What's Going On Among Lutherans?
-->
Reaction to the news of the ELCA Convention
ELCA Lutherans vote to allow gay clergy
What's going on among Lutherans? If you've watch the news over the past week, you have probably heard that the largest Lutheran church body in America just voted to allow gay clergy. To read their news release, click here
You might be thinking, "What's going on among Lutherans?" "How is this related to our church body?"
Well, this is why there are different Lutheran church bodies. We do not belong to the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) precisely because they have rejected the Bible as the pure Word of God. Their national church body voted to allow gay clergy to practice as pastors. This is just the last step in a long downward slide away from what the Bible says about God's gift of marriage and sex. All of this is because ELCA, as a group, does not believe that the entire Bible is God's Word and is normative for our life. Instead, they pick and choose which parts of the Bible they want to follow and which they choose not to. But God says that the Bible is truthful, all of it; he says that it is authoritative, all of it; he says that is inspired, all of it; he says that we are to believe and follow it--all of it.
Our national church body, the WELS, is not a part of this controversy. We believe, teach, and confess that the Bible is the pure Word of God and that it is inspired, without error, and normative for our faith and life. We don't have any debate on what marriage is, or what God pleasing sexuality is, precisely because God's Word speaks to it so clearly. What a blessing to be part of a church body that is standing on God's Word! I included below the reaction of our national church body's President Mark Schroeder.
In Him,
Pastor
Milwaukee, Wis.—Rev. Mark Schroeder, president of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), is expressing regret at the vote of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) convention regarding homosexual clergy. Friday, delegates approved a resolution committing the church to find a way for “people in such publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships” to serve as professional leaders of the church.
“To view same-sex relationships as acceptable to God is to place cultural viewpoint and human opinions above the clear Word of God,” says Schroeder. “The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, along with The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and other smaller Lutheran synods, maintains and upholds the clear teaching of the Bible that homosexuality is not in keeping with God’s design and is sinful in God’s eyes.”
At the same time, Schroeder says WELS congregations stand ready to support those struggling with same-sex attractions. “As with any sin, it is the church’s responsibility to show love and compassion to sinners, not by condoning or justifying the sin, but by calling the sinner to repent and by assuring the sinner that there is full forgiveness in Jesus Christ,” Schroeder says.
WELS, with about 390,000 members and nearly 1,300 congregations nationwide, is the third largest Lutheran church body in the United States. In Wisconsin alone, there are more than 201,000 members and 417 congregations. “It’s unfortunate that many headlines have referred to the recent decisions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as something ‘Lutherans’ have decided,” Schroeder says. “In fact, the ELCA is only one of many Lutheran denominations. We are saddened that a group with the name Lutheran would take another decisive step away from the clear teaching of the Bible, which was the foundation of the Lutheran Reformation.”
Schroeder says that WELS is firmly committed to upholding God’s design for marriage as outlined in Scripture—a design intended for one man and one woman. “We believe, and the Bible teaches, that God designed this relationship to be a blessing for men and women and for society. Any departure from what God himself has designed does two things: it denies the clear teachings of Scriptures and it undermines God’s desire that the man/woman relationship in marriage be a blessing.”