LATEST WRITINGS FROM PASTOR PHILIP HOPPE

Posted inNews Clippings / Sexuality / Theology and Practice

Presbyterian Church USA Allows Gay Clergy

Philip Hoppe by Philip Hoppe0

imageI have good friends in this church body, clergy included.  And yet I cannot for that reason simply remain quiet.  I am sad to see this news coming across the wires, even though I knew it was coming.  I am sad that another church body has called good what the Lord calls evil.

I do understand that there are Presbyterian USA Ministers and laypeople who are saddened this change in teaching and practice. Perhaps some will even leave.  Some will take advantage of the way that the church body has written this resolution where individual regions will be allowed to make their own decisions regarding this issue.   But of course, this change ultimately will effect the entire church body. But I will allow those discussions to happen “in house” rather than speaking to something I do not fully understand.

My main concern is that once again confusion is multiplied in the church.  Every time another church body speaks something so obviously unscriptural in the name of the Lord, the whole church suffers.   While my church body has stated time and time again that homosexuality is sinful and in need of forgiveness, more within it will wonder if that is true when they read these headlines.  Those already feeling the terrible pain that comes when they are asked to speak truth to and perhaps even cut ties with loved ones walking in this particular sin will be tempted to simply find refuge in these headlines rather than in the Lord.  Those struggling with their own impure thoughts will think that they can identify both as homosexual and as a Christian without any conflict.  Those of us seeking to say in faithfulness to our Lord what the church has always said about sexuality and marriage will be viewed as more extreme and will not even be given a hearing by most people.

I am sad.  Not because I or my church body is perfect in every way.  I and it have our own issues.  But I am sad because people will be misled by a institution that claims Christ’s name in order that those who refuse to say anything that culture finds unpalatable can be appeased.  People will end up without Christ led by those bearing his name.  That is sad indeed.

US Presbyterian Church to allow gay ministers – Wed May 11, 2:45 am ET

imageLOS ANGELES (AFP) – The US Presbyterian Church voted to allow gays and lesbians to be ordained as ministers and lay leaders, becoming the fourth mainline Protestant church to do so.

The decisive vote capping a three-decades-long debate was cast by a regional group in Minnesota, the Los Angeles Times reported.

With the decision, the Presbyterian Church joins the Episcopal and Evangelical Lutheran Churches as well as the United Church of Christ in allowing homosexuals to openly serve as ministers and lay leaders.

The measure will however allow regional organizations to decide the issue for themselves.

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"This is an important moment in the Christian communion," Michael Adee, a Presbyterian elder who heads an organization that fought for gay ordination, was quoted as saying by the LA Times.

"I rejoice that Presbyterians are focusing on what matters most — faith and character, not a person’s marital status or sexual orientation."

The change to the Presbyterian Church constitution was approved last summer by the church’s General Assembly, its governing body.

But under church rules, such changes must then be ratified by a majority of the 173 regional organizations known as presbyteries.

Late Tuesday, at a meeting in a Minneapolis, Minnesota suburb, the Twin Cities Presbytery became the 87th regional body to vote yes, the LA Times said.

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Linda Fleming, an elder and deacon at Knox Presbyterian Church in Ladera Heights, California, said she was among those who had changed their minds.

"I finally decided at the age of 63 that it is inevitable," she said, according to the LA Times. "I think it’s like letting black people come to white churches, or letting women become ministers."

She still expressed surprise at the vote.

"For the Presbyterian Church, which is a mainline church, a graying church, it’s something."

The US Congress voted late last year to lift a ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military, reversing the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" compromise of 1993 that required gay soldiers to keep quiet about their sexual orientation.

Full Link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110511/ts_alt_afp/usreligionchristianitygay

LCMS Pastor.

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