Sunday, September 19, 2010

Lesbians in committed relationships welcomed as ELCA pastors

By JEFF STRICKLER, Star Tribune

In a ceremony that started with a public mea culpa and ended with a prolonged standing ovation, three lesbian ministers were officially embraced Saturday by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)...

Officially called a Rite of Reception, the ceremony began with an unusual litany of confession in which it was the church rather than the congregation admitting to wrongful behavior.

"We have fallen short in honoring all people of God and being an instrument for that grace," the statement said. "We have disciplined, censured and expelled when we should have listened, learned and included."

No comments: