Lesbian ordained in Chicago church
A Lutheran church in Chicago has ordained a 27-year-old lesbian pastor who refuses to take a vow of celibacy, becoming the first to test a new resolution that gives bishops leeway in disciplining such violations.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America requires vows of celibacy for gay but not for heterosexual clergy -- a policy Jen Rude calls discriminatory.
After she was ordained Saturday, Rude expressed gratitude to the congregation of the Resurrection Lutheran Church in Lakeview on the city's North Side.
"It's meaningful to me in the sense that my call is being affirmed not only by God but the people of God," said Rude, whose father and grandfather are both Lutheran ministers.
Some of the more than 100 members of the congregation cried as Rude stood before them during Saturday's ceremony.
"We all realized that sexual orientation has nothing to do with how well a person can minister a congregation," said Kathy Young, a member of the Resurrection Lutheran Church.
At a national assembly in August, Evangelical Lutherans urged its bishops to refrain from defrocking gay and lesbian ministers who violate the celibacy rule, but they also rejected measures that would have permitted ordaining gays churchwide.
Advocates for full inclusion of gays were encouraged at the time, calling the resolution a powerful statement in support of clergy with same-gender partners. Conservatives, however, said bishops would feel more secure in ignoring denomination policy.
The Chicago bishop, Wayne Miller, did not try to block Rude's ordination, but he also didn't attend the weekend ceremony. While he has said he believes the celibacy rule should reversed, he also has urged bishops to follow rules set by the church.
"My goal is to keep people in the conversation, and I do not see this as an issue that should be dividing the church," he said before Rude's ordination.
Miller said he met with the Lakeview congregation last month to discuss the possible consequences of Rude's ordination if national church leaders decide to enforce the policy later. Among those consequences: the congregation could be expelled from the denomination.
Like other mainline Protestant groups, the Chicago-based Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has been struggling for decades to reconcile differences on the issue.
An ELCA task force is near the end of an eight-year study on human sexuality, which is expected to culminate in the 2009 release of a statement that will influence church policy.
The 4.8 million-member ELCA is the largest Lutheran denomination in the country.