Ordination of non-celibate homosexual persons and the full communion agreement with the Episcopal Church are among a number of issues with the potential to fracture the 5.1 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), according to its presiding bishop, the Rev. Mark Hanson.

In 2005, the ELCA’s Churchwide Assembly will be asked to vote whether to permit such ordinations. Bishop Hanson told pastors and lay leaders in Bismarck, N.D., on April 25 that his greatest fear is that the majority of church members will not engage in debate prior to a vote, and after it occurs a number will then make up their mind whether to stay or leave.

“We have elevated this conversation to that level,” Bishop Hanson said. “It’s become a church-dividing issue.”

Bishop Hanson was elected at the previous assembly. At that time he made a commitment to visit all 65 synods in his first two years in office.