InfoAnda - Lutheran gay clergy vote tests mainline churches

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Emotions spill over in New Zealand coal mine drama | | 20 November 2010
China media tell U.S. to shut up over South China Sea tensions | | 6 August 2012
China publicizes list of Uighur fugitives | International | | 30 July 2009

Heiress Johnson's body being flown east for burial | 7 January 2010

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Lutheran gay clergy vote tests mainline churches

Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Search Search: Sign InNew User? Sign Up News Home - Help Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Africa Europe Latin America Middle East North America Search Search: Lutheran gay clergy vote tests mainline churches By ERIC GORSKI,Associated Press Writer AP - Sunday, August 23 In breaking down barriers restricting gays and lesbians from the pulpit, the nation's largest Lutheran denomination has laid down a new marker in a debate over the direction of mainline Protestant Christianity, a tradition that once dominated American religious life. ADVERTISEMENT By voting Friday to allow gays and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as clergy, the 4.7-million member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will either show how a church can stand together amid differences, or become another casualty of division over sexual morality and the Bible, observers say. "We're going to be living in tension and ambiguity for a longer time, partly because the culture has shifted," said David Steinmetz, a Duke Divinity School professor of Christian history. The question is whether the mainline church will shift alongside, or if it will decide that the more welcoming attitude toward homosexuality is wrong, he said. The ELCA _ the nation's seventh largest Christian church _ reached its conclusion after eight years of study and deliberation. That culminated Friday when the church's national assembly in Minneapolis struck down a policy that required any gay and lesbian clergy to remain celibate. The assembly also signed off on finding ways for willing congregations to "recognize, support and hold publicly accountable lifelong, monogamous, same gender relationships." The church fell short of calling that gay marriage, but conservatives see that as the next step. While congregations will not be forced to hire gay clergy, conservative ELCA members decried the decisions as straying from clear Scriptural direction and warned that defections are likely. Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson pleaded for unity, appealing to both those who long felt marginalized and thought the changes were overdue and those "who feel they were once more central but now feel more peripheral." "It would be tragic if we walked away from one another," Hanson said minutes after the vote. The ELCA hopes to avoid the kind of fissures that have strained the Episcopal Church and the broader Anglican Communion, of which the 2.1 million-member Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch. Just weeks ago, Episcopalians approved a resolution saying that "God has called and may call" gays in committed relationships to ordained ministry in the church, defying Anglicans who urged restraint. The Presbyterian Church (USA) has inched closer to joining the Episcopalians and Lutherans, but the latest effort to undo a policy requiring chastity of gay clergy was defeated this year. The nation's largest mainline denomination, the United Methodist Church, has moved in the opposite direction, hardening its opposition to non-celibate gay clergy. That's likely to continue because of declining Methodist membership in the Northeast and on the West Coast and growth in the South and Sunbelt, said Steinmetz, of Duke. The church also has a burgeoning presence in Africa, a source of conservatism in the Anglican battles, also. The ELCA's move is especially jarring and significant because "it is viewed by all of us as one of the more Reformation-rooted, broadly orthodox denominations" and takes its theology seriously, said Richard Mouw, president of the multi-denominational and evangelical Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. "It's