Lutheran Church

ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict told Rome's Lutheran congregation on Sunday that Protestants and Roman Catholics should be thankful for all the unity achieved among Christians rather than complain about the slow pace of dialogue.

As ELCA splinters over gay clergy issue, new Lutheran group hopes to capture congregations. Until a few weeks ago, the Rev. Gail Sowell was pastor at two Lutheran churches in the small Wisconsin town of Edgar. That was before members of both congregations jumped headfirst into the simmering debate over gay clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

Religion News in Brief. The Molokai settlement where Saint Damien cared for Hansen's disease patients would be managed by the Department of Hawaiian Homelands under a bill before the Legislature.

Religion News in Brief. Seven members of Iran's Baha'i minority are on trial on charges of spying and acting against the country's national security, state media reported.

Eighty-seven churches join new conservative Lutheran group over gay clergy. Eight-seven churches in total have publicly vowed to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran denomination in America with nearly 5 million members, and join the conservative group Lutheran Coalition for Renewal (Lutheran CORE) after the ELCA voted in favor of several gay issues. Unhappy that ELCA leaders voted to drop its 20-year-old ban on non-celibate gay and lesbian clergy and approved a plan to bless gay unions during its Minneapolis meeting in August, members of Lutheran CORE decided to splinter from the church. ?God is calling us to do something,? Rev. Paull Spring, chair of Lutheran CORE, told members in September. ?The ELCA has fallen into heresy. It is a time for confession and a time to resist. It is, please God, also a time for new life and transformation and for mission.? According to the group's website, the highest number of defections have come from Minnesota

Lutheran group to lead formation of new church body in wake of decision to allow gay pastors. The split over gay clergy within the country's largest Lutheran denomination has prompted a conservative faction to begin forming a new Lutheran church body separate from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Protestants on Wednesday elected Margot Kaessmann, a divorcee and the Lutheran bishop of Hanover, to lead them, the first woman to take the post and only the third woman to head a major Christian church.

Delegates of Sweden's largest church, the Lutheran Church of Sweden, approved a plan Thursday to bless gay marriages. Delegates of Sweden's largest church, the Lutheran Church of Sweden, approved a plan Thursday to bless gay marriages, the AFP reported. Gay marriage became available in Sweden on May 1 after Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill in April, making it the seventh country to legalize gay marriage. A large majority (70%) of the church's synod, or church board, agreed to allow gay couples to marry in its congregations from November 1. Pastors, however, have the discretion to refuse to bless a marriage. The Church of Sweden, which was the state church until 2000, is the nation's largest church with 6.8 million members or nearly 75% of Swedes. While the church has blessed civil unions for more than a decade, and supported the effort to legalize gay marriage, some clergy wanted to preserve marriage for heterosexual couples. The decision comes on the heels of a controversial v

The Church of Sweden on Thursday authorised the celebration of gay marriages, five months after they became legal, a spokeswoman said.

Sweden's Lutheran Church decided Thursday to allow gay marriages in its places of worship, five months after they became legal.

Sweden's Lutheran Church decided Thursday to allow gay marriages in its places of worship, five months after they became legal.

Lutheran president urges rejection of gay resolutions; threatens to end cooperation. The president of the second largest Lutheran denomination in the U.S. is urging Lutherans to reject recently approved pro-gay resolutions or risk losing his church's cooperation. In August, representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran denomination in America with nearly 5 million members, voted in favor of eliminating its 20-year-old ban against partnered gay and lesbian clergy. Previously, gay clergy were welcome in the church but were required to remain celibate. ELCA representatives also adopted a little-noticed gay unions resolution during its Minneapolis meeting. The gay unions resolution only says that the church has committed itself to finding a way to recognize and support gay relationships. But the resolution could be used to support the belief that individual synods (or dioceses) may bless gay unions at their discretion, pastors say. In a letter a

