Pastor Schmeling's trial is on.

Pastor Bradley E. Schmeling of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Atlanta, GA, is being tried this week for being in violation of ELCA sexuality standards for clergy. He is gay, which the church knew when they called him, but he has acknowledged that he is now in a relationship with another man, a former ELCA pastor, which is violation of ELCA standards. His church supports him completely; the charges were brought against him by the bishop of his synod. He is clearly guilty - he openly admits that he is in a sexual relationship with his partner. The trial's purpose is to determine what the consequences will be.

In August of 2005, the Churchwide Assembly voted to continue its prohibition of ordained clergy being in sexual relationships outside of marriage between a man and a woman. A pastor who is gay or lesbian is expected to remain chaste. It will be interesting to see how this trial turns out.

Because the trial is closed, I cannot find any information about what is going on inside the trial room. The Lutherans Concerned website and the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau website have discussions of the trial and perhaps info about what is happening outside the trial.

---Katie

I guess the holidays are really over.

I really enjoyed the holidays this year. Both of my older kids were home and we had a great time. I'm having trouble getting back into the swing of "normal," hence the lack of blogging. Plus I have been doing a lot of stamping since the beginning of the new year.

But I am back and I do have some things to comment on. Hope someone is out there reading!

---Katie