wfn.org | Lutherans propose compromise to critics of accord with Episcopalians

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Note #6228 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

24-October-2000
00367

Lutherans propose compromise to critics of accord with Episcopalians

‘Histroic episcopate' is still a stumbling block, dissenters say

by Religion News Service

WASHINGTON -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has proposed
a compromise to pastors who object to ordination rules under a new full
communion agreement with the Episcopal Church.

	The "Called to Common Mission" agreement between Lutherans and
Episcopalians, scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, will allow the churches to
share clergy and joint mission projects but stops far short of an -outright
merger.

	Several Lutheran factions, especially in the upper Midwest, oppose the
agreement's rules on ordinations. Under the accord, Lutherans agreed to
adopt the Episcopal practice of ordination only by a bishop. New Lutheran
ministers could no longer be ordained by other rank-and-file Lutheran
clergy.

	The ELCA's Conference of Bishops, meeting in Chicago Oct. 5-10, offered a
proposal that will be considered by the ELCA Church Council, which serves as
the church's board of directors between biennial churchwide assemblies.

	Under the proposal, if a new pastor wishes to be "irregularly ordained"
without a bishop, the synod's bishop will consult with both the church's
presiding bishop and the synod council to make a "pastoral decision" on
ordination.

	If the Church Council agrees to the measure, it would offer a bylaw change
to next summer's Churchwide Assembly meeting in Indianapolis.

	The Rev. Daniel Martensen, the church's ecumenical liaison, cautioned that
the compromise could cause concern in the Episcopal Church. "There are
certainly voices within the Episcopal Church that would be raised as a
matter of concern that we might be undermining (Called to Common Mission),"
he said.

	Still, opponents of the agreement say the proposed compromise would not
address all of their concerns. Former Minnesota Gov. Al Quie is vice chair
of the Word Alone Network, a grass-roots movement that opposes the Episcopal
accord.

	Quie said the ordination compromise would not soothe objections to the
requirement that church bishops be installed into the "historic episcopate,"
the line of bishops that traces its roots back to the early church.

    "It's the mandating of it, the historic episcopate, that we are
primarily objecting to," Quie said.

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