A majority of the 15-member Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality believes that “it is possible to devise guidelines and policies that would allow … some flexibility” in its ordination standards.
The 4.8 million-member ELCA currently allows gay or lesbian clergy who pledge to be celibate; partnered or sexually active homosexual clergy are technically not allowed in ELCA pulpits, though some buck the rules without punishment.
The task force also released a 30-page statement outlining the church’s thinking on homosexuality, but, citing a lack of consensus, did not offer a recommendation on whether to adopt rites for blessing same-sex couples.
If adopted by the ELCA’s Churchwide Assembly in August, the proposals would remove the blanket ban on non-celibate gay and lesbian clergy, empowering local congregations and governing bodies to make their own decisions on whether to allow them.
While permitting non-celibate gay clergy would be a watershed decision for the ELCA, obstacles could waylay the four-step process when it is considered by more than 1,000 delegates Aug. 17-23 in Minneapolis.
Delegates to the 2007 Churchwide Assembly asked the task force to offer policy recommendations on allowing partnered gay and lesbian ministers to serve in the ELCA, the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination. Like other mainline Protestants, the ELCA has struggled for years to find a consensus on the issue. A previous recommendation from the same task force to loosen restrictions on gay clergy was rejected by the Churchwide Assembly in 2005.
The recommendations include four resolutions to be introduced at the Minneapolis convention. Church leaders emphasized, however, that the ELCA’s πChurch Council could amend the recommendations and the four-part approval process when it next meets in Chicago. For example, it is unclear whether the resolutions will require approval by two-thirds of the assembly for passage or a simple majority.
Task Force leaders said the church must deal with underlying issues — how it feels about gay relationships and the lack of consensus in the church — before it can amend its rules.
