Churches leaving ELCA evaluate the cost
South Dakota pastor Julius Badigo has long known that Christian discipleship is costly. For him, that cost is increasingly measured in dollars—to the tune of thousands per month.
Badigo lost his $2,200 monthly salary earlier this year when his Sioux Falls church cut ties with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in protest of new denominational policies that allow noncelibate gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex unions.
Badigo's ELCA-funded position ended—and so did his seminary coursework, because ELCA stopped funding his tuition. Married with two children, he still leads an African mission congregation, now named Falls Community Church, but his only income is $70 per week from a part-time job as a security guard.
