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May 26, 2009 in Nation/World
Marriage question strains churches
Clashes over gays’ role may cleave sects, religious scholars say
The nation’s mainline Protestant denominations have quarreled for years over the role of gays and lesbians in church life, but those debates promise to grow even more intense this summer.
The conflicts, which come as several states wage legal fights over gay marriage, could well influence whether some of the religious denominations remain intact or splinter into smaller factions.
California’s Supreme Court is expected to rule today on the constitutionality of the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. For the faithful in a number of American churches, the legal battle over civil marriage for gay and lesbian couples runs parallel to religious struggles that are strikingly similar and often just as heated.
One of the most visible denominational skirmishes will occur in July, when leaders of the 2.2 million-member Episcopal Church consider proposals at their national convention to sanction a religious rite for blessing same-sex unions and ease restrictions on the ordination of gay and lesbian bishops.
If approved, the steps could further alienate theological conservatives, giving them reason to join four Episcopal dioceses and hundreds of parishes that split away in 2008 to form a separate church.
The country’s largest Lutheran denomination, meanwhile, is scheduled in August to consider a statement on human sexuality that among various elements says that Christian tradition recognizes marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman.
Even as they acknowledge deep divisions over homosexuality, members of the 4.7 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will decide at their meeting whether they should allow local congregations to recognize same-sex unions and allow “practicing homosexuals” in committed relationships to serve in ministry.
Other Protestant groups are embroiled in similar struggles, including the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Methodist Church. Another, the American Baptist Churches USA, is scheduled to hold its biennial convention in June but is not expected to consider any action related to gay marriage, a spokeswoman said.
But scholars are watching Episcopalians and Evangelical Lutherans closely, seeing them as a gauge for other denominations. The scholars are waiting to see if the intensified debate and turmoil leading up to the national conventions produce any consensus on issues that have long divided U.S. Protestants.
“What has been emerging for the last several years is becoming even clearer now: We’re on a trajectory toward the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people,” said the Rev. Jay Johnson, a professor of theology at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, Calif., and director of academic research at its Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry. Johnson added: “It may mean, when there are breakthroughs in these churches, we see more breakaways.”
Dissent and diversity
U.S. Christians remain stubbornly split over homosexuality. One recent survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that 56 percent of mainline Protestants believe it should be accepted by society. Just 26 percent of evangelical Protestants felt that way.
Few denominations have been as torn by the issue as the Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of the Anglican Communion, a 77 million-member fellowship. Theological conservatives are a minority in the Episcopal Church but a large majority among Anglicans worldwide.
The conflict between church liberals and conservatives escalated in 2003 with the consecration of an openly gay priest, the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire. Episcopal leaders agreed at their last General Convention in 2006 to urge local church authorities not to consecrate any bishop “whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church.”
Still, 700 conservative parishes in the United States and Canada defected in 2008 and formed a new church affiliated with overseas Anglicans. Conservative Episcopalians say liberal policies not only will alienate U.S. parishes but add further strain to the church’s already troubled relationship with church leaders in Africa and elsewhere.
But the Episcopal Church’s presiding bishop, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, said she believes the U.S. church and its global partners can coexist even if they disagree on the rights of gays and lesbians in the church. “We’re not afraid of people watching over our shoulders,” Jefferts Schori said. “We live with diversity on issues that get people charged up.”
Room for debate
Evangelical Lutherans are weathering an equally emotional debate as they prepare for their Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis, a gathering that many predict will expose deep divisions over homosexuality and biblical authority.
Denomination leaders will vote on a lengthy statement that has been eight years in the making and identifies marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Such statements are intended to guide church members in setting policy and forming judgments about social issues, officials have said.
Lutheran leaders also will consider a policy that asks whether the church “should commit itself” to find ways to allow local congregations, if they choose, to recognize “life-long, monogamous, same-gender relationships.” Another policy asks whether the church should find a way to allow gay people to serve in ordained positions. Current Lutheran policy bars “practicing homosexuals” from ministry.
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Ganesh on May 26 at 4:12 a.m.
I just wish that heterosexual Lutherans would come out. Honestly. Unless it has something to do with the donuts after worship most Lutherans would rather just forget about how people live and move in this world.
Lutherans have a problem with sex, period. Years ago, a brilliant study was produced by the ELCA on Human Sexuality. Because uptight, repressed, sexually naive large donors were upset that they might actually have to shake the hand of a homsexual they made sure that study was squashed. And it was.
In Spokane, alone, 12 years ago, there were five sexually active gay male Lutheran (ELCA) pastors. One was dying of AIDS, one was on the lam with his 16 year old boyfriend, one was on so many medications he could barely eke out a grunt, the fourth was on the bishops’s staff and the fifth was the bishop’s own pastor. As long as we kept our mouths shut he was willing to let us be. Such hypocrisy the ELCA is full of.
Lutherans have lost their sense of spritiuality. They have succumbed to the insanity of fundamentalism (“Word Alone”) and refuse to grow up in their faith. They have made an idol out of that nasty book they worship and will not let go of the Bronze Age mentality it was written with.
I hope the upcoming fight the Lutherans have before them will finally nail this coffin shut. They do nothing for anyone. They’re a dying and broken religion. They do have good donuts after worship, though.
DocTom on May 26 at 8:01 a.m.
Denominations are equated to political parties. They are organized upon a platform of beliefs that respective members believe to be “truth”. The proverbial statement of “What is Truth?” that was posed to Jesus at his trial will sum up the basis of the formation of any denomination.
Marriage is clearly defined by the Lord in his teaching as found in Matthew 19:4-6. The problem then remains is Jesus Christ the Son of God, or “just another teacher”? This of course is where the various denominations, like the disciples who followed him, must make a decision. If Christ is the Son of God, then we must follow him, his scriptures, and teachings without compromise. If we elect not to follow him, then we end up in the confusion and disarray that we now see throughout the respective denominations. That of course is the basis of either peace, or confusion. Our compliance, or non-compliance is known as “free will” and since the beginning has been civilization’s problem, or blessing.
The scriptures are either truth, or a lie and were the basis of all Christ’s teachings. If they are truth, then they are not difficult to understand or follow. Marriage is clearly defined within the scriptures and by Christ’s teachings. Homosexuality is also clearly addressed within the scriptures as well as by Jesus Christ. Free will of course is both the blessing and the curse. How a person chooses to comply, or reject these instructions will determine their final destination.