Feel the Homomentum!

Shaker GoldFishy, whose irresistible cuteness has been cited as the nation's #1 gay recruiting tool by Feminazi Cooter Weekly, sends some good news from Minnesota (emphasis mine):

In a move that could pave the way for Lutheran blessings of same-gender relationships in southeastern Minnesota, a local Evangelical Lutheran Church in America assembly voted Saturday to welcome and support persons of same-gender sexual orientation.

The resolution passed overwhelmingly at the annual meeting of the ELCA's southeastern Minnesota synod. No official count was taken because the show of hands was so strongly in favor.

…Gay marriage is not recognized in Minnesota, [Rev. Bruce Benson of the St. Olaf Student Congregation in Northfield, Minn., who wrote the resolution] acknowledged, but the resolution will likely be seen by ELCA pastors as permission to recognize same-gender relationships.

"Frankly, I think that as a church we are going to have to provide for rituals, rites, ceremonies that acknowledge the commitment of two same-gender people," Benson said.

…There is no agreed-upon service of commitment for same-gender couples in the ELCA, Benson said. "My guess is that we won't because what we have in a marriage ceremony will work just fine," he said.

Blub.

For those of you who weren't brought up in the green bean casserole-scented tradition that is the Lutheran Church, I'll just quickly explain that the church has different synods, or sub-denominations, and some are more progressive than others, with a range that goes from liberal Anglican-y woman- and/or gay-ordaining synods to conservative evangelical-y synods that still won't allow women to be elected as president of the congregation. And within each synod are sub-synods: The ELCA has 65 synods, including this southeastern Minnesota synod that is over 100,000 members strong.

Hopefully, other regional synods will follow suit, and put pressure on the ELCA (which has over 4,000,000 members all around the world) to officially recognize same-sex marriages.

Break out the green bean casserole and the ambrosia salad—it's time to celebrate, Lutherans!