Lutheran conservatives ponder schism

Conservative members of the largest US Lutheran denomination voted to spend the next 12 months deciding whether to split from the church after it liberalised its stance on gay clergy.

About 1,200 people meeting in suburban Indianapolis approved a constitution for the conservative umbrella group Lutheran Core and a resolution directing its steering committee to report back in a year on whether to stay within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, form their own denomination or join another.