Earlier in the summer, the Episcopal Church decided to take steps toward creating a service for gay unions. The move, while controversial, continues the Episcopal Church’s branching from its Anglican roots. In 2003, the Episcopal Church consecrated its first openly gay clergy member.

Few religious leaders contacted by the Sun-Times News Group about either the ELCA or Episcopal changes wanted to speak on the issue. Most of those who did declined to be identified. Their reasons for not wanting to speak varied, and perhaps could be an indicator of the divisive nature of the progressive movements of church leadership.

One local Episcopal clergy member spoke at length about his reluctance to potentially adopt any sort of rites for gay unions and cited a rule that would give discretion to individual churches over such matters.

That same member of the clergy requested that the Chicago diocese be contacted for further comments. Calls placed to the general number of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago went unanswered.

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While many churches have talked about leaving the ELCA, St. Paul’s is one of only three in the country that has followed through on it. “The phone has been ringing off the hook,” [the Rev. Roland] Wells said.

He has spent a lot of those conversations trying to convince people that his modest 130-year-old church on the corner of Portland Avenue and 19th Street is not a rebel looking for a fight.

“That’s not us at all,” Wells said. “We’re a very loving, very kind congregation. Fussing or fighting is not our nature.”

He said that his congregation, which he describes as “orthodox in theology and evangelical in practice,” had a moral objection to the ELCA’s recent vote to roster [noncelibate] gay and lesbian ministers. Along with churches in Arizona and Virginia, it voted Sunday to split from the parent denomination.

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With a process that gives new meaning to the expression “stacked deck,” the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August 2009 voted to allow for the blessing of homosexual unions and the rostering of pastors in homosexual relationships. I salute the efforts of the renewal group Lutheran CORE, which courageously fought against the homosexualist agenda at the assembly (I had the great privilege of addressing them). Just this past weekend they had a meeting attended by 1200 persons that began the process of defining a new vision and structure for those who recognize the ELCA’s hard-left departure from normative Christian faith and practice.

How should faithful Lutherans””that is, Lutherans who affirm the male-female requirement for sexual unions so important to Jesus and the scriptural witness to him””deal with these new heretical and immoral actions? In particular, do the recent actions of the Churchwide Assembly justify beginning a trajectory that will lead eventually to disaffiliation with the denominational structure known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America? Let me suggest [a way]….

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When asked why they chose their current denomination, the majority of respondents spoke of the strong similarity between their present church and the Catholic Church in terms of liturgy, ministry and theology. This was especially true for the Episcopalians and seems to explain why so many of the survey respondents gravitated to the Anglican Communion. Most of those who joined the Episcopal Church said that with only minor adjustments they “felt at home” from the beginning and that they found comfort in the fact that they could hold onto their core beliefs in the Resurrection and the Eucharist. Over time they modified their views on other subjects, such as papal infallibility and women’s ordination, but many of them had already begun to question the validity of those doctrines.

Before I began the interviews, I hypothesized that diocesan priests would be overrepresented in my sample because they seem to be at greater risk for loneliness than religious order priests. (Most religious live in community, while diocesan priests often live alone in rectories because of the shortage of priests.) The survey results support this hypothesis. Based on the historical ratio of American diocesan clergy to religious, one would expect to find 61.5 percent diocesan priests in this sample; in fact, 72.3 percent of the respondents had served in diocesan ministry. (Recall that Cutié was a diocesan priest.)

Where [Alberto] Cutié differs from most of the men I surveyed is in the historical timing of his decision. The majority of respondents began their journey to a new church in the period from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. It seems unlikely that Cutié’s example will spark another wave of priestly resignations. According to research conducted by Dean R. Hoge and Jacqueline E. Wenger in Evolving Visions of Priesthood: Changes from Vatican II to the Turn of the New Century (2003), young priests today are more theologically conservative than their immediate predecessors and are more likely therefore to embrace the church’s traditional teaching on celibacy. Questions remain, however, about how many young Catholic men have chosen lay or Protestant ministry over the Catholic priesthood because of the demands of celibacy””a fitting area of inquiry, perhaps, for another curious sociologist.

