Lutheran Services in America

Sweden's Lutheran Church decided Thursday to allow gay marriages in its places of worship, five months after they became legal. Nearly 70 percent of the 250 members of the Church of Sweden's synod voted to allow same-sex couples to marry in its congregations from November 1 and adopted a marriage rite for gay weddings, the church said in a statement. The Church of Sweden, which was the state church until 2000, had backed the parliament's adoption of the gay marriage law, which took effect on... Read Full Story

Sweden's Lutheran Church decided Thursday to allow gay marriages in its places of worship, five months after they became legal. Nearly 70 percent of the 250 members of the Church of Sweden's synod voted to allow same-sex couples to marry in its congregations from November 1 and adopted a marriage rite for gay weddings, the church said in a statement. The Church of Sweden, which was the state church until 2000, had backed the parliament's adoption of the gay marriage law, which took effect on... Read Full Story

The Church of Sweden on Thursday authorised the celebration of gay marriages, five months after they became legal, a spokeswoman said. Nearly 70 percent of the 250 members of the Lutheran church's synod voted in favour of allowing same-sex couples will be able to mary in its places of worship from November 1, the spokeswoman told AFP. The Lutheran Church, which was the state church until 2000, had backed the parliament's adoption of the gay marriage law, which took effect on May 1. But it... Read Full Story

Two smaller, more conservative U.S.-based Lutheran denominations are expressing disappointment in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's decision to open a wider door to gay clergy. The ELCA voted last week to lift a ban that prohibited sexually active gay and lesbian people from serving as ministers. Under the change, congregations will now be allowed to hire homosexuals in committed relationships as clergy. Before, gays and lesbians had to remain celibate to serve as pastors. The 4.7... Read Full Story

088 Paris 26 10 07 Originally uploaded by RoCam The List Would Be Longer Than the Bible Religion and capital punishment have a long history together. The problem with history in our country is that we look at ourselves as being so "progressive" that we never look at what history teaches us. The dead have a right to be heard - they give us faith in humanity and faith in ourselves. They also point out our mistakes. Any time religion and government combine in any way, it has been a major... Read Full Story

Membership in the nation's two largest Christian church bodies, the Roman Catholic Church and Southern Baptist Convention, declined slightly in 2007, according to the latest edition of the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. The Catholic church remains the largest body of believers in the U.S., with 67 million members, the yearbook said. But from 2006 to 2007 the church shed 398,000 members in the U.S. — a 0.59 percent drop. Southern Baptists reported 16.2 million members for a... Read Full Story

Come August of this year, a vote will be before the Church Wide Meeting of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (" ELCA ") as to whether or not gay pastors in committed same-sex relationships should be permitted as rostered clergy. There are definitely reactionary elements within the ELCA that are as anti-gay as some of the professional Christians and as self-righteous and sanctimonious as the Pharisees of the Bible. Fortunately, their cause to block gay clergy suffered at least a... Read Full Story

Brad Froslee was installed as pastor of Calvary Lutheran Church at a special Sunday service attended by dozens of his fellow pastors, as well as Froslee's proud parents and grandmother, all devoted lifelong Lutherans. But the Minneapolis Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America officially lists Calvary's ministry as vacant. That's because, sitting with Froslee's family at his installation ceremony in February, was his male partner of 5 1/2 years — living proof that Froslee has... Read Full Story

Jodi Barry is not the first lesbian to be ordained into a Lutheran ministry. But her ordination Saturday was a new step toward what supporters hope will be greater acceptance of gays and lesbian pastors by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The ceremony was hosted by Grace University Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, where Barry has been a youth minister intern for a year, but it was conducted by Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (ELM), a national network committed to full... Read Full Story

The survey question:  "Homosexuals should have all the rights and privileges as other Americans."  Pastors' support is at 90%, lay people around 60%.  Thus, the study seems to disagree with an observation made in my text study group last week--to wit:  "All those with a liberal bent have either left the church or become pastors." The study was conducted by Jim Burkee and Jeff Walz at Concordia University Wisconsin, a college of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS).  (Disclosure... Read Full Story