A "discipline hearing committee" of twelve ELCA clergy ruled this week in a case involving Bradley Schmeling, an open homosexual who has been serving as a pastor in Atlanta. The committee, on a 7-5 vote, found that Schmeling violated the ELCA's current policy which bars non-celibate homosexual pastors and set August 15 as the official date for his removal from the clergy. However, at the same time, the committee was "nearly unanimous" in its disagreement with that policy and has recommended it be removed at the ELCA's Churchwide Assembly in early August.
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