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Community Church of Joy, Glendale, Ariz., ended its affiliation Sept. 27 with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.
The congregation was the 10th largest in the ELCA with 6,800 baptized members. According to the 2009 ELCA Yearbook, Community Church of Joy’s current operating expenses are more than $2.7 million. It gave more than $207,915 to the ELCA and other organizations in benevolence. By a unanimous vote of 129-0, Community Church of Joy terminated the relationship at a congregational meeting following worship.
“I was praying that (the vote) would be a clear direction from the congregation,” said the Rev. Walter P. Kallestad, senior pastor of the congregation. Seeking to be consistent with the congregation’s decision, Kallestad announced to the congregation his intention to resign from the ELCA’s clergy roster.

Read it all and check out the three documents linked to here also.

Most in the crowd this weekend were individuals or couples. Roughly one-fourth were pastors; many represented congregations deeply split by the controversy. Of the denomination’s 65 sitting bishops, organizers said they believe only about 10 are sympathetic.

But what was a gathering that a few months ago expected only about 400 people at Christ the Savior Lutheran Church in Fishers exploded into a standing-room-only, 1,200-plus affair that had to be moved to Holy Spirit Catholic Church at Geist.

“The ground has shifted, and it is still shaking,” said the Rev. Paul Ulring, a pastor from Columbus, Ohio, and a reform leader. “The real question before us is, what do we do next? The church has changed a lot. There’s no going back.”

Before the gathering ended, the crowd stood and sang “God’s Word Is Our Great Heritage.” For many, that defines a key element behind the outrage — that the ELCA’s acceptance of same-sex relationships was a turn from biblical principles.

“We saw this decision as a slap in the face of the authority of the Scripture,” said the Rev. Larry Gember, pastor of St. James Lutheran Church in Greenfield. “I think there is outrage. We’re trying not to be bitter. At this point, we are trying to move forward in a positive way.”

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One of the largest evangelical Lutheran churches in Western Virginia on Sunday afternoon took the first step to split from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

By a majority of 70 percent, members of St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, in Southwest Roanoke County, voted to separate from the largest Lutheran church in North America.

The move comes on the heels of the ELCA’s decision last month in Minneapolis to allow gays and lesbians in committed relationships to serve as clergy. Previously the ELCA had required gay clergy to remain celibate.

Senior pastor Mark Graham said his church does not “want to be seen as anti-gay or against homosexuals,” but the ELCA’s statement goes against the church’s interpretation of marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

The fact the church even had to consider the issue is troublesome to Elijah Mwitanti, associate pastor at St. John and a native of Zambia in southern Africa.

“This just shows how far off the deep end we in America have gone,” Mwitanti said.

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Read it all and watch the whole video.

Two new reports on the size and strength of American congregations present contrasting pictures of church life today.

The October issue of Outreach magazine is all about growth. It lists the 100 largest U.S. churches, based on attendance statistics gathered by LifeWay Research, Nashville.

Leading the list, as in 2008, is Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church, Houston; 43,500 attend weekend worship.

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The moves have other pastors defending against what they believe is an abandonment of the Bible’s teaching about homosexual behavior.

“God loves people regardless of their sexual orientation. ”¦ But the departure is a departure from biblical authority,” said the Rev. R.E. Lybrand Jr., pastor at Lake Wylie Lutheran Church.

“There may be things in Scripture that we may wish weren’t there ”¦ but when they are there, even when we are uncomfortable, we must bow to that with obedient hearts,” he said.

Lybrand was one of three local pastors who placed an ad in last Sunday’s Herald in the form of a letter to “disassociate ourselves” from the actions taken by the national Lutheran and Episcopalian groups. In the letter, the pastors said they wanted to affirm that their beliefs about the gay issue and other church matters were based on the Bible’s authority.

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Last week the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America decided to allow gays in “life-long, monogamous” relationships to serve as clergy and professional lay leaders in the church. The question left unanswered, however, was, “Whose definition of monogamy would be used?”

One of the unspoken assumptions in the debate over gay marriage is that monogamy is equally valued by both gay and straight couples. While far too many heterosexuals opt for a form of serial monogamy””marriage, divorce, remarriage””it is still generally understood that sexual fidelity is too be expected within the bounds of marriage. The same assumption, however, is not necessarily true within homosexual relations.