a huge, huge departure for a church like that," said Mouw, who has urged fellow conservatives in the Presbyterian Church (USA) to stay in the fold despite concerns about a leftward shifts on sexuality. He said one possible outcome is a "new ecumenical dialogue on the right" uniting beleaguered conservatives from various denominations _ though not under the banner of a new one. Barbara Wheeler, a former president of Auburn Theological Seminary in New York who is now director of the school's Center for the Study of Theological Education, praised the ELCA for laying a theological foundation for Friday's vote by first approving a broad social statement on sexuality. "It's a completely theological argument toward openness to the possibility of faithful, committed same-sex relationships," said Wheeler, who has played a central role in gay clergy deliberations inside the Presbyterian Church (USA). "What you're seeing is two things: The society is in the process of changing its collective mind about the moral status of same-sex relationships, and there's a parallel theological movement." If gays and lesbians can stick it out in mainline churches whose official teachings "were dismissive of their faithfulness and even their personhood," so can disappointed conservatives, she said. One of the mainline's strengths, she said, is to be a big tent. "When you ask what religion has to contribute to the wider society, one hopes at least some religious groups will give examples of how to hold things together," she said. Mainline churches are trying to hold together at a time when Americans' loyalty to denominational affiliation and organized religion is fraying. More Americans are joining non-denominational churches, which tend to be more conservative, or are discarding institutions altogether to craft their own spirituality. From 2001 to 2008, mainline Protestants dropped from just over 17 percent to 12.9 percent of the population, according to the American Religious Identification Survey, released this year. The study also found that nearly 39 percent of mainline Protestants consider themselves born-again or evangelical Christians _ a group likely to push back on liberal stances on sexuality. Though unity is the goal of many mainline leaders, the future is more likely to hold not a half-dozen large and divided mainline churches but 25 smaller and stronger churches, said Mark Jordan, a Harvard Divinity School professor. "I think we're coming up on an epic reorganization of religion in the United States," Jordan said. "What we're going to see going forward is more and smaller churches, loosely organized and federated around a progressive pole or a conservative pole." Conservative ELCA members have warned of damaged relationships with Lutherans in other countries. While Lutherans in Europe and Scandinavia are to the left of the ELCA on homosexuality, African and Asian Lutherans have been taught a more conservative line by missionaries and theologians, said the Rev. Conrad Braaten, senior pastor of Church of the Reformation, an ELCA congregation in Washington, D.C. Braaten is optimistic the ELCA can hold together through the sexuality tensions. "This particular discussion has been going on with a lot of deep feelings in the Lutheran church, but not a lot of acrimony and not a lot of bridges being burnt," he said. "I think that's going to make a difference." Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Sign in to recommend this article » 0 users recommend Related Articles: World Obama calls for 'honest debate' on health careAP - Sunday, August 23 Hurricane Bill nears US after brush with BermudaAP - Sunday, August 23 Greek forest fire rages near Athens, damages homesReuters - Sunday, August 23 Observers warn Afghan vote not universally freeAFP - Sunday, August 23 The Nation's WeatherAP - Sunday, August 23 Most Popular – World Viewed Egypt warns pharaohs' tombs could disappear Pandas could be extinct in 2-3 generations: report Ramadan begins on Saturday amid swine flu worries It's nuts! Squirrel becomes a Web sensation New economic data set to test Wall Street bull run View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - Community - Intellectual Property Rights Policy - Help

