Theologians and church analysts said both votes could influence other Protestant denominations — including Presbyterians and United Methodists — that are struggling to reconcile conflicts over homosexuality and the Bible.
One scholar characterized the move by the two groups as a “watershed moment in American Christianity” that could further divide churches already laboring to stem the flight of traditionalists.
“Those who have been actively campaigning for a change of this sort in the other mainline denominations will see this as a sign that they should intensify their efforts,” Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, said in an e-mail. “For those of us who have opposed this on biblical grounds, it is bound to reinforce the sense that we are no longer welcome in the mainline.”
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LA Times–Lutherans lift barrier for partnered gay clergy
Theologians and church analysts said both votes could influence other Protestant denominations — including Presbyterians and United Methodists — that are struggling to reconcile conflicts over homosexuality and the Bible.
One scholar characterized the move by the two groups as a “watershed moment in American Christianity” that could further divide churches already laboring to stem the flight of traditionalists.
“Those who have been actively campaigning for a change of this sort in the other mainline denominations will see this as a sign that they should intensify their efforts,” Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, said in an e-mail. “For those of us who have opposed this on biblical grounds, it is bound to reinforce the sense that we are no longer welcome in the mainline.”
Read it all.