With embraces, hymns and common prayer, Catholic, Lutheran and Methodist leaders recalled joyfully the pact made a decade ago that ended a centuries-old division over a key church doctrine. Vows were made at a Chicago service to seek greater unity—even as a Catholic archbishop noted a new challenge to unity posed by diverging views on sexuality.
A group of Lutherans upset over the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s recent decision to allow qualified noncelibate gays to serve as clergy voted to create a freestanding synod and to study for a year whether to leave the denomination.
“Basically, what we’re saying is that a year from now, we’re going to have a proposal of some form,” said David Baer of Whitewood, South Dakota, a pastor and member of the Lutheran Coalition for Renewal (CORE), which hosted the meeting of 1,200 conservatives in an Indianapolis suburb September 25-26.