Megachurch Holds Unanimous Vote to Leave Denomination
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Thu, October 01, 2009
- Viewed 73
- (3) comments so far
Community Church of Joy, an ELCA megachurch congregation in Glendale, AZ has voted unanimously to break their ties with their denomination.
At a congregational meeting following worship, Community Church of Joy voted 129-0 to terminate its affiliation with ELCA as the church’s vision, values and mission are no longer aligned with the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination, according to the Rev. Walter P. Kallestad, senior pastor of the congregation.
"There is such a different direction that the ELCA has chosen, a path they're traveling on, and we really believe that it just was not consistent to where God has called us,” said Kallestad, whose congregation was the 10th largest in ELCA with 6,800 baptized members.
“And so we’re parting,” he told the ELCA News Service.
On its website, Community Church of Joy cited three documents to help make clear the reasons for the congregation's actions. One document is on ELCA’s policy toward Israel, which the church says is not supportive of the nation.
Another is about Holy Scripture, which ELCA claims in its social statement on homosexuality “cannot be used in isolation as the norm for Christian life and the source of knowledge for the exercise of moral judgment.”
Community Church of Joy noted how ELCA’s website states that the writers of the Bible “sometimes provide differing and even contradictory views of God’s word, ways and will.”
They also pointed to a number of argumentative comments in the Lutheran Study Bible, including misleading translations and its silence on Apostle Paul’s comment on homosexuality as sin.
Lastly, the third document noted activities taken by ELCA promoting homosexual clergy.
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Gerry on Thu, October 01, 2009
A ‘megachurch’ holds a congregational meeting and only 129 people vote?
CS on Thu, October 01, 2009
Gerry:
The vote took place after worship, which either shows that (1) it was isolated to a specific set of people, or (2) not enough people were interested in sticking around afterward.
—
CS
Chris Meirose on Thu, October 01, 2009
Lutheran churches are not congregational in polity, so I suspect this lower number represents elders or deacons or some sort of leading/governing body within the church.
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