Other News on Sunday, 23 August 2009
Iran clerics oppose Ahmadinejad on women ministers
Russia dam disaster death toll rises to 66
Homes of former Porsche executives searched: report
Reporter's family reunion in Iraq is reality check
More relay woe for United States
Iraq's Maliki pledges victory amid criticism
Iran clerics oppose Ahmadinejad on women ministers | International |
Long's sportsmanship was not case of race, says son
South Sudan accuses north of arming southern civilians, militias
Iraq's Maliki pledges victory amid criticism | International |
Iraq minister suspects security forces role in blasts
Nigeria rebel group to resume attacks, ends talks | International |
Venezuelans march over schools law, police use gas | International |
Pakistan suicide bomber blows self up during raid
Official says Iranian guards kill 2 Pakistanis
Report: Pakistani Taliban choose new leader
North Korean envoys to meet South's President Lee
Report: Hakimullah new head of Pakistani Taliban
Urban schools use marketing to woo residents back
Obama to health care critics: end `phony claims'
AP NewsAlert
Post-affair Ensign gets mixed results in Nevada
4 dead in latest violence in southern Thailand
India to let landlocked Nepal use second port
Gay clergy: Where large Protestant churches stand
Prosecutor: Neb. man stole painting for abortion
China says 2 environment officials investigated
Rioting inmates set central Ky. prison ablaze
Tips for reducing the chance a dog will bite
Change of venue court cases are extremely rare
Lutheran gay clergy vote tests mainline churches
Ga. dog pack shows fine line between pet, predator
Rival Koreas meet ahead of state funeral | International |
Russia dam disaster death toll up to 69: rescuers
Smartphones drive language learning innovation
Swiss size up hole in iconic banking secrecy
Afghan polls lay hope for power of ballot box
Triple gold for Bolt as Kenya trump Ethiopia
Vatican deplores indifference to migrants after more deaths
Japan opposition wary of polls showing a landslide | International |
US notifying Red Cross of jailed militants: report
Australia sprays oil slick amid wildlife fears | International |
King calls for unity in polarized Thailand | International |
Iraqis facing more deadly attacks says foreign minister
Weaker Hurricane Bill moves towards eastern Canada | International |
Iraqis begin restoring concrete walls in Baghdad
Argentine outrage as Iran names terror suspect as minister
Apple says Google Voice app alters iPhone | Technology |
Sean Kingston album gets fans online with karaoke | Technology |
Weaker Hurricane Bill heads for US, Canada coasts
China drought leaves 5 million short of water
CIA report has new details of prisoner abuse
HK protesters demand release of Chinese dissident
N. Korea delegation meets with S. Korean president
Lawyers can question 9/11 suspect in writing
World economy on rebound, but future uncertain
State funeral for ex-SKorean President Kim begins
Water project adds to Taiwan leader's typhoon woes
FBI director outraged by Lockerbie bomber release
US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,334
China arrests 15,000 drink-drivers in a week: report
Elizabeth Edwards opens furniture store in NC
King calls for unity in polarised Thailand
Global Weather-Celsius
AP sources: Internal report tells of CIA methods
NKorea leader Kim sends message to SKorea president
Weather forecast for the Asia-Pacific region
Swine flu looms over global economic recovery
Global brands turn to China's young amid slump
Robin Williams says he is a work-in-progress dad | Entertainment |
Sean Kingston album gets fans online with karaoke | Entertainment |
Police scour Canada for millionaire murder suspect
Porn makers challenged for not mandating condoms
Guitarist James Burton fails to set world record
Europe's biggest jackpot finds a winner
US Evangelical Lutherans accept 'committed' gay clergy
Israel pushes Sweden to condemn 'anti-Semitic' story
Italian, French aircraft to join Greek fire effort
Germany ramps up pressure on GM over Opel
Afghan challenger says election widely rigged | International |
Pakistan Taliban name new leader but doubts remain | International |
More than 200 claims of irregularities in Afghan vote
Proud Scots feel heat over Libyan bomber's release | International |
Fresh attack hits northern Afghanistan: govt
Cuba publishes photo of fit-looking Fidel Castro | International |
Report: No sign of West Bank settlement slowdown
British military procurement flawed: report
Greek wildfire near Athens spreads, thousands flee | International |
Iraq intelligence chief retired before major blasts | International |
Settlements seen clouding Netanyahu Europe trip | International |
Egypt tries 26 men seen with Hezbollah links | International |
Madagascar's leaders committed to power-sharing | International |
South Korea holds state funeral for Kim Dae-jung
McCain refuses to consider taxes to reduce deficit
Dispute threatens talks to end Filipino rebellion
McCain: Obama must drop 'public option'
McCain: Health debate hurt by Kennedy's absence
Rare tiger killed, body stolen from Indonesian zoo
Obama vacation takeoff delayed by Hurricane Bill
US notifying Red Cross of jailed militants: report
Japan PM says forecast of election loss premature
Excited locals await Obamas at vacation spot
China legal activist freed, but may face tax case
Afghan commission: fraud filings could sway vote
Australian oil well to gush for nearly two months
New Pakistan Taliban leader ruthless
Japan PM frontrunner vows to cut public debt
Japan opposition wary of polls showing a landslide
Foreign direct investment plans in S. Korea jump
Rising poverty looms large in Japan's election
Bangladeshi firms seek to shed 'sweatshop' label
Diamond mining is not forever, SAfrica learns
Suspicion undermines DR Congo relief workers
New York painter barks for art
Europe's top tourist venues hit by economic crisis
The charm of the Mini rolls on at 50
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01