Sex, war on ELCA agenda

One topic for delegates at next month's conference is sexuality. An earlier assembly - they meet every two years - asked a task force to present a social statement in 2009.The ELCA now excludes people in homosexual relationships from official leadership roles. Twenty-one resolutions came from synod assemblies earlier this year, asking for gays and lesbians in relationships to be able to serve as ordained and professional lay leaders.Hanson said he expects "very lively discussions" on whether to bring up those issues in Chicago or to wait until 2009.
The ELCA Study on Sexuality does not focus exclusively on homosexuals but also looks at heterosexuality."It is easier for us who are heterosexuals to talk about how gays and lesbians live out their lives and establish standards than ... to talk about our own," the bishop said.
Gary Steuck, a retired state official and campground operator, hopes issues other than sexuality receive attention."I wonder why we spend so much time on things like this," the Mobridge man said."We spend an awful lot of time on things that aren't so important to the ordinary Lutheran layman."
Because the ELCA continues to experience a slow decline in baptized membership and remains 97 percent white, the very culture of the church must be changed, Hanson said.

Read about the sex war.