Listening to my Lutheran colleagues

On Tuesday I was privileged to listen in on a conversation among my Lutheran colleagues as they discussed the recent vote of their national church body to begin the process where gay and lesbian persons who are in a committed relationship may be called as pastors to a consenting congregation. The Lutheran Church also voted to begin the process of recognizing "lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships."

These are pastors I meet with on a regular basis to study the Biblical texts for the upcoming Sunday as we all prepare our weekly sermons. Today they agreed to set aside some time after our Bible study to talk about their national church decisions.

All these pastors spoke about their desire to minister to all their people in this time of change. All of them have addressed the issues in their congregations with small groups, forums, informal discussions, and one-on-one encounters. All of them have some members who agree with the national church decisions, and some members who disagree. It's a wrenching time for their denomination as they struggle with change.

I was able to offer my perspective from the experience of the Episcopal Church since we've gone through this a few years before the Lutheran Church. I told them I admired their pastoral sensitivity in the way they've handled this so far, and I wished them well in their attempts to maintain the unity and peace of their congregations.
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