As I mentioned recently, the ELCA Assembly’s biggest hurdle right now to openings its gates for lesbian/gay/partnered clergy is whether the recommendation before the Assembly, meeting right now in Minneapolis, will have to be adopted by a 2/3 supermajority or just a simple majority. 

The ELCA is certainly not all of the same mind about what to do with LGBT people who are Christians, let alone what to do with LGBT clergy.

The people on the extreme right, shouting “Armageddon” have a plan, of course. Either the homosexuals have to get out or the conservatives have to get out. Pity they won’t be around to here the stories of their own children and grandchildren who come out of their closets as faithful children of God and who need understanding and compassion, not judgment and rejection. Personally, I doubt that these few congregations (perhaps 100 out of 10,000 in the ELCA nationwide) will move to the right and join the Missouri Synod or the Wisconsin Synod, which are more to the right and righter of the ELCA. Those heavily German synods are culturally so stuck in their 19th century roots they refuse to even live in the world that exists today. So if there is a schism, the small break-away group will likely float out there as another tiny sect for a generation or more.

“Not all of the same mind” is of course an understatement. Like many other segments of American society right now, the church is almost evenly divided over homosexuality and its related issues. This is not a simple red-state/blue-state division for the ELCA, either, since the majority of its membership nationally lives in the heartland states, while the majority of the American population lives in the coastal states and large cities.
 A less controversial but important ecumenical issue before the Minneapolis Assembly is whether or not to adopt a “full communion” status with the United Methodist Church, a much larger and more conservative church body in America with high percentage of its churches in small towns spread throughout the heartland. What drives the division of the house on sexuality, of course, is what also drives the so-called “culture war”: LGBT people, when they wake up to their sexuality, sexual orientation or gender identity, are less likely to stay on the prairie but take the high road to the nearest big town.

If the ELCA is pretty much divided, it could mean that “the vote” on the Ministry Recommendations could come close to the 50% majority line, and tip either way. But the first hurdle is that change (dropping the present anti-gay policies) not require a 2/3 majority for passage.

So the first, big hurdle? Associated Press reports, through 365Gay.com, “Lutheran gay clergy proposal passes 1st hurdle.”

“(Minneapolis) Leaders of the country’s largest Lutheran denomination prayed for unity Monday as they waded into a weeklong debate over homosexuality and the clergy, while a rule change that would allow people in same-sex relationships to serve cleared its first hurdle.
 

“The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which is meeting this week in Minneapolis, is debating a proposal to allow individual congregations to hire gays and lesbians in committed relationships as clergy. A final vote is not expected until Friday.
  “But delegates on Monday rejected a move by critics of the proposal to require approval from a two-thirds supermajority instead of a simple majority when the measure comes to the final vote.
  “Supporters of the supermajority said a higher hurdle was needed to signal wide support for what they called a major change in the church’s approach to homosexuality. But the move received support from just 43 percent of the 1,045 voting delegates.
  “ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson said earlier in the day that the outcome of the majority versus supermajority vote shouldn’t be seen as strongly indicating the ultimate outcome of the debate.
  “The ELCA delegates gathered at the Minneapolis Convention Center also will consider a broader statement on human sexuality, a 34-page document that tries to establish a theological framework for differing views on homosexuality. Critics say it would simply liberalize the ELCA’s attitudes. A vote on that document is scheduled for Wednesday.
  “At 4.7 million members and about 10,000 congregations in the United States, the ELCA would be one of the largest U.S. Christian denominations yet to take a more gay-friendly stance on clergy.
  “In 2003, the 2 million-member Episcopal Church consecrated its first openly gay bishop, deepening a long-running rift over homosexuality in the worldwide Anglican Communion and leading to the formation of the more conservative Anglican Church in North America, which claims 100,000 members.”

The sex and culture wars, according to numerous commentators, is triggering a slow but sure realignment of religious beliefs in America. People will get up and switch congregations, or church bodies, until the find a new comfort zone where their beliefs are reinforced and their prejudices not challenged. I left in the last two paragraphs of the AP story to illustrate the size factors in this debate. Stayed tuned on that also!

—Pastor Dan Hooper, Los Angeles