DEVILS LAKE - Peace Lutheran Church in Devils Lake, N.D., passed the second of two votes required to disaffiliate with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America earlier this week.
The 87 members who voted Dec. 19 passed the disaffiliation measure unanimously, Peace Lutheran pastor Rafe Allison said via e-mail.
Members voted to "take all action necessary to terminate our relationship with the ELCA and seek membership in the North American Lutheran Church."
The NALC is a newly-formed denomination that takes a more traditionalist view toward the issue of homosexuality than does the ELCA. Peace Lutheran is the third church from the Eastern North Dakota Synod to exit the ELCA since the 2009 Churchwide Assembly, when the denomination voted to allow individuals in same-gender relationships to serve in the clergy and passed a controversial human sexuality social statement.
