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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 18, 2000

LUTHERAN-CATHOLIC AGREEMENT FOCUS OF ECUMENISTS
00-197-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The North American Academy of Ecumenists (NAAE)
will explore possible implications an international Lutheran-Catholic
agreement on a key Christian doctrine may have on relations between all
Christian denominations.  "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of
Justification: Ecumenical Implications" will be the NAAE 2000 Annual
Conference theme Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at the Holiday Inn Westport, St. Louis.
     "This conference promises to be unique, as it will bring scholars
from Christian traditions not usually paired together in bilateral
dialogues to discuss how an agreement reached by Lutherans and Roman
Catholics in 1999 may bring greater unity among all Christians," said
the Rev. Darlis J. Swan, associate director of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) Department for Ecumenical Affairs.
     Swan is president of the NAAE.  "By making the Joint Declaration
the centerpiece of the conference, we hope to stimulate discussion not
only on the agreement itself but also on the role of justification --
offering a variety of Christian perspectives," she said.
     The "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification" said
certain 16th century condemnations between Catholics and followers of
the German reformer Martin Luther no longer apply.  Representatives of
the Lutheran World Federation and the Vatican signed the declaration
Oct. 31, 1999, in Augsburg, Germany.
     The NAAE was founded in 1957 "to inform, relate and encourage men
and women whose profession or ministry in the church involves them in
ecumenical activities and studies."  Its annual conferences are
scholarly in content and informal in structure to explore "issues too
important to be left exclusively to official ecumenical agencies and
projects."
     Swan said this year's conference has two purposes -- "to explore
the implications of the Joint Declaration beyond the boundaries of
Lutheran and Roman Catholic traditions, and to assist in the reception
process of the agreement by providing a venue for reflection on how the
Joint Declaration may be used as a pastoral and educational tool in
ecumenical settings."
     Dr. Michael J. Root, professor of systematic theology, Trinity
Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, will provide the opening presentation
on doctrinal and practical implications of the agreement.  Root was a
research professor at the LWF's Institute for Ecumenical Research in
Strasbourg, France, when Lutheran churches around the world and the
Vatican were testing their consensus on the Joint Declaration.  Dr.
Frank D. Macchia, president, Society for Pentecostal Studies, Costa
Mesa, Calif., will respond.
     The Rev. Michael Kinnamon, Eden Theological Seminary, Webster
Groves, Mo., will look at the Joint Declaration from the perspective of
the Consultation on Church Union (COCU) -- an ecumenical discourse
involving nine church bodies which will become Churches Uniting in
Christ (CUIC) in 2002.  The Rev. Eileen Lindner, National Council of
Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., New York, and the Rev. William H.
Petersen, Bexley Hall, Rochester, N.Y., will respond.
     The Rev. Samuel H. Nafzger, Commission on Theology and Church
Relations, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, St. Louis, will consider
if the Joint Declaration is a new opportunity for ecumenical reception.
The Missouri Synod's 1998 convention expressed its "deep regret and
profound disagreement" with the ELCA's approval of the Joint
Declaration.  Dr. George Vandevelde, Institute for Christian Studies,
Toronto, and the Rev. Peggy Way, Eden Theological Seminary, will
respond.
     The LWF, based in Geneva, Switzerland, is a global communion of
131 member churches in 72 countries representing 59.5 million of the
world's 63 million Lutherans.  The ELCA is a member of LWF, the Missouri
Synod is not.
     The Rev. Ernest Falardeau, S.S.S, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of
Santa Fe, N.M., and the Rev. Betty Gamble, United Methodist Church, New
York, will present catechetical and pastoral implications of the Joint
Declaration.
     The Most Rev. Edward K. Braxton, auxiliary bishop, Archdiocese of
St. Louis, is the invited banquet speaker.  Dr. Valerie Karras, St.
Louis University, St. Louis, will provide "An Orthodox Perspective" on
the Lutheran-Catholic declaration.
     "I am pleased that so many outstanding ecumenical scholars have
agreed to serve on the program, sharing their research as well as their
experience," said Swan.  "Their expertise as well as that of those who
participate will certainly contribute to the continuing task of making
the Joint Declaration a reality for the wider ecumenical movement," she
said.
     The conference will conclude with worship at St. Monica's Roman
Catholic Church, Creve Coeur, Mo.

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