Conservative Lutherans delay decision to leave but continue to search for a way out. Conservative Lutherans meeting in Indianapolis have decided not to decide whether to leave the church over gay issues, at least not for the next year. About 1,200 members of the Lutheran Coalition for Renewal (Lutheran CORE) voted Saturday to remain in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran denomination in America with nearly 5 million members, but authorized the creation of a panel to look into leaving the church, with recommendations to be issued next year. The group is unhappy that the ELCA voted to drop its 20-year-old ban on partnered gay and lesbian clergy. Previously, gay clergy were welcome in the church but were required to remain celibate. ELCA representatives also adopted a little-noticed gay unions resolution during its Minneapolis meeting last month. The gay unions resolution only says that the church has committed itself to finding a way to recognize and s

Conservative Lutherans to decide within year whether to stay with church after gay clergy vote. Conservative members of the nation's largest Lutheran denomination voted Saturday to spend the next 12 months deciding whether to split from the church after it liberalized its stance on gay clergy.

Conservative Lutherans agree to decide in a year whether to leave church after gay clergy vote. Conservative members of the nation's largest Lutheran denomination say they will decide in a year whether to remain or split off after the church liberalized its stance on gay clergy.

The presiding bishop of the Lutheran Church has released a video pleading for unity as gay issues threaten to splinter the church . Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the Lutheran Church, released a video Thursday pleading for unity as gay issues threaten to splinter the church. Bishop Hanson released his video as conservative Lutherans prepare to meet in Indianapolis to consider leaving the ELCA over its increasing acceptance of gay clergy. ?My heart aches when I hear ELCA members express a feeling of abandonment because of the decisions on human sexuality taken by our churchwide assembly,? he says. Last month, representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran denomination in America with nearly 5 million members, meeting in Minneapolis agreed to drop the church's 20-year-old ban on partnered gay and lesbian clergy. Previously, gay clergy were welcome in the church so long as they remained celibate. Representatives also approved an equivocal gay

Conservative Lutherans are threatening to leave the Lutheran Church over gay issues. Conservative Lutherans are threatening to leave the Lutheran Church over gay issues. Last month, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran denomination in America with nearly 5 million members, dropped its 20-year-old ban on partnered gay and lesbian clergy. Previously, gay clergy were welcome in the church but were required to remain celibate. It also approved a little-noticed gay unions resolution during its meeting in Minneapolis. While the gay unions resolution brings the church closer to blessing gay unions, it remains hazy enough to have gone mostly unnoticed. It only says that the church has committed itself to finding a way to recognize and support gay relationships. Opponents of the changes will meet this weekend in Indianapolis. Members of Lutheran CORE will consider altering its fundamental mission of reforming the ELCA from within to competing against it. Atten

Lutheran Church gives a nod to gay unions, but does that include marriage?. The Lutheran Church created quite a stir last month when it dropped its 20-year-old ban on partnered gay and lesbian clergy. But it seems its nod to gay unions got lost in the debate that followed. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran denomination in America with nearly 5 million members, approved a little-noticed gay unions resolution during its meeting in Minneapolis. While the resolution calls for support of gay unions, it leaves the church's policy on gay marriage unclear. The resolution was adopted on a 619 to 402 vote and says: ?Resolved, that the ELCA commit itself to finding ways to allow congregations that choose to do so to recognize, support and hold publicly accountable lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships.? When asked if the resolution meant pastors would be free to bless gay marriages, Phil Soucy of the liberal Lutheran group Lutherans Concerned/North

Despite full communion with the ELCA, gay clergy are not welcome in the UMC. Despite a full communion agreement between the United Methodist Council (UMC) and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), gay clergy are not welcome in the UMC. Earlier in the month, the Lutheran church voted in favor of a communion pact with the UMC that includes the sharing of clergy the day before it dropped its ban on partnered gay and lesbian clergy. On Wednesday, Methodist officials said the pact does not supersede its own ban on gay clergy. ?Our Book of Discipline on that subject did not become null and void when they took that vote,? Bishop Gregory Palmer, president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, said in a statement. ?It still applies to United Methodist clergy.? Lutherans agreed, saying the communion pact was not a merger. ?[If clergy in] same-gendered, long-term relationships in the ELCA ? want to serve in a United Methodist Church, The United Methodist Church can say we are sorry

Religion News in Brief. 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.