serve congregations and would reinstate those who have been removed because of a same-sex relationship. The resolution before 1,071 voting members at the biennial national assembly convening Monday comes two years before the church is scheduled to release a broader social statement on human sexuality.”
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