wfn.org | ELCA's David Tiede: Pursuit of Full Communion Is Complicated

[Brenda Williams <BRENDAW@elca.org>]

Reply-To: ElcaNews <ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG>
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 6, 1998

ELCA'S DAVID TIEDE: PURSUIT OF FULL COMMUNION IS COMPLICATED
98-16-101-AH

     ST. PAUL, Minn. (ELCA) -- The Rev. David W. Tiede, president of
Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., affirmed Lutheran commitment to ecumenism
and explained the cultural and theological factors that make proposals for
full communion between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The
Episcopal Church "complicated."
     Tiede addressed a gathering of Lutherans and Episcopalians at the
National Workshop on Christian Unity here April 28.  He said, "I believe
God is calling these churches to engage in these discussions, even the
disputes, without fear or reprisal, just as the early Christians had to
face their conflicts."
     Last summer the ELCA narrowly defeated a proposal The Episcopal
Church had overwhelmingly approved.  A revision entitled "Called to Common
Mission" is presently circulating for comment in the ELCA.  The church will
vote on a final version in 1999.
     Tiede called the historic episcopate "the most emotional aspect of
our Lutheran quandary."  Like the earlier proposal, Called to Common
Mission would bring the ELCA into the succession of bishops that
Episcopalians claim as a sign of unity back to the earliest days of the
Christian church.
     "This problem is not geographically specific," he said, "but it may
be more complex for Mid-western Lutherans because most of our immigrant
founders came within the last century."
     Tiede described Lutherans like himself, descended from German
pastors, and other "children of Scandinavian immigrants" who "remain eager
not to submit to authority systems they believe stifled the renewal of the
established churches in Europe."
     Tiede said, "The populism of the prairies still extends trust to its
leaders and suspicion toward even the scent of condescension or political
manipulation."
     The problem is not with Episcopalians, Tiede said.  "The Episcopal
Church in this region of the country has a wonderful legacy of mission.
Yoked parishes, vigorous urban collaborations and warm ministerial
collegiality mark our relationships.  We yearn to strengthen our bonds of
faith and love, and we grieve any pain caused by current debates about
ecumenical means," he said.
     "We are interested when our Episcopal friends talk about the office
of the bishop as a symbol or even, as one local priest put it, `the bishop
as icon.'  We believe this office can also bear Christ," Tiede said.  "Tell
us the stories. Set them next to other catholic and apostolic legacies.
Let us explore how such evangelical confession enriches the history of
Christian thought and practice," he urged.
     "Ecumenism is a welcome fact of life in rural America, on the Great
Plains, and in our urban neighborhoods," Tiede said.  "But suspicions persist about
the mode of ecumenism represented by formal statements and processes where
the `ecclesiastical diplomacy' of denominational leaders seems so distant
from the vigorous collaborations we already enjoy," he said.
     "The emotional response of suspicion or at least ambivalence arises
from the dread of arcane consequences, disguised in the language of mission,"
Tiede said.
     The Rev. Stanley N. Olson, Redwood Falls, Minn., identified "American
individualism" as a barrier to ecumenism.  "Personal identity outweighs
denominational identity," he said.  "Local cooperation is expected and
desired.  Denominational lines don't matter much," he said, "as long as
'I'm making the decision to cross them."
     Olson, bishop of the ELCA's Southwestern Minnesota Synod, took part
in a seminar called, "Toward Full Communion: Reflections on the Process"
with other leaders from the ELCA, The Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian
Church (USA).
     Olson said, "Nothing is ever purely theological.  Religious issues
always include histories, stories and personalities."  In ecumenism, he
said, "complex matters will be simplified, perhaps oversimplified.  Plan
for it.  Flash points will shape the debate and false alternatives will be
presented."
     Mission doesn't work very well as an abstract basis for unity, Olson
said.  "It is either too broad and general or too local and specific."  He
said, "The issue is not so much our failure to understand facts and ideas
but our failure to understand each other.  People are interested in mission
that is done together, not talked about."
     Midge Roof, Danville, Ind., president of Episcopal Diocesan
Ecumenical Officers, posed the question whether Lutherans can see the
episcopate, reformed under the gospel, as an option for the church of the
future, as Luther hoped.
     "Is ecclesial and ecumenical continuity the more pressing evangelical
affirmation or discontinuity and independence," Roof asked.  "Most of us
Episcopalians remain puzzled that the terms of the debate are most heated
among Lutherans and not between Lutherans and Episcopalians, which makes us
feel kind of marginalized in the discussion sometimes," she said.
        "Do our churches have the capacity for full communion? I think the
answer for our Episcopal church is yes," Roof said.  "The issue isn't the
failure to understand issues and ideas.  Most disappointing to The
Episcopal Church is, we thought we were entering into a relationship and
the Lutherans were working on a document.  And so that was kind of a
problem, a different approach and a problem."
     The bishop of the ELCA's Minneapolis Area Synod, the Rev. David W.
Olson, called the new proposal "good and clear."  He said the churches
should "look to the probability that  Called to Common Mission will be
adopted and plan for it."
     Olson said, "The discussion could both renew and increase
understanding of the office of bishop, an office the Lutherans have not
defined.  We can admit we don't have a very clear ecclesiology and work on
it with great serousness."
     About 500 ecumenical officers from Christian denominations met for
three days for the annual workshop.  The Rev. April Ulring Larson preached
for the event's opening worship service at Luther Seminary, St. Paul.
Larson is bishop of the ELCA's LaCrosse (Wis.) Area Synod.  She described
growing up in Decorah, Iowa, where Lutherans were the majority, "where one
denomination dominates."
     Larson traced Christian division back to the squabbling disciples and
then further back to Cain and original sin.  "It's not our fault, it's God
who plays favorites.  Our problem is we never seem to know who is the
favorite, and we have to know who is in and who is out.  And it's getting
so complicated.  We're not sure who is your favorite."
     Larson said, "Who has the truth, God?  When we know who has the
truth, then we can figure out who is your favorite daughter and finally our
exhausting century upon century of ecclesiastical battles will be over."
     The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, bishop of the ELCA's Saint Paul Area Synod,
was the preacher for a Lutheran-Episcopal joint Eucharist service at St.
Clement's Episcopal Church, St. Paul.

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