From: John W Burgeson (jwburgeson@juno.com)
Date: Wed Jul 23 2003 - 13:26:18 EDT
George, writing to Bob DeHaan, said: "My own view at this point is an
intermediate one which, I fear, will satisfy
very few. Homosexuality is not part of God's basic intention for
creation but, for
various reasons, it is a reality that some persons do have a fundamental
homosexual
orientation that they have not chosen. The best way for both church and
state to deal
with this is to recognize (though perhaps in different ways) the
legitimacy and legal
status of committed 1-1 homosexual relationships, though they would not
be considered
"marriage." "
That much is satisfactory. For a church to do this, such persons ought to
be admitted as full members, and eligible as such to hold any church
office.
At present my church (PCUSA) and, I think, your church (ELCA) will admit
such persons as members but denies them eligibility to serve in ordained
offices, thus making them, in a sense, 2nd class members.
My guess is that this will change, but the change will not come for
another 5 or 10 years. In the meanwhile, some people will suffer.
John Burgeson (Burgy)
www.burgy.50megs.com
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