Rev. Chad Wilhelm is pretty huge. Wilhelm is the rector of the Cathedral of St. Mary in Fargo and stands a towering 6-feet and 7-inches tall. He told me he’s the tallest priest in North Dakota. I was interviewing him for a story on church architecture in the area.
The Eastern North Dakota Synod of the ELCA will take up the issue of sexuality once again today, as the synod assembly considers a resolution calling the denomination to reverse its August decision to allow individuals in same-gender relationships to serve in the clergy.
Today’s vote will be interesting to watch. Yesterday the assembly opted against a resolution that would have called on the denomination to overturn its acceptance of a controversial human sexuality social statement. Critics saw it as betraying scriptural teaching on sexuality and as softening traditional teaching against homosexuality.
On the other hand, at last year’s END Synod assembly, Eastern North Dakota voting members narrowly defeated a resolution, 187 to 167, that would have called on the national denomination to change the ministry policy prohibiting individuals in same gender relationships from serving in the clergy.
As of Saturday morning 478 people had registered for this weekend’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Eastern North Dakota Synod Assembly in Jamestown.
Of those, 422 were voting members. There are 230 congregations in the END Synod with about 102,000 members.
The assembly runs from Saturday to Sunday.
The Eastern North Dakota Synod of the Evanagelical Lutheran Church in America is meeting this weekend in Jamestown. The sexuality issues that have been at the center of recent ELCA headlines will be back in the news. I’ll be blogging and reporting live from the Assembly. Check out my blog and www.inforum.com to keep up with what’s happening.
