NEWMARKET, Ontario — Despite warnings and threats of discipline, a Lutheran church north of Toronto ordained an openly gay man who is legally “married” to another man.
Lionel Ketola, 45, will now serve as associate pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Newmarket, Ontario, and will also assume the unofficial title of “ambassador of reconciliation.” It was the first Lutheran ordination of a noncelibate gay pastor in Canada, following at least 14 such ordinations in the United States.
“It’s a privilege, but it’s about so much more than one individual,” a beaming Ketola said just before the ordination ceremony in May. “It’s about claiming justice within the Church.”
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, to which Holy Cross Lutheran belongs, narrowly defeated an attempt last summer to allow churches to bless same-sex unions. It does not allow for the ordination of practicing gay or lesbian clergy. (TAB)
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