Last August, the church wide assembly of a specific Lutheran denomination—the Evangelical Lutheran Churches of America, or ELCA—made a decision that is still affecting individual congregations nearly a year later. Now, an in-depth look at ELCA churches in our area that were torn apart since then, and how they plan to move forward.

The Pondera Valley Lutheran Church and Golden West Lutheran in Conrad have seen their share of struggles this year, and although some members say it was a long time coming, the big change was sparked by a decision made by 145 elected ELCA representatives last summer.

"The assembly voted, by a fairly narrow margin, to open the door a little bit to gay and lesbian people in long-term, committed relationships in specific instances where that was deemed appropriate by the congregation, bishop and individuals," explained Bishop Jessica Crist of the ELCA Montana Synod.

While the Bishop Crist says the ELCA maintains that heterosexual marriage is still the norm, and each church has the final say about who leads them, the decision led some area congregations to vote to sever their ties with the ELCA.

"We were leaving Jesus Christ and being influenced by secular people abs their ideas of being politically correct," said Gordon Nelson, a church council member at Podera Valley.

Although the leaders of other Lutheran denominations are not involved with this debate, many are aware of the exodus of ELCA congregations across the nation. So far, 185 of them have voted to join other denominations.

Reverend John Ruege leads the Mountainview Evangelical Lutheran Church in Great Falls. "We need to let God speak to us,” he said. “We want to hear what God has to say without putting our interpretation on it because church bodies do not establish teaching, God's word establishes teaching."

But Bishop Crist says it's not as simple as that. She adds that the Bible can be contradictory when each passage is taken literally and given equal weight in our modern society.

"Jesus never said a word about homosexuality,” she noted, “but he did condemn divorce and remarriage. The bible says all sorts of things that we don't follow about the leadership of women, about mixing fabrics, about eating shellfish or pork, about charging interest on loans. So, what we say is we take the bible very seriously and we take the big picture and in the end we leave it to God judge individuals and whether what we have done is right or wrong."

In Conrad, the community ELCA parish made up of two churches—Pondera Valley and Golden West—struggled with the church assembly's decision. Members say they grew frustrated with the ELCA structure years ago. So both congregations made the difficult decision to leave.

Elaine McLean is the Golden West Congregation Chair. "We had family splits and that was really hurtful," she said.

Both churches followed the rules set in their constitutions; they held separate votes for members, and when more than two-thirds of them wanted to leave, they waited 90 days, consulted with Bishop Crist, and held a second vote. With two-thirds again wanting to leave, both the Pondera Valley and Golden West Lutheran church changed their affiliation to LCMC—Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ—in February.

"LCMC is very congregation-based and I think government-wise, especially now, people want to have a say in what happens and that's how we felt about our church," explained Pondera Valley Administrative Assistant, Kim Weist.

According to the LCMC website, there are now 430 congregations in 40 states.

"LCMC is growing by leaps and bounds because evidently there are a lot of churches that feel like we do," said Mary Jane Kinyon, the Pondera Valley Church Council President.

Faith Lutheran Church in Great Falls also voted to leave the ELCA in May, setting in motion a lawsuit that's had trouble going anywhere, leaving the church in limbo.

Court documents show that the minority side of the Faith Lutheran vote is suing for control of the church non-profit corporation and church property. All four District Judges removed themselves from the case or refused to take it on in the first place. Now, Judge Loren Tucker of Dillon has been assigned to this case.

Back in Conrad, while the decision to leave didn't prompt a lawsuit, church leaders say some families have left their congregations for good.

"You know the door is always open and we hope that everyone will return eventually," said Golden West Treasurer, Bill McLean

On the other hand, members say some who were out-voted continue to worship at Pondera Valley and Golden West, and now the churches can move on.

Pastor Michael Sculley leads both Conrad churches, and described the decision to leave as a painful one.

"My hope for the future for this congregation is to continue in the vision we have,” he explained. “I think we have a good grasp on how we're going to share the gospel in thought, word and deed...There's a renewed energy in both congregations and we couldn't have done it without His lordship."

"There are people of strong faith and conviction on both sides,” added Bishp Crist. “It's not the good guys versus the bad guys—both sides believe strongly in the bible and tradition and support each other, and when they are torn apart it is very sad."

As for the Faith Lutheran lawsuit, the Clerk of Court has trial scheduled for November 29th.

Meanwhile, records indicate the defense is challenging the plaintiff’s grounds for a lawsuit.