Recognising that consensus will be elusive, the ELCA's changes allow flexibility for congregations that disapprove.
ECONOMIST: Homosexuality in the Lutheran church
Like other mainline Protestant churches, the ELCA's membership has shrunk, by 10.5% from 1998 to 2008.
The ELCA offers a new test for how a church might open its doors to gay clergy.
Those at Geist proclaimed that the ELCA was undermining the authority of scripture.
Others argue, however, that the ELCA's decisions can only help to make the church bigger and more vibrant in the long term.
With 4.6m members making it more than twice the size of the Episcopal church and a powerful concentration in the Midwest, the ELCA sits squarely in the religious mainstream.
Nevertheless, Mark Hanson, the ELCA's presiding bishop, prays for unity.
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