An effort by leaders of a Lutheran congregation in Monroeville to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has failed.

At a special meeting Sunday in Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 113 members voted to leave the denomination while 111 voted to stay, but the decision to leave required a two-thirds majority. The Rev. Eric Ash, the pastor, had previously said that he and the congregation council believed that the national church had made a series of decisions that the Bible did not support, culminating with last summer's vote to permit local option on the ordination of partnered gay people and on the blessing of gay unions.

After the vote he said that the parish would continue with the same mission and ministry it had before, and that he was counseling members who now wanted to leave the parish in order to get out of the denomination.

"We hope and trust that everyone will hang together. There are a lot of very disappointed people in the congregation right now," he said.

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.