wfn.org | ELCA approves full communion with Moravian Church

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

Recommendation passed with unanimous vote

DENVER, United States of America/GENEVA, 20 August 1999 (lwi) - With a
near-unanimous vote, the 1999 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has approved a proposal to enter into
full communion with the Moravian Church in America.

According to a news release from the ELCA's news and information
service, ELCA News, the recommendation for full communion with the
49,000-member Moravian Church was passed with a 1,007 to 11 vote,
representing a 98.9 percent approval. The Moravian Northern and Southern
Provinces accepted the proposal in 1998.

Through the agreement, "Following Our Shepherd to Full Communion", the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Moravian Church in America
recognize: "in one another the one, holy, catholic and apostolic faith;"
"the authenticity of each other's Baptisms and Eucharist;" "each other's
ordinations of persons to the ministry of Word and sacrament;" "each
other's polity and ministries of oversight;" and "the full
interchangeability and reciprocity of all ordained ministers of Word and
Sacrament," says the ELCA news release.

The 19 August 1999 vote authorized the establishment of a joint
commission by June 2000 that will coordinate the implementation of the
agreement.

The Moravian Church is a worldwide denomination. Moravians led the
Protestant World Mission movement in the early 1700s, when they sent the
first missionaries to the Caribbean islands. By the end of the
eighteenth century, there were Moravian mission stations scattered all
over the world. Today, the worldwide Unity is divided into nineteen
provinces, which include the church in the U.S.A.

(The LWF is a global communion of 128 member churches in 70 countries
representing 58 million of the world's 61.5 million Lutherans. Its
highest decision making body is the Assembly, held every six or seven
years. Between Assemblies, the LWF is governed by a 49-member Council
which meets annually, and its Executive Committee. The LWF secretariat
is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information is the information service of the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted, material presented
does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various
units. Where the dateline of an article contains the notation (lwi), the
material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
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