Evangelical Lutheran Church of America elects first openly gay bishop

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Guy-ErwinTHE Evangelical Lutheran Church of America has elected to a six-year term the denomination’s first openly gay bishop.

In a press release, church officials say Rev. R. Guy Erwin was elected Friday at a church annual assembly.

The church’s rules changed in 2009 to allow gays and lesbians to be ordained in the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination.

Erwin currently serves as a pastor at Faith Lutheran Church and a professor of Lutheran Confessional Theology at California Lutheran University.

Officials say the “partnered gay man” is also the first Native American to be elected. Erwin is part Osage Indian.

With more than 4 million members in 10,000 congregations, the ELCA is the largest of several Lutheran denominations in the United States. The ELCA’s decision to allow gay clergy has strained ties between those denominations, some of whom have partnered for relief work.

“The ELCA is a church that belongs to Christ, and there is a place for all here,” said church spokeswoman Melissa Ramirez Cooper. “The election of Pastor Erwin illustrates what many in the 4-million-member church believe – that God calls each of us by name.”

The ELCA lifted its ban on openly gay, partnered clergy in 2009, clearing the way for priests like Erwin, but angering conservatives. By some estimates, some 600 conservative congregations have since left the ELCA for more conservative churches.

Erwin’s election symbolizes a noticeable change for a church that once banned clergy who were in same-sex relationships, said Ross Murray, director of news and Faith initiatives at GLAAD.

Prior to the 2009 change, “hundreds of gay and lesbian clergy were forced out of congregations or served under secrecy,” Murray said. Fox News & CNN

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