The long-awaited decision is in — Pastor Steve Sabin is out.

Maybe.

Sabin, practicing homosexual pastor of the Lord of Life Lutheran Church, 913 Carroll Ave., was asked to resign from his position Monday when the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Committee of Appeals released its final decision on whether he could continue serving as a pastor.

Now the local congregation has to decide whether to comply with the denominational committee’s decision.

Sabin said he still does not really understand why he was asked to resign.

“I’m not really surprised,” he said. “This is what I expected, but I’m saddened. They could’ve done a lot of discussion and important work.”

Sabin said the committee’s reasons for their decision were given in only a few sentences.

“They didn’t explain their decision nearly to the extent that I would’ve liked,” Sabin said.

Sabin said the committee did not use theological arguments, and no biblical scripture references were made. The decision was based strictly on church policy, he said.

“They said they weren’t competent to make a judgment using scripture; they didn’t have that authority … When nobody has the authority to render scriptural decisions, that’s a sad state for a church,” he said.

Sabin feels the lack of developing a clear policy on this issue is a great waste because he thinks soon there will be another case like his.

“The relationship that Karl [Von Uhl, Sabin’s partner] and I have is just too threatening to the ELCA’s sense of ecclesiastical tidiness,” Sabin wrote in response to the decision.

The committee of 11 members met in Chicago on Aug. 29 and 30. They waited until the last day of a 60-day time allowance to give their verdict.

Sabin, 39, has been a pastor at Lord of Life for 13 years. He was ordained a pastor in 1985 at the Lutheran school of divinity in Chicago. Sabin’s undergraduate degree is from the University of Iowa.

Sabin said he was married and had two daughters, as well as a “self-understanding that I was straight.”

He began to struggle with understanding his self-identity in 1989 and 1990.

“I didn’t tell the congregation the reason my wife and I got divorced, but they became aware over time,” Sabin said.

Sabin’s ex-wife now lives in Des Moines with their two daughters and shares joint-custody with him. “She’s been very supportive,” Sabin said.

When Von Uhl moved to Ames, the congregation’s suspicions were solidified.

“It was a very ’90s romance. We met on the Internet,” Sabin said. The couple has been dating for six years.

Congregation members asked the homosexual couple out to dinner soon after.

“They were all so open and so friendly and nice — I hardly knew what to think,” Von Uhl said.

The committee’s decision to remove Sabin does not mean that the congregation will comply.

“Right now we are waiting for the congregation to see if they’ll abide by the decision,” Sabin said.

If they don’t support the decision, the congregation would have to take action against the church. They could be subject to discipline by the Rev. Philip Hougen, the church bishop.

“I support my pastor 100 percent,” said Andy Cowen, a member of the Lord of Life congregation and junior at Ames High School. “I’m disappointed in the decision. I’m disappointed in the fact that the committee took the position that the rules are the rules — had I been on that panel I would have voted differently.”

Biblical references that speak about homosexuality, namely, 1 Corinthians 6.9 and Romans 1, do not convince Sabin that he is “living in sin.”

“It’s not applicable,” Sabin said. “It doesn’t talk about the relationships in the 20th century.

“In Romans, Paul uses the term ‘contrary to nature’ to describe homosexual relationships,” Sabin said. “Later in Romans, he uses the same word again — ‘para physin’ — to describe God’s unusual, contrary-to-nature acceptance of the Gentiles,” he said.

Lord of Life President Thomas Chako, professor of management at Iowa State, supports Sabin. “Homosexuality is a non-issue in being effective in carrying out the message of Jesus Christ. That’s the bottom line,” he said.

“I think it’s hard to look at a single verse,” Chako said. “We need to put things in context.”

The council will meet at a later date to decide upon a recommendation to present to the congregation at large.

Von Uhl thinks this issue revolved around a flawed understanding of Christianity. He said he is very frustrated with the ELCA and finds its policy very intrusive.

“My understanding of Christianity is that it preaches unconditional love for all humanity. I think this is absolutely terrible, and I’m surprised there hasn’t been more of an outcry,” Von Uhl said.

“What defines me as gay is love and not sex. That’s a radically different thing,” he said.

Von Uhl is a published writer and said he will write a book about this experience one day.

“This part of my life is far from over — there are other things yet to happen before this story is truly complete,” Von Uhl said.