The Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America will soon release a draft of
its social statement on human sexuality, including proposed
teaching on gay relationships.
The document
''Free in Christ to Serve the Neighbor: Lutherans Talk About
Human Sexuality'' is scheduled to be made public on March 13
by the Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality.
Like many other
Protestant groups, the ELCA has been struggling for
decades to reconcile different views of what the Bible says
about same-gender relationships.
Current church
standards require clergy to ''abstain from homosexual
sexual relationships.'' But last year the Churchwide
Assembly adopted a resolution that ''urges and
encourages'' bishops to refrain from disciplining
clergy in ''faithful, committed'' same-sex relationships.
The task force
has been working on the issue for years. The final version
of the document is expected to be on the agenda for the next
Churchwide Assembly, August 7-13, 2009, in
Minneapolis.
With about 4.8
million members, the ELCA is the largest Lutheran group in
the United States.
The 2.5
million-member Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, based
in St. Louis, believes the Bible is literally true and
does not ordain gays. (AP)
