In the next few months, I predict that multitudes of religious people will be evaluating their membership in churches and synagogues and deciding whether to pull out or stay for the duration.

Most are going to stay until hell freezes - or longer. Further, no matter how denominational executives fiddle with the religion, there will always be loyal religious people. But there is no question that a mess is starting to build and nobody can halt the momentum.

What's got everyone so worked up? It's the issue of what religion will do with homosexual people. In the past, gay men and lesbians could attend churches and synagogues, they could give their money for the daily operation and they could even sing the hymns and shake hands in the vestibule following worship.

But in the old days, homosexual people knew they did not have a voice in congregational matters. They knew they could never expect the church to bless their union with someone they loved. They knew they would never be ordained into the ministry of the religion even if they felt called by God. They knew membership into a religious organization meant there would be few services for them but many trials and sacrifices.

That inequality has been going on for centuries. Certainly some gay men and lesbians have always lived openly with their sexuality. But in countless small towns, rural areas and in many congregations across the nation, homosexual people have been forced by their religion to live a lie.

Recently however, Reform Judaism opened the gate and voted to allow rabbis to conduct blessings of gay and lesbian relationships. In fact, Reform rabbis can probably do full-blown weddings if two people of the same sex ask for such a ritual.

You may think that a pronouncement from the most liberal branch of Judaism will not have much of an effect on Christian denominations. But if you hold negative views of gay men and lesbians, don't let your hopes rise too high. Every time a religious organization makes a freeing move toward homosexual people, other denominations will soon try to follow.

For instance, a Lutheran congregation in St. Paul, Minn., has asked its denomination "to grant an exception to the present policy" of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America document "Vision and Expectations of Ordained Ministers."

That document says that any ordained person who is homosexual must abstain from sexual relationships with people of the same sex.

St. Paul Reformation Lutheran Church believes one of its ministers, Anita Hill, is uniquely qualified to become ordained into the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Hill has completed the rigorous academic training required of a Lutheran pastor and has served on the staff at St. Paul Reformation for the past 11 years. Since 1994, Hill has been a pastoral minister in the congregation and has conducted a wide range of pastoral responsibilities, including serving Holy Communion.

St. Paul Reformation congregation and senior pastor, the Rev. Paul Tidemann, say this is an urgent matter and the request asks the ELCA church council to make an exception to the rules for Hill.

This congregation, in spite of many challenges because of their location, has been a loyal member of the St. Paul Synod of the Evangelical Church in America. Through all the years that St. Paul Reformation has been an inclusive church, actively welcoming people of all races, ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientations, there has never been a rift between congregation and denomination.

This is a solid congregation that has carried on a ministry in that part of the city for more than 100 years. When the neighborhood began to change, the members voted to seek African-American members, a move that probably shocked Lutherans in other places. They figure their history entitles them to some unusual consideration. And now with the ministry of Anita Hill, about 25 percent of the congregation is made up of gay men and lesbians.

If this exception is granted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, I think most Lutherans in these parts will yawn and nod their heads. If it isn't granted, then we surely are headed into a time of holy turmoil. Wouldn't it be great if all people could find justice in the church - without a lot of holy turmoil?

Clark D. Morphew