Aug 22, 2003   | COMMENTS     

MILWAUKEE (AP) — America’s largest Lutheran denomination voted last week to stick to its schedule for making decisions on blessing same-sex marriages and allowing sexually active gay men and lesbians in the clergy. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted 526 to 462 to defeat an amendment that would have postponed the decisions from 2005 to 2007. The church’s assembly in 2001 commissioned a four-year study on homosexuality in the church and called for the vote to be held when the report is completed. Some members had sought to delay the vote until 2007, when the church’s study on human sexuality is scheduled to be completed. Earlier, the ELCA assembly rejected 832 to 139 a motion to break ties with the Episcopalians. The Episcopal General Convention ratified the election of that denomination’s first openly gay bishop, and affirmed same-sex blessings as “an acceptable practice in the church.” The ELCA recognizes and shares Episcopalian sacraments and clergy under a full communion pact the ELCA approved four years ago.

Hartford clergy protest gay bishop
HARTFORD, Conn. — A group of Hartford ministers is organizing a march on the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut to protest the recent election of the first openly gay bishop in the U.S. Episcopal Church, the Hartford Courant reported. Participants, a coalition of black church leaders that includes the chair of the Hartford Board of Education, say their intent in marching is to protest the acceptance of homosexuality and gay marriage. “The march is to send a message to the diocese, in the hope that they will come back to moral principles, to not condone what is truly and clearly an abomination,” said one organizer, Nora Wyatt, an elder from Mount Olive Church Ministries in Hartford. Gay activists raised questions about the participation of Rev. Wayne Carter, the city school board chair, in the march. Some said it could send a harmful message to gay students. But Carter disagreed. “I know how to differentiate,” he told the Courant. “I can stand up in front of a gay student and say, ‘Listen, I don’t agree with your lifestyle, I don’t believe you’re right. But you will never see hatred from me. You will always see love.’”

Clergy the victims of anti-gay effort
LONDON — Two clergymen have become victims of an anti-gay campaign after details of their personal e-mails were stolen, the Sunday Mirror reported. Reverends Tony Cragg, 40, and Mike Hall, a Methodist, have declared they are in a “close, private and honest relationship.” But after a computer disk was stolen from Cragg’s church premises in Charlesworth, Derbys, the pair have been subjected to a month-long vendetta, the Mirror reported. Nearly 1,000 letters and e-mails have been sent to schools, civic leaders, newspapers and Methodist worshippers alleging a homosexual relationship between the two men. One recipient told the Mirror: “It was really horrible, a character assassination of two respected clergymen.” Methodist church leaders have issued a plea to local members to help them stop the homophobic campaign, the Mirror reported.

Church leaders vote against gay ministers
QUEENSLAND, Australia — Leaders of the Uniting Church in southeast Australia have rejected their national body’s decision to allow gays to be ordained as ministers, ABC News Australia reported. About 100 church members met in Beenleigh south of Brisbane and voted to maintain the status quo, which prevents gays from holding any positions of leadership, ABC News reported. Rev. Ray Reddicliffe says parishioners wanted to express their strong disappointment and deep regret. “While it is conceivable that could happen, I think at this stage it’s very clear that most people, that’s not how they would like to see it,” he told ABC News.

Gay activists disrupt Mass in Hong Kong church
HONG KONG (AP) — A small group of gay rights activists disrupted a Sunday Mass to protest a Hong Kong Roman Catholic publication that criticized same-sex marriages, police and demonstrators said. The protesters handed out leaflets at the entrance of the Hong Kong Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, said police spokesperson Kaman Chong. TV news showed at least two demonstrators making their way to the altar and struggling with church officials. Six activists shouted slogans at worshippers for about 10 minutes, said protest organizer Noel Chen. Chen slammed Hong Kong’s Roman Catholic leader Bishop Joseph Zen and other church officials over two articles against gay marriages in a recent Hong Kong Catholic weekly newsletter, Kung Kao Po. “This clearly and directly hurts us,” Chen said, adding that the group demanded an open apology from the church. The Hong Kong government does not legally recognize same-sex marriages. Rev. Dominic Chan, Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong, said protesters should voice their resentment elsewhere. “Such disruption was inappropriate as this is a place for worship,” he said.