North Fargo Pastor Resigns After Feeling Pressure For Not Officiating Same Sex Weddings

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Thorolfr

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Interesting news from earlier this month:
Same sex marriage is legal, but causing controversy in a local Lutheran church. The Senior Pastor at Messiah Lutheran in north Fargo just resigned after feeling pressure from his parishioners for not performing same sex marriages.
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Messiah Lutheran is a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The ELCA does not condone nor endorse same sex marriage, instead they leave the decision up to each individual church.
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Messiah Lutheran Pastor Steve Berntson told his church on Sunday he would be resigning after months of difficulty since the legalization of same sex marriage. Berntson stated his views in June to his nearly 1,000 worshippers at Messiah.
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“Based on what the scripture says about God’s design for marriage I would not be able to participate or officiate same gender weddings,” said Steve Berntson.
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Berntson says he decided to step down since his view differed and he wasn’t feeling support from the congregation he would like.
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valleynewslive.com/home/headlines/North-Fargo-Pastor-Resigns-After-Feeling-Pressure-For-Not-Officiating-Same-Sex-Weddings–330778732.html
 
My initial reaction is …if each congregation is allowed to decide on their own and the majority have no objection to same sex marriages being performed then the minister has two options…
  1. try and convert the congregation to his way of thinking or
  2. move on to another congregation
The pastor should be man enough to leave and not use the “other side has to be more tolerant” excuse. If the opinions were reversed and the pastor truly believed there was nothing wrong with same sex marriages, would he really respect the congregation by not performing same sex marriages? Who knows? Who san say?
 
Is it the pastor’s fault if his flock rejects the Gospel despite his best efforts?
 
coachdennis said:
My initial reaction is …if each congregation is allowed to decide on their own and the majority have no objection to same sex marriages being performed then the minister has two options…
  1. try and convert the congregation to his way of thinking or
  2. move on to another congregation
The pastor should be man enough to leave and not use the “other side has to be more tolerant” excuse. If the opinions were reversed and the pastor truly believed there was nothing wrong with same sex marriages, would he really respect the congregation by not performing same sex marriages? Who knows? Who san say?
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The Pastor made a decision He had to make, God bless His decision with clarity of Faith.

The Bible is Clear on this matter. “Public Opinion” can not alter the Law of God. By following the Law of God does not mean that we do not have compassion and understanding for all others that struggle with Gods Laws.

The wisdom of Gods Word will always become manifest and “Popular Opinion” always shown to be erroneous.

Regards Tony
 
dronald said:
"More than four-in-ten Catholics in the United States (45%) do not know that their church teaches that the bread and wine used in Communion do not merely symbolize but actually become the body and blood of Christ. "

pewforum.org/2010/09/28/u-s-religious-knowledge-survey/

How is that any different?
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Apples and oranges.

What ELCA Lutherans individually know or don’t know about their faith has nothing to do with the ever changing moral relativism of ELCA leadership.
 
dronald said:
"More than four-in-ten Catholics in the United States (45%) do not know that their church teaches that the bread and wine used in Communion do not merely symbolize but actually become the body and blood of Christ. "

pewforum.org/2010/09/28/u-s-religious-knowledge-survey/

How is that any different?
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Those are people who don’t know what the church is teaching. Obviously the church doesnt teach that transubstantiation isnt true. These are ignorant catholics, most of them probably cultural catholics who were simply raised cathilic and havent been to mass in decades.

To contrast, the Lutherans stated here have the support of their church. The Lutheran Church here officially supports pastors performing gay marriages. These are active lutherans who are actually following their churches teaching.

Those two situations aren’t even comparable.

We’re looking at the lack of orthodoxy of the actual churches here, not the ones who don’t follow or know their churches teaching.
 
coachdennis said:
My initial reaction is …if each congregation is allowed to decide on their own and the majority have no objection to same sex marriages being performed then the minister has two options…
  1. try and convert the congregation to his way of thinking or
  2. move on to another congregation
The pastor should be man enough to leave and not use the “other side has to be more tolerant” excuse. If the opinions were reversed and the pastor truly believed there was nothing wrong with same sex marriages, would he really respect the congregation by not performing same sex marriages? Who knows? Who san say?
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A big difference between Catholic congregations and ELCA ones is that (unless I’m mistaken), each Catholic congregation takes the pastor sent to them by their Bishop whereas ELCA congregations interview and call their own pastors. ELCA congregations are advised by their Bishop in selecting candidates to be pastors but are under no obligation to follow his advice.

Also, organizationally, ELCA pastors (especially those in congregations that came out of the American Lutheran Church) are under the authority of their church councils which are elected by the congregation. ELCA church councils also often put together the call committees which interview candidates to be pastors before they are called. I wouldn’t be surprised if some call committees in ELCA congregations are specifically asking candidates if they are willing to perform same-sex marriages before they will recommend that their congregations call them to be a new pastor.
 
Starwarsfan2 said:
Nope, fruit of heretics who attack the inerrancy of scripture .
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Absolutely right. One’s heart is hardly being reformed by the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Image if one is still constantly trying to conform oneself to the world. Good for this pastor for sticking to his beliefs. I’m sure that the LCMS would welcome him with open arms!
 
It seems problematic to me if the pastor has no capacity to tell his congregation
“this is truth”. It seems to me the impression left is simply that the congregation decided that gay “marriage” is real and okay, and that the ELCA considers that one of two perfectly acceptable views. I base that view only on what I read in the article - perhaps there are more details than are shared here.
 
LutheranScholar said:
Absolutely right. One’s heart is hardly being reformed by the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Image if one is still constantly trying to conform oneself to the world. Good for this pastor for sticking to his beliefs. I’m sure that the LCMS would welcome him with open arms!
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Why does the Holy Spirit impart so many different versions of the truth to so many different denominations . This pastors problem highlights the inherent problem that afflicts our separated brethren_.there is no authority and thus when a teaching makes them uncomfortable they either fire their pastor, move to denomination that accepts their beliefs or start their own denomination.
 
So this passes as news in North Dakota. Pastors resign, sometimes involuntarily, all the time. There is no way to no the politics in a local church.
 
estesbob said:
Why does the Holy Spirit impart so many different versions of the truth to so many different denominations . This pastors problem highlights the inherent problem that afflicts our separated brethren_.there is no authority and thus when a teaching makes them uncomfortable they either fire their pastor, move to denomination that accepts their beliefs or start their own denomination.
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again , the problem is the lack of church discipline of heretics
Keep the faith Estesbob , Starwars 🙂
 
Starwarsfan2 said:
again , the problem is the lack of church discipline of heretics
Keep the faith Estesbob , Starwars 🙂
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Most bishops in the ELCA from my own bishop up to the Presiding Bishop, Elizabeth Eaton (a woman bishop no less), are not against same-sex marriage. So who in the church do you propose should be disciplining these heretics?
 
Thorolfr said:
Most bishops in the ELCA from my own bishop up to the Presiding Bishop, Elizabeth Eaton (a woman bishop no less), are not against same-sex marriage. So who in the church do you propose should be disciplining these heretics?
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We all Have one Judge in the end 😉

Regards Tony
 
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