After hours of back and forth between members, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America decided Friday evening to accept noncelibate clergy members and lay leaders who are in "lifelong" and "monogamous" same-sex relationships. One of the country’s largest Protestant denominations, the Lutheran church approved four recommendations to its ministry’s policies that underscore a new approach to homosexuality. While the recommendations passed at the weeklong Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis, Minnesota, do not address recognizing same-sex marriage or civil unions, they do allow congregations to support same-sex relationships among their members and allow individuals in same-sex relationships to hold clergy positions.
Tag Archives: northern
19 killed in Mexican prison riot
Nineteen people were killed and dozens were injured during a two-hour prison riot in the northern Mexico state of Durango, local officials said Saturday.
Calls for Sri Lanka to release displaced Tamil refugees
The Sri Lankan government should immediately release more than 280,000 displaced Tamil civilians living in detention camps, a leading human rights group said Wednesday.
Car bomb in Spain injures 40
A car bomb exploded early Wednesday outside the Civil Guard barracks in the northern Spanish city of Burgos, injuring at least 40 people and causing substantial damage, an Interior Ministry official said.
Commentary: West stares into Afghan abyss
Given its long history of warfare, the United Kingdom is not squeamish about fatalities in time of war and yet a debate has been ignited by the deaths of 15 British soldiers in Afghanistan over the last few weeks. The question now is whether this profound soul-searching results in a more efficient policy towards the war-torn country. The West became involved in fighting in Afghanistan principally because the Taliban government allowed a non-state actor to carry out acts of terrorism unhindered from within its borders
Missing Ohio girl found with mom, sex offender
Haylee Donathan, the 4-year-old Ohio girl who vanished more than three weeks ago, was found alive Tuesday in the company of her mother and her boyfriend — a fugitive sex offender, authorities said.
Seven Civil War stories your teacher never told you
Perhaps your history teachers failed to alert you to these Civil War facts: Jefferson Davis nearly got mugged by an angry female mob; Abraham Lincoln loved the Confederate anthem "Dixie," and Paul Revere was a Civil War casualty.
Is Hazing Worse in India?
Anxiety is a typical emotion for teenagers around the world upon leaving home to take up residence in a college dormitory. They face the daunting challenges of fitting in and making new friends amid unruly roommates and without the comfort of home cooking
Painting, sold under Nazis, returned to owner’s estate
An oil painting was returned Tuesday to the estate of a Jewish art dealer who was forced to consign the painting and other artwork under Nazi Germany before fleeing the country. The painting, “Portrait of a Musician Playing a Bagpipe,” was done in 1632 by an unknown painter from the Northern Netherlandish school, according to a statement from the U.S
Iraq suicide bombing kills five U.S. soldiers
Five U.S. soldiers were killed Friday in a suicide bombing in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, the U.S. military said