The decision by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) to 'refrain from or demonstrate restraint' in disciplining homosexual clergy in faithful committed same-gender relationships has been described as an act of apostasy by America's largest public policy women organisation.
Matt Barber, the policy director for cultural issues with Concerned Women for America (CWA), said the decision taken by the ELCA to endorse the sin of homosexuality, which the Scripture clearly calls an abomination to God, was nothing short of apostasy.
"The word apostasy is a strong one. It shouldn't be used lightly," he said. "Unfortunately, the ELCA's decision to endorse the sin of homosexuality, which Scripture clearly calls an 'abomination to God,' represents nothing short of apostasy."
Phil Soucy, spokesman for Lutherans Concerned which is a gay-lesbian rights group within the church, told the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper that the decision represented a "huge" movement on the part of the ELCA.
However, conservatives within the largest US Lutheran Church disagreed.
Talking to Lifesite news, a family-friendly U.S. publication, Jaynan Clark Egland, the president of the Word Alone Network, said that he does not know what was worse – a church that has no biblical standard or the standard that it does not enforce.
"I don't know, as a Christian, as a pastor and as a parent, what really would be worse - a church with no biblical standards to govern our ministry or standards we don't intend to enforce," he said. "To refrain from discipline in the home is bad parenting, but we're about to do so in the Christ's church."
The president of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, Gerald B. Kieschnick, said the ELCA decision goes against the historic and universal understanding of the Christian Church regarding the Holy Scripture teaching that homosexual behaviour was contrary to God's will and about the Biblical qualifications for holding the pastoral office.
"This goes contrary to the historic and universal understanding of the Christian Church regarding what the Holy Scriptures teach about homosexual behavior as contrary to God's will and about the Biblical qualifications for holding the pastoral office," he said.
The vote of 518-431 was passed last Saturday where the 4.8 million member of the ELCA previously compromised on the homosexual issue by allowing pastors to serve within the church provided they abstain from homosexual activity.