Many same-sex marriage advocates will naturally find such a claim shocking, if not scurrilous. The “It’s about love” crowd have often been strong on empathy while weak on their understanding of how homosexual relationships tend to differ from those of heterosexuals. (It also seems to have escaped their notice that marriage may not be the only term that homosexual activists want to redefine.) But this isn’t a controversial idea””at least it wasn’t until the recently.

Until a few years ago, many gay activists freely admitted that the traditional view of monogamy was a heterosexual ideal that did not apply to homosexual relationships.

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It is too early to call the ELCA’s decision a tipping point for mainline Protestants. The Presbyterian Church (USA) and the much larger United Methodist Church continue to prohibit gay people from being ordained. Demographics likely explain some of these differences – there are many more Methodists and Presbyterians in the most conservative regions of the country than members of the ELCA, Episcopal Church, or United Church of Christ.

The history of debate in individual denominations matters too – the Presbyterians and Methodists have been locked in divisive internal battles about homosexuality for longer than the ELCA – as do the formal ways denominations make decisions. The Presbyterians seem the most likely to follow the ELCA; their denominational vote on gay ordination this year was narrower than in the past.

These shifts within mainline Protestantism reflect liberalizing public opinion about homosexuality. They show that mainline Protestant denominations, like most religious traditions, are continually adapting and revising theological interpretations as their social environments change. We salute the ELCA for taking a bold step in the direction of justice and equality and hope the Presbyterians and United Methodists soon follow suit – fully tipping the mainline Protestant denominations toward complete equality for gay men and lesbians.

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We are writing as individuals to disassociate ourselves from certain actions taken at the recently concluded General Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the General Convention of The Episcopal Church (TEC). We believe that by their actions, the ELCA and TEC have abandoned the authority and plain teaching of Holy Scripture; overturned two thousand years of Christian thought and teaching; and sought to conform the church to this world/age instead of discerning the will of God (Romans 12:2).

In response to these actions, we wish to affirm that:

· Jesus Christ is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6) and that “there is salvation in no one else” (Acts 4:12).

· We believe the Holy Scriptures to be God’s Word written and to “contain all things necessary for salvation.” In addition, we feel that “it is not lawful for the Church to ordain anything that is contrary to God’s Word written” (XX ”“ Articles of Religion).

· The ideal set forth by God in Holy Scripture for human sexuality is found within the bounds of Holy Matrimony between one man and one woman, or chastity in the single state. And if this be the case, the church cannot bless relationships outside of this standard, and ought not ordain those whose lifestyle does not conform to this standard.

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Lutheran ministers who are in same-sex relationships will not be allowed to serve as clergy in United Methodist congregations despite the new full communion agreement between the two denominations.

Bishop Gregory Palmer, president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, made clear on Wednesday that UMC’s ban on noncelibate gay clergy still stands.

“Our Book of Discipline on that subject did not become null and void when they took that vote,” said Palmer, according to the United Methodist News Service. “It still applies to United Methodist clergy.”

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Of mainline Protestants surveyed by the Pew Forum for its U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, 56 percent said homosexuality should be accepted by society. Thirty-four percent of those Protestants said it should be discouraged. In all, the Pew Forum surveyed more than 35,000 adults of all faiths.

Others say the growing acceptance of homosexuality in churches is unique to North American liberal Protestantism.

Christianity is growing fastest in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America, and those believers are much more conservative on sexuality, said Bishop Callon W. Holloway Jr. of the Southern Ohio Synod of the ELCA. He opposed the changes at last week’s Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis.

Now, Holloway is trying to hold his synod together. He’s heard from between 200 and 300 people who say they intend to leave the denomination, he said.

Such departures could have devastating consequences for congregations that rely on members financially, he said.

The Rev. Paul Ulring, pastor of the 5,000-member Upper Arlington Lutheran Church, said his congregation is likely to leave the ELCA.

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As parishioners approached St. Timothy Lutheran Church on Sunday morning, something unusual was apparent.

On the signs outside the church, the word “Lutheran” was draped in black. Only the words “St. Timothy” remained visible.

