ORIGINAL POST: Last week in Minneapolis, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) made waves with their new progressive policies concerning homosexuals and now allow:
- Non-celibate gays to become clergy
- congregations to choose to do to recognize, support, and hold publicly accountable life-long, monogamous, same gender relationships.
- people in such publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as rostered leaders of this church
The ELCA is not the first mainline denomination to change their policies on such controversial issues. The United Christ of Christ and Episcopal Church have made similar policies. Every mainline denomination is struggling with how to take a stand for or against homosexuality in the church.
What should have made just as much news was well known Reform Baptist pastor and author, John Piper‘s statement concerning the tornado that hit during the ECLA’s meeting: