Florida Church Denied Request to Leave ELCA

A congregation in Fort Pierce, Fla. has been denied their request to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) after a rare decision from the denomination's Florida-Bahamas Synod overturned successful votes from the local church.

The synod cited the importance of the Fort Pierce mission field as a basis for their decision.

"The synod council prayed about this decision, and for missional reasons, we felt we could not approve this," Bishop Edward R. Benoway told the Lutheran.

Synod Council Chair Cheryl G. Stuart noted, "The council tends to be mission-focused. It was really about mission for us in the area."

St. Peter Lutheran Church, which was founded in the former Lutheran Church in America (LCA), voted 20-0 to leave the ELCA based on differences with the denomination's 2009 Assembly decision to allow committed, publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA clergy and professional lay leaders.

The church, which has 105 baptized members and an average worship attendance of 46, is the only ELCA congregation in the city.

Stuart added that the council and synod staff don't have specific plans yet for next steps with the St. Peter congregation, "but we are committed to trying to walk with them and rebuild the relationship."

The congregation's pastor, Theodore C. Rice, however, believes differences are too deep.

"How are they going to work with us? We completely disagree with them," he said.

"The Bible says for a man to live with a man is an abomination," Rice told a local paper. "We are not against homosexuals, just against homosexual sexual practices. We are called upon to love them. How do you love them? In the best way you can."

Meanwhile, the St. Peter congregation has affiliated itself with another national body, the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC), who were formed in 2001 by ELCA breakaways who were discontented with the church's liberal direction.

While straddling the dual membership, Rice has said that St. Peter will no longer participate in ELCA activities.

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