“I asked that be done because I’m ashamed,” the church’s pastor, Richard Mahan, told the congregation later Sunday morning. “I’m ashamed of what the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has done to a church I’ve loved for 40 years.”

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Mr. [Bill] Sullivan, a former ELCA pastor, is national coordinator for the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC), a collection of 226 congregations founded in March 2001 with 25 charter member churches dissatisfied with the denomination’s liberal drift.

Now the trickle has turned into a flood.

“It’s been going nonstop,” he said of his phone.

On Friday alone, he scheduled three visits to ELCA churches in Buffalo, N.Y. Sioux City, Iowa and Jacksonville, Fla., for later this fall. They are thinking of leaving, as were the 15 people who had stopped by the hotel suite that day. Twenty-five inquiries had come in that week alone, and that was before all the vote tallies were in down the street at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

He glanced at his e-mail.

“The train wreck is just about over,” he said, reading from a post sent by a delegate on the convention floor. “The first responders need to be ready.”

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Lutherans are no strangers to discord and divisiveness. The Lutheran church was born under such conditions. Yet we also know the path to concord, expressed in these rather straight forward words in The Formula of Concord, written during a notable time of doctrinal controversy and discord in the church. Hear these words from the Kolb-Wengert translation:

“For these controversies are not merely misunderstandings or semantic arguments, where someone might think that one group had not sufficiently grasped what the other group was trying to say or that the tensions were based upon only a few specific words of relatively little consequence. Rather, these controversies deal with important and significant matters, and they are of such a nature that the positions of the erring party neither could nor should be tolerated in the church of God, much less be excused or defended.

“Therefore, necessity demands explanation of these disputed articles on the basis of God’s Word and reliable writings, so that those with a proper Christian understanding could recognize which position regarding the points under dispute is in accord with God’s Word and the Christian Augsburg Confession and which is not, and so that Christians of good will, who are concerned about the truth, might protect and guard themselves from the errors and corruptions that have appeared among us.”

The writers of this Formula pledged themselves, and I quote, “to the prophetic and apostolic writings of the Old and New Testaments, as to the pure, clear fountain of Israel, which alone is the one true guiding principle, according to which all teachers and teachings are to be judged and evaluated.” Discord can become concord when Christian individuals and Christian church bodies are faithful to the Holy Scriptures, which reveal the Gospel of God’s grace, forgiveness, and salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Read it carefully and read it all.

I love the fullness of truth found within Catholic Church. I also carry a burden to see the prayer of Jesus, recorded in St. John, Chapter 17, answered. There is a connection. Into a world that is fractured, divided, wounded, filled with “sides” and “camps” at enmity with one another, the Church is called to proclaim, by both word and deed, the unifying love of a living God. The heart of the “Gospel” is the message that in and through Jesus Christ, authentic unity with God – and through Him, in the Spirit, with one another- is not only possible but is the plan of God for the entire human race. The Church is the way.

We report on the work of the Holy Spirit within the Orthodox Church. We report on what is good, as well as what is challenging, within Christian communities which descend from the Protestant Reformation. Many are facing great challenges, such as those within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Anglican Communion/Episcopal Church. This IS a “Catholic” issue because part of being a Catholic is having a concern for all Christians, including those with whom we are not (yet) in full communion but with whom we share a common Baptismal bond. The Second Vatican Council affirmed that the “fullness of truth ‘subsists’ within the Catholic Church”. This truth makes Catholics all the more responsible. “To those to whom much is given, much more will be required.” (Luke 12:48)

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A revealing statement on the Lutheran decisions came from Barbara Wheeler, who serves as an advocate for the acceptance of homosexual ministers in 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.” She is exactly right, for the theological movement to normalize homosexual relationships is working hard to accommodate the Scriptures and the church’s historic teaching so that it matches the changing mind of the larger society.

The claim that these two contradictory understandings of the Bible’s teachings on human sexuality can coexist and be recognized as being equally faithful to the Scriptures is nonsense. Those pressing for the normalization of homosexuality must put the Scriptures through hoop after hoop of theological acrobatics. The claim that a church can both condemn and bless homosexual relationships with equal faithfulness falls false on its face. Worst of all, it sows a disastrously deadly confusion about the nature of sin — a confusion that subverts the Gospel and brings eternal consequences. Should homosexuals repent of their sin, or come to the church for the blessing of their homosexual unions? There can be no multiple-choice answer to that question. The actions in Minneapolis will reverberate far into the future. Woe unto those who cloak such decisions with the disguise of faithfulness.

