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Aug 23, 2009 10:45 pm US/Central
First Sunday For ELCA Churches After Historic Vote
ST. PAUL (WCCO) ―
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For Pastor Anita Hill and the rest of the congregation at St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church, this was no ordinary Sunday.
CBS
It has been an emotional and historic week for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The national organization wrapped up meetings on Sunday in Minneapolis, where leaders voted to allow ordination of non-celibate gay clergy. Churches supporting the change celebrated on this first Sunday after the landmark decision.
For Pastor Anita Hill and the rest of the congregation at St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church, this was no ordinary Sunday.
"We are overjoyed because it's been a long, long struggle," said parishioner Lois Snook.
Until this week, Hill could not be a rostered pastor of the ELCA, since she's in a same-sex relationship. The congregation ordained her unofficially and hoped for change. ELCA leadership lifted the ban this week.
Though she had hoped for this outcome, Hill was still surprised.
"On Friday, I just felt like this was a great dream and I'd wake up and it won't be real. This morning, especially right after I preached, the emotional came whirling up. I couldn't sing. I was just filled with tears. It was wonderful," she said.
Hill and others acknowledge this is only the beginning of a struggle to keep the church unified while making sure new policies go forward.
"We have work to do friends, it's not like it's over," said Hill to the congregation.
However, a group called Lutheran CORE says it's done with the ELCA leadership.
"It opens the door completely, not only for practicing homosexuals to serve as ordained pastors and lay ministers, but it opens the door eventually for the ELCA to redefining marriage to include gay marriage and who knows what else," said Mark Chavez of Lutheran CORE.
The group is not asking members to leave the church, but hopes to rally members to reject the change.
"We're going to reach out to them. And that's where it matters the most where people hold onto the Christian faith," Chavez explained.
But just how the church holds onto its faith and its members may be the next modern challenge.
According to the new ELCA policy, it will be up to the congregations whether or not they would choose a gay pastor.
Hill estimates there are about a half dozen gay pastors serving unofficially in the metro that may now apply to be rostered.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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