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ORLANDO - Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America expressed anger, hurt and confusion about the role gays should have in their denomination at a hearing Tuesday on an upcoming vote at their national convention.
More than 400 delegates and observers crowded into a hotel meeting room where Lutheran leaders invited comments about proposals on blessing same-sex unions and ordaining sexually active gays.
The Rev. Robert Goldstein, a gay minister at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chicago, wore a rainbow sash around his cleric's collar as he urged delegates to "go beyond the justice of incrementalism" and remove all limits on gay leadership in the denomination.
"I'm a gay pastor in this church. I serve faithfully. I love it," he said. "Our church must go beyond institutionalizing fear."
No one at Tuesday's hearing advocated maintaining the denomination's prohibitions on gays. But some raised questions about the impact of easing the rules.
The Rev. Carol Custead of Hollidaysburg, Pa., said a Lutheran bishop in Kenya had told her that "ties may have to be broken" if the ELCA moved toward approving gay relationships.
"Were any of the global ramifications of this considered?" she asked.
But the Rev. Ann Tiemeyer of the New York Synod said the ELCA should not be paralyzed by the potential fallout.
"We talk about the fear, concern about lack of unity," she said, her voice cracking with emotion. "But we have to remember those we have already lost" because of the denomination's restrictions on gays.
The key proposals before the 1,018 delegates in Orlando are based on years of work by a task force on sexuality that tried to find a compromise policy for the 4.9-million-member church.
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.