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America had debated lifting its ban on non-celibate gay clergy for years, with tensions flaring at each biennial Churchwide Assembly.

Still, when the ban was finally lifted late Friday (Aug. 21), it came as a surprise””and an unwelcome one at that””to some conservatives in the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination.

“The first reaction is that they are stunned,” said the Rev. Jonathan Jenkins, who addressed the new clergy policy at his Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Lebanon, Pa. “We’ve been talking about this as a possibility for some time, but I think most of our people did not expect this to happen.”

Jenkins said that many, but not all, members of his congregation, where 185 gather for worship each Sunday, were dismayed by the change. Jenkins is one of several pastors who are organizing a meeting in Central Pennsylvania this week to discuss the new policy and whether to stay in the ELCA.

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The 85,000-member Synod of Southwestern Pennsylvania is theologically conservative, and had asked the Churchwide Assembly to keep a requirement for gay clergy to remain celibate.

“At this point, what I’ve heard is a lot of deep sadness, and it comes from different places,” said Bishop Kurt Kusserow of the Southwestern Pennsylvania synod. “It comes from people who feel that the church they know and love has become different from what they know and love. But we are also hearing deep sadness from those who for decades have been waiting for change, because it is so evident that many others in the church that they know and love are feeling sad.”

At the meeting in Minneapolis, Bishop Kusserow pressed successfully for language that spelled out the obligation to respect those who believe that the Bible forbids sexual relations outside of heterosexual marriage. No congregation can be forced to accept a partnered gay pastor.

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The United Methodist Church, for example, officially considers marriage an act between a man and a woman and forbids same-sex ceremonies.

But as a United Methodist minister, the Rev. Vivian R. Waltz doesn’t see the fairness in the prohibition.

“Gay people,” she said, also “are God’s children.”

Nor would she dismiss the possibility of presiding over a gay wedding.

“I would have to pray on that,” said Waltz, minister of discipleship at Hamburg United Methodist Church. “I’m fully cognizant that such an act could jeopardize my credentials in the church. At the same time, I serve a God of justice, and the church’s position is unjust.”

The state’s Roman Catholic bishops, including Bishop Edward U. Kmiec of the Diocese of Buffalo, have staunchly opposed the same-sex marriage legislation. And while the majority of Catholics also were opposed, a significant number of Catholics in New York ”” 39 percent ”” expressed support for legal gay marriage, according to a Quinnipiac College poll in May.

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All of this is excellent news for same-sex couples, of course, but the emphasis on “committed, lifelong relationships” leaves out the single minister, the divorced minister, the widowed minister — whether gay, straight, or bisexual — who must still adhere to a standard of celibacy unless their partner status changes.

I’ve long believed that the major sexuality problem denominations face is that they are unable to acknowledge that celibacy until marriage doesn’t apply to most single adults. There are more than 75 million American adults who are single — more than at any time in history. We are marrying later, divorcing at high levels, and living longer, so more of us will be widowed. And as a whole, we’re having sexual relationships when we aren’t in marriages….

The Religious Institute has long called for a new sexual ethic to replace the traditional “celibacy until marriage, chastity after.” This new ethic is free of double standards based on sexual orientation, sex, gender or marital status. It calls for sexual relationships to be consensual, non-exploitative, honest, pleasurable and protected, whether inside or outside of a covenanted relationship. It insists that intimate relationships be grounded in communication and shared values.

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SCHMELING: Well, my dream for the ELCA would be that we could be a community that really celebrates gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender leaders in the church””not just tolerate our presence, but genuinely celebrate the gifts that people bring to the church.

LAWTON: Traditionalists argued that the measure violated biblical teachings.

REV. CORI JOHNSON (Northern Great Lakes Synod delegate): We have a clear witness in Scripture about homosexuality. Every time homosexuality is mentioned in Scripture, it’s mentioned in a negative light. We don’t have any positive references to homosexuality in Scripture.

