Clyde’s St. Paul Lutheran members vote to leave the ELCA
After two rounds of congregational votes, the Forest Street church has ended its ties with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
St. Paul Lutheran Church on Forest Street in Clyde has formally ended its relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America after a process that took more than a year.
Longtime pastor Gerhardt Gosnell left the ELCA in winter 2010. He objected to the national assembly’s August 2009 vote allowing people in same-sex relationships to serve as clergy, and said the real difference came down to how the Bible is interpreted. He said he had told his bishop and congregation three years earlier that he would resign if the change passed, and that he had disagreed with other church positions for years.
Leaving the ELCA takes two votes with a waiting period and visits from the bishop between them. A first vote in June 2010 fell short of the required margin. A second first vote in September 2010 passed with about 76 percent. The congregation held its final vote the Sunday after Easter 2011. About a third of members turned out, and Gosnell said all requirements were met. He acknowledged the church lost a few members afterward.
The congregation of about 600 has joined Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ and the North American Lutheran Church, and Gosnell is certified as a pastor in both. Background: ELCA, LCMC. More Clyde news: a congressman’s visit and a new funeral home. More in Community.