Orlando, USA - The head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America listed some of his pressing concerns as this week's churchwide assembly began:
The 4.9 million-member denomination is aging, nearly all white and facing flat or declining membership in its congregations, Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson said.
Yet, he warned that debate at the meeting over whether gays in committed relationships should be ordained and same-sex couples blessed threatened to overshadow the other challenges before the ELCA.
"One of my concerns is that we do not become so turned in on ourselves" that the internal fight over homosexuality cripples the church's efforts to diversify and rebuild, Hanson said.
Lobbying in the convention halls began hours before the meeting officially opened Monday.
Supporters of Goodsoil, a coalition of Lutheran groups advocating for full inclusion of gays, donned rainbow sashes and distributed leaflets to arriving voters, calling the denomination's policy on gays destructive.
Members of the conservative Solid Rock Lutherans walked the halls wearing stickers with a black cross over a red heart inside a flower, a symbol known as the Luther Rose, which they are using to signal their opposition to changing church policy.
Public hearings on the issue set for Tuesday night are expected to be full.
Turmoil over what the Bible says about gay sex has torn at Protestant denominations for years. The global Anglican Communion is struggling to stay together after its U.S. province, the Episcopal Church, confirmed its first openly gay bishop two years ago.
The ELCA also belongs to an international association, the Lutheran World Federation, which Hanson leads. Its 138 member churches in 77 countries differ on gay issues and Hanson said overseas leaders have told him that a vote to give gays a broader role this week would "strain" but not sever relations among them.
The key proposals before the 1,018 delegates in Orlando are based on years of work by a denominational task force on sexuality that tried to find a compromise policy.
The measures would:
• Affirm the church ban on ordaining sexually active gays and lesbians, but allow bishops and church districts called synods to seek an exception for a particular candidate if that person is in a committed relationship and meets other conditions.
• Uphold the denomination's prohibition against same-sex blessings, but give bishops and pastors discretion in deciding how to minister to gay couples.
• Call for unity, even though congregants disagree on the issue.
Hanson has repeatedly declined to say how he will vote on the proposals, which could be amended before they reach the floor for a vote, possibly on Friday.
Advocates for gays oppose the proposals. They say the measures would create a second-class roster for homosexual clergy in the church.
Conservatives are also against the measures, but for different reasons. They say the proposals would effectively overturn prohibitions against non-celibate gays in the denomination's ministry.
Hanson acknowledged many voters are confused about the true impact of the proposals and he said he hoped their questions would be answered in Tuesday night's hearings.
"We're really inviting people into this as a conversation," Hanson said.
He said he hoped the years of research and debate that preceded this week's meeting would prevent any feeling that the assembly "imposed" a decision on churchgoers.