Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (ELM) named Amalia Vagts as its first executive director to oversee its expanding program of seeking and supporting ministry opportunities for qualified candidates for ministry regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Vagts was part of ELM and its predecessor organizations as eighteen clergy were ordained – ten in the last two years. The increasing numbers of extraordinary ordinations garnered feature stories in publications such as the Houston Chronicle, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Out-Smart (Houston, TX GLBT Magazine), the Bay Area Reporter, National Public Radio, and numerous local television stations.

Co-chairs Lois Voss and Rev. Erik Christensen announced the promotion as Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries moves into its third decade of working for equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

"Our goal is to make it well known that there is a vibrant movement in the Lutheran church to support openly gay and transgender people – not just in the pews of our churches, but also in the pulpits, serving as pastors. We work with congregations ready to say 'yes,' even though they are going against the rules of the denomination," said co-chair Erik Christensen.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted in 2007 to encourage bishops to "restrain and refrain" from punishing gay clergy who are partnered. The denomination will meet again in August of 2009 to vote on a new statement of sexuality and to again vote on the full inclusion of gay people in the leadership of the denomination.

In 2009, Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries will fund over $90,000 in ministry by openly gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Lutheran pastors and will increase outreach to congregations where clergy can serve regardless of orientation or gender identity. It oversees a roster of forty-six members and serves nearly twenty Lutheran congregations and ministries – some congregations are barred from the ELCA network because of their ordinations. The organization also announced its relocation from San Francisco, CA, to Chicago, IL.

The organization's vision caught the attention of the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation which provided capacity building funds. ELM's working relationships include Lutherans Concerned/North America; Church Within A Church Methodists; the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD); and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

Vagts was hired as Development Director for Lutheran Lesbian & Gay Ministries in October 2006 where she helped with the 2007 merger with the Extraordinary Candidacy Project to form Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries. She continued her fundraising for the new organization. Previously, Vagts spent nine years working in public policy for Planned Parenthood and volunteered for Tammy Baldwin's campaign, the first openly gay person to run for Congress, and the 2002 Save Dade campaign in Miami, Florida.

As a bisexual person, Vagts began her work in gay politics in 1993. She resides and works in Decorah, Iowa where she is a member of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, a Reconciling in Christ congregation, and works for marriage equality in her home state of Iowa. She is a graduate of Luther College with degrees in English and Religion.