Recently a friend of mine emailed me a collection of video clips from a speech by Michael Nutter, the mayor of Philadelphia. Transcribed below are his words; my comments about the biblical basis for his words follow.GROVE CITY, Ohio – Critics of the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination and its more open stance toward gay clergy have formed a new group at a meeting in Ohio of a conservative activist group.
Members of Lutheran CORE voted overwhelmingly to approve creation of the North American Lutheran Church on Friday in Grove City in suburban Columbus.
The new denomination will consist largely of congregations leaving the Chicago-headquartered Evangelical Lutheran Church in America over issues of adhering to scriptural authority.
Paull Spring, the new bishop of the North American Lutheran Church, said the ELCA’s acceptance of openly gay pastors was a tipping point for many.
Spring and others attending the meeting said they are also concerned about the ELCA’s use of language involving masculine references to God.
