Lutherans Bar Handicapped From Ministry

ST. PAUL, Minn. — People with significant physical or mental handicaps cannot enter the ordained ministry of the American Lutheran Church, the governing body of the Minneapolis-based denomination has ruled.

The 41-member church council, in a policy adopted at its meeting here last week, said certain disabilities make the work of a parish ministry so difficult that there is “potential of great harm to both members and pastors.”

Handicaps cited included neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis and physical handicaps such as quadriplegia and arthritis. People with “non-correctable congenital heart disorders” would also be barred, as would those with “psychiatric disorders.”