Lutheran Congregation breaks new ground with call to transgender pastor
http://www.elm.org/roster/jaywilson/ordination/Jay Wilson Saturday, Dec 6, 2008, San Francisco – First United Lutheran Church, a congregation with a vibrant past is once again in the news after ordaining a transgender pastor. On Saturday, First United Lutheran Church celebrated the ordination of Pastor Jay Wilson, a transgender pastor who is the assistant director at the Welcome Ministry in San Francisco.
Wilson was removed from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) candidacy process due to his status as a transgender person even though there is no official policy against transgender clergy.
The ELCA bans gay pastors serving in the denomination unless they commit to a vow of celibacy. First United Lutheran became an independent Lutheran church in the 1990's when the congregation ordained Jeff Johnson, an openly gay Lutheran pastor. The congregation prides itself on being a frontier church founded in 1886 that is still on the frontier of welcoming ministries.
