On the night of the “Visible Vote 08” debate hosted by the LOGO network, it is appropriate to note the recent actions by a group of gay clergy. This week at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America’s churchwide assembly meeting in Chicago, 82 ministers bravely put their careers on the line by announcing that they were gay or lesbian in committed relationships. Many of them also told their stories in a publication titled “A Place Within My Walls.”

Debra Haffner, a sexologist and minister, and Director of the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice and Healing,  said in her blog that her “heart hurt as [she] read the stories of these courageous ministers who have decided that they [could] be silent no more.”  The Columbus Dispatch also covered the case.

Later this week the 1,071 voting members of the Churchwide Assembly will vote on the policy regarding homosexual clergy. ELCA policy currently states that all pastors must remain celibate before marriage. Gay pastors cannot be in a sexual relationship if they're serving in a church, even if they are in a committed relationship. The Dispatch reported that 21 of the church's 65 synods have recommended changes to the policy.

"It's time that this policy end so we can quit doing spiritual violence to LGBT people in the name of God," said Emily Eastwood, executive director of Lutherans Concerned/North America.