"The Biblical understanding which this church affirms is that the normative settings for sexual intercourse is marriage. ... Practicing homosexuals are excluded from the ordained ministry."

A "practicing" homosexual apparently means a sexually-active gay or lesbian. This policy was challenged by two San Francisco congregations: St. Francis Lutheran Church who had called a gay pastor, and First United Lutheran Church who had called a lesbian couple. In the mid-1990s, these congregations were tried and suspended from membership in the ELCA.
 

"... that the historical position of the ELCA is ... support for legislation, referendums, and policies to protect the civil rights of all persons, regardless of their sexual orientation, and to prohibit discrimination in housing, employment, and public services and accommodations"

However, this policy was not extended to employment and ordination within the ELCA itself.
 

"We, as the Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, recognize that there is basis neither in Scripture nor tradition for the establishment of an official ceremony by this church for the blessing of a homosexual relationship. We, therefore, do not approve such a ceremony as an official action of this church's ministry." ₁

[With great effort, I suppressed the desire to add a criticism of their thought processes.]
 

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