We are members of The Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA) and
Christ the Servant Lutheran Church.
We were formerly members of
Lord of Life Lutheran Church located in in Ames, Iowa.
When I was a member in the nineties, it was small and stuggling. But
after standing up for the gospel of Jesus Christ, its weakness
in the eyes of the bishop became a great strength.
As Paul says,
in Christ "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there
is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female."
(Galatians 3:28.)
Isn't it obvious that in Christ, there is neither
straight nor gay?
The ELCA has been stuggling with the issue of sexuality, especially homosexuality. Lord of Life's pastor, the Reverend Steven Sabin, was removed from the roster of ELCA clergy, because he is gay.
Although the Bible does contain references to sex, there is no clear directive given by either scripture or the new testament on the subject of specific sexual activities. What is clear is the directive to love our fellow man, and to tear down the barriers that separate men. This is Jesus's prime directive. We think it's clear that the ELCA's policies on Gays and Lesbians is flawed, because it does not follow this directive -- the ELCA policy seeks to divide people into groups, rather than admitting that we are all one in Jesus Christ.
The following information is related to the actions of the ELCA to remove Pastor Steve Sabin from the roster of ELCA pastors, soley because he is gay and refuses to lie about it.
But the ELCA can't stop God's truth from spreading, and they can't stop Steve from taking part. Steve is currently serving as pastor at Christ Church in San Francisco.