"Lutherans in U.S. approve proposal on gay clergy"

The above quote is from "The Telegraph" published in Macon, Georgia and printed in Columbus, Georgia and was delivered to my home here in West Bibb County, Georgia on Saturday, August 22, 2009.

During my almost seventy years on Planet Earth I have been a Lutheran. I was baptized as a baby in March 1940. I have always been a member of congregations of "The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod" at every location that I have lived. I have always been aware that there are many Lutheran demoninations in the United States of America. A recent internet check indicated that there are over thirty demoninations of Lutheran believers in our County.

As I read the article I discovered that the Lutherans referred to in the headline were members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and during their 2009 Convention they voted 559 to 451 to enact this historic change. A change which would allow the installation of gay pastors in local congregations, but leave the choice of calling a gay pastor up to each individual congregation.

Admittedly, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is the largest body of Lutherans in the U. S. with a membership of 4.70 million baptized members; however, please be aware that there are other Lutheran Church Organizations in the U. S. A.

The second largest Lutheran Church Body in the U. S. A. is known as "The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod" (LCMS) with a total of 2.41 million baptized members.

The third largest Lutheran Church Body in the U. S. A. is known as "The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod" (WELS) and it has a membership of almost 390,000 baptized members.

To obtain additional information abou these three Lutheran Church Demoninations please visit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelical_Lutheran_Church_in_America

You can also see a list of the thirty some Lutheran Demoninations at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutheran_church_bodies_in_North_America

By clicking on the name of any of these Lutheran Church Bodies you can obtain a quick review of each demonination.

While the local Newspaper headline is misleading it also presents an opportunity for all Lutherans to witness to the world. Not all Lutherans are alike, just as not all Baptist are alike. A review of the Baptist Church Demoninations in North America indicates that there are at least seventy baptist organizations.

Now to be fair, I am confident that within all major Christian religions that there are many demoninations within each broad name.

The purpose of this post is to simply remind everyone to not judge any one individual by how they look or what religions organization and/or demonination they are a member of; just as we should never judge any church body by the broad title that applies to the faith, beliefs and practices of any one specific demonination.

Now, to conclude this post, it is because of sin, men's greed, lust or quest for power that we have many demoninations and many titles for the many organizations that call themselves Christians. As we all know, the purpose of the Church that was established as "Followers of Christ" was never intended to be so many names or demoninations.