What was the meaning of the final two resolutions regarding pastors and other rostered leaders of this church?
The assembly again deliberated long and seriously, frequently pausing for prayer, and voted by 56 percent to adopt a resolution that committed the ELCA to a find a way for people in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as rostered leaders. Subsequently, the assembly voted by 68 percent to affirm a series of directives indicating ways in which ELCA policies will be changed to create the means necessary to do this. The changes must honor the differences of convictions within the ELCA while maintaining this church’s present approach of having consistent churchwide ministry policies that are applied by synods, congregations, and others according to local ministry needs.