LAWTON: Many said the same standards should apply to all pastors.

REV. MARK CHAVEZ (Lutheran Coalition for Reform): And the proposals are just a flat-out rejection of what the Christian church for 2000 years, and most Christian churches today, and most believers today, still hear and believe: Don’t have sex outside of marriage. Period.

LAWTON: But supporters argued for a different interpretation of Scripture.

REV. GLADYS MOORE (New England Synod delegate): I think there are some who want to see the Word as a static book that we are to read literally, and others of us see it as a living, breathing, dynamic Word that continues to be revealed to us.

Read or watch it all.

These are important questions. It is often argued by those who favor same-sex marriage that the institution of marriage will transform same-sex relationships, and make them more committed and monogamous. But what if same-sex relationships, if they are guided by this corrupt definition of monogamy, serve actually to undermine the church’s traditional understanding of monogamy? That’s one reason why the answer to this question is so important.

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Golden light filtered through the stained-glass windows of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church on Sunday, illuminating a congregation on its feet.

Everyone in the pews of the Wrigleyville church stood, some with tears in their eyes, applauding the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s recent decision to allow gay men and women in committed relationships to serve as leaders.

“It’s a good day to be a Lutheran,” said Patrice Macken, a member of Holy Trinity for six years. “I feel like it’s a long overdue decision … it’s just a human-rights issue.”

Meanwhile, at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Lindenhurst, Rev. Bill Shields opened worship with a cry of anguish. “Dear Father, we come to you with heavy hearts because our church is in turmoil,” he prayed.

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Traditionalist US Lutherans have warned they might leave to form another denomination after their Church voted to allow gay people to act as pastors.

Delegates voted on Friday to allow people in life-long monogamous gay relationships to become ministers.

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My overall feeling, after despair and righteous anger, was that this decision exposes an eschatological flaw in the structure of our “denomination”. The Scriptures, Ecumenical Creeds, writings of the Fathers, Magisterial works of the Reformers, and our Luthearn Confessions and catechisms in the Book of Concord all bear witness to the Truth, Jesus Christ, at work at present in his Holy Word and Sacraments in the power of the Holy Spirit within the life of the Church. Supposedly this Tradition is the norm of our proclamation, teaching, faith and life. In fact, the “social statement on sexuality” that also passed in Minneapolis, (by 66.6%!) frankly recognized that any vision of sexual relations outside of celibacy in singleness and chastity within marriage would be “in contradiction” and a departure from this lode of teaching and Tradition. The “bound consciences” of congregations, synods, and bishops to disagree with the ministry policy changes, and to retain traditionalist oversight over their own clergy and pastoral practices is enshrined within these changes, but as we know from Richard John Neuhaus, where orthodoxy becomes optional, it will eventually be proscribed.

Unfortunately, as in the case of TEC, this week’s small, supposedly representative deliberative body, became captive to the political designs of postmodernists dedicated to accomodating culture, appeasing sexual minorities, advocating for a gospel of “inclusiveness”, rejecting classical understandings of Scripture and tradition, and in general played into the wiles of the devil.

These decisions, quite frankly, do not represent the heart of American Lutheranism, which is made up of many different faithful streams, the vast majority of which are Scripture-centered, mere-Christian creedal, sacramental, Eucharist-centered, evangelical/missional, with a unique piety shaped by a classical Western liturgy, strong hymnody, catechisms, devotional Bible study, confession & forgiveness, daily remembrance of Baptism, and a larger social-ministry apparatus than any other U.S. Church.

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On Friday, delegates juggled raw emotion, fatigue and opposing interpretations of Scripture.

Before the vote but sensing its outcome, the Rev. Timothy Housholder of Cottage Grove, Minn., introduced himself as a rostered pastor in the church, “at least for a few more hours,” implying that he would leave the denomination and eliciting a gasp from some audience members.

“Here I stand, broken and mournful, because of this assembly and her actions,” Mr. Housholder said.

The Rev. Mark Lepper of Belle Plaine, Minn., called for the inclusion of gay clergy members, saying, “Let’s stop leaving people behind and let’s be the family God is calling us to be.”

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