The scholars' group complains that though the task force said it recommends "no change in policy," it in fact "advocates a fundamental shift in policy" when it asks the church to refrain from disciplining clergy involved in same-sex relationships.

That approach, they say, would "fatally extend the boundaries of diversity in matters of doctrinal and ethical substance" and harm relations with other Christian bodies. The group also contends that the task force's claimed support from Martin Luther and the Bible misrepresents both.

The Tuesday declaration was sent to the Conference of Bishops, which begins meeting Thursday in Dallas, and the Church Council, an executive body that takes up the issue at the denomination's Chicago headquarters next month.

A spokesman for the protesters, Smith College religion Professor Karl Donfried, said colleagues who drafted the document during recent weeks made no attempt to recruit any long list of endorsements but hope their statement will "stand on its own logic, integrity and competence."

Endorsers include Jean Bethke Elshtain of the University of Chicago and other prominent theologians; James Crumley Jr., head of a denomination that merged into the ELCA; Michael Root, dean of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C.; William Rusch, the ELCA's former director of ecumenical affairs; New York's retired Bishop William Lazareth; and historians George Forell, Hans Hillerbrand and James Nestingen.

Nestingen was second runner-up in 2001 elections for head of the denomination.

The ELCA maintains full fellowship with the Episcopal Church, which has been involved in its own divisive debate over gay issues.

END