The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT) has distanced itself from the recognition of same-sex marriages by Lutheran churches in the US and Sweden.Read it all here. Tip o' the claw to TitusOneNine. Shrimp out.
The head of the ELCT, Bishop Alex Malasusa, said during his Easter Mass sermon at the Azania Front Church in Dar es Salaam that the local church did not support the decision because it was against God's word.
He said Lutheran churches in the US and Sweden had strayed from the Scriptures, and it was up to Africa to bring them back into line.
"ELCT has refused to recognise the decision to allow same-sex marriages because it is against the Holy Bible. It is in direct contravention of God's word, which has not changed," Bishop Malasusa said.
He added that Tanzania and Africa had taken a common stand on the issue and would not waver.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
ELCT voices a big 'no' to same-sex marriages
Shrimp here. Our title is a headline in The Citizen of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Reporter Mkinga Mkinga begins:
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The good ship ELCA...
Or the Shellfish blog...
7 comments:
Surely the Lutheran church should pay close attention to the voices of the ELCT and other third world entities. I fear, however, that Pharisiac haughtiness by progressive powers in the ELCA and Sweden will turn spiritual deafness into hollow virtue.
I'm reminded of a famous line in the movie, "The Mission." Reporting back to Rome on the impact of Jesuit mission work among indigenous peoples in colonial Latin America, the papal emissary wrote: "When the Gospel is preached, the people are no longer fit for servitude." Oh, yeah! Thank God for the ELCT's willingness to call out the ELCA and COS on this matter.
Remember the saying: Be careful what you pray for - you might just get it.
In the ELCA, many have been praying for and even calling for the church to be re-evangelized by our brothers and sisters in Christ from Africa, Asia, South America, etc. Would that make the ELCT's presiding bishop's homily an answer to prayer? I'd say so. Will we get it? Pray that we do.
Granted "Gates of Vienna" is a political blog and not everyone's cup of tea, but the list at the end of this post might be of interest. It sure might help explain to some people why the African Churches are put in such a hard spot by the actions of the ELCA regarding the acceptance of homosexuality.
http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2010/04/our-advice-for-herr-westerwelle-stay.html#readfurther
It is a list of African, Asian and other countries, together with their religious demographics and their maximum penalties for homosexual behavior.
What many in this country are demanding the African Churches do is to not only accept, but also actively condone and endorse behaviors that in many nations in this world are considered capital offenses.
Yet the reason the churches in Asia and Africa won't endorse homosexual sex is not that to do so would be to endorse a capital crime according to the state. The reason they won't endorse the behavior is that it is violation of Scripture...a Higher Law and Judge indeed.
Anonymous said... I didn't imply that at all. My comment is directed at the progressive element within the ELCA. They already don't care what scripture plainly says, but you would hope that they would at least take note of the difficult position their agenda puts the Africa churches in. Since, whether the African Churches agree or not with the ELCA's direction, there is “a guilt by association" that still occurs.
If you had taken a look at the table I linked too, you would have seen that almost every African country listed, if not outright majority Muslim, then has at least a sizeable Muslim minority. Of all of the world’s religions, Islam is the most brutal when dealing with its LGBT oriented members. And the ELCA’s agenda of “inclusion at all costs” just paints a big target on our African brothers and sisters when it comes to the difficult task of living in peace with their Muslim neighbors.
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