Orlando, Fla. — The questions and comments about homosexuality were low key but emotional for the 1,018 delegates attending the weeklong biennial national assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on Tuesday.
"I am hopeful we shall learn from one another and about one another, as a gay man and a gay pastor," said the Rev. Robert Goldstein of Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chicago.
After four years of study, the ELCA's 13-member church council has presented two measures to the assembly. One would prohibit the blessing of same-sex unions but allow congregations and pastors, under certain circumstances, to do so. The other resolution would prohibit noncelibate gay pastors but would allow bishops and congregations to make exceptions.
A vote on the resolutions - or amendments or substitutes - is expected Friday.
However the ELCA assembly votes, it is unlikely the Lutherans will split over homosexuality. Leaders of several conservative groups, such as Solid Rock Lutherans and Word Alone, have suggested they might establish an alliance of conservative congregations within the ELCA, much like the arrangement within the Presbyterian Church, USA.
Such an alliance is already in place within the Episcopal Church, USA, where it is seen as an interim stage toward a final break.
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