US Lutheran Church Has New Gay Bishop, But Will He Be Able To Rescue Dwindling Membership Numbers?
Four years after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) approved to allow the ordination of noncelibate gay men and women, the year 2013 likewise marked to be a historical milestone in the religious denomination as it elected its first openly gay homosexual bishop, Rev. R. Guy Erwin. But will he be able to rescue the secular faith's dwindling membership numbers?
"I know that many will see my election as a significant milestone for both LGBT people and Native Americans, and I pray that I can be a positive representation for both communities," Mr Erwin told GLAAD, a lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) activism group, about his election. "There was a time when I believed that I would not be able to serve as a pastor in the ELCA. Our church has now recognized the God-given gifts and abilities that LGBT people can bring to the denomination."
"It's historic and a turning point, as was the ordination of women," Martin Marty, the dean of American church historians at the University of Chicago and a member of the ELCA, told Religion News. "This is just one of many indications that the culture has shifted."
But while his election may seem to be a step towards the right direction, will Mr Erwin be able to rescue the very hard reality that ELCA has lost a half million members in the years following the 2009 election that saw a very margin of electors voting for the ordination of gay and lesbian members.
According to www.firstthings.com, ELCA, which has steadily been losing members since being founded in 1987, suffered its biggest drop in 2010 and 2011. In 2010, the members who left the religious denomination were registered at 270,349 people, definitely way above the 90,850 members who left in 2009. The following year in 2011, another mind blowing 212,903 members left the church.
"In one way (Erwin's election is) not earth-shaking, but it's a decisive move by the ELCA," Robert Benne, a philosophy and religion professor at the Roanoke College and also a member of the ELCA, told Religion News. "There's a big sorting-out going out in American and world Christianity, so it'll have some repercussions, but the larger repercussions will be worldwide."
Part Osage Indian, Mr Erwin, who waited until 2011 to become ordained, is also the first Native American bishop in the ELCA.