wfn.org | ELCA, Episcopal Church to Inaugurate Full Communion Jan. 6

[news@ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

December 7, 2000

ELCA, EPISCOPAL CHURCH TO INAUGURATE FULL COMMUNION JAN. 6
00-297-JB/JN*

     CHICAGO (ELCA/ENS) -- The Episcopal Church, USA (ECUSA) and the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will inaugurate their
new full communion relationship Jan. 6, 2001, in a service of Holy
Eucharist at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.  The
celebration will be led jointly by the presiding bishops of both churches: 
the ELCA's H. George Anderson and ECUSA's Frank T.  Griswold.
    The cathedral's official name is the Cathedral Church of Saint
Peter and Saint Paul.  It is the seat of the bishop of the Episcopal
Diocese of Washington and of the presiding bishop of the Episcopal
Church.
    The basis for the full communion relationship is contained in
"Called to Common Mission" (CCM), a document adopted by both
churches.  The ELCA adopted CCM at its churchwide assembly in 1999.
The Episcopal Church adopted CCM at its General Convention this past
summer.  The ELCA and Episcopal Church agreed to implement the
relationship January 1, 2001.
    Under CCM the churches agreed to cooperate in a variety of
ministries, and it allows for sharing of clergy under certain
circumstances.  It is not a merger of the churches.
    The celebration service is expected to be about 90 minutes in
length and may draw as many as 3,600 people, the cathedral's seating
capacity.  The event will begin with singing and processions at 10:30
a.m., followed by the service at 11 a.m.
FIRST STEP FORWARD
"Participants in the service have been selected carefully to
represent the breadth of both our churches," said the Rev. David
Perry, director of the Episcopal Church's Office of Ecumenical and
Interfaith Relations. "Many of our ecumenical partners will be
present, friends of both churches.
    "For Episcopalians, this is really the first step forward in
the realization of our unity in Christ," Perry added. "We haven't
done anything like this before."
     "With this worship event, this celebration of the fact of full
communion, we bridge an ecumenical chasm between Anglicanism and
Lutheranism," said the Rev. Daniel F. Martensen, director of the ELCA
Department for Ecumenical Affairs.  "The bridge has been under
construction for nearly four decades; it spans not only two U.S.
communions, but also continents.  Our engagement in common mission of
proclamation, witness and service is now strengthened."
     Anglican participants in the service will include the Rev. John
Peterson, secretary general of the Anglican Communion; the Rev. David
Hamid, director of ecumenical affairs and relations in the Anglican
Communion Office; Canon Jim Rosenthal, director of communications for
the Anglican Consultative Council; Archbishop Michael G. Peers,
primate of the Anglican Church of Canada; the Rev. Alyson Barnett-Cowan, 
director of Faith, Worship and Ministry for the Anglican   Church of Canada; 
and the Rev. James Cowan, Anglican Church of Canada co-chair of the Joint 
Working Group on full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.
     Lutheran participants in the service will include the Rev. Ishmael Noko, 
general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF); the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, 
ELCA secretary; the Rev. Theodore F. Schneider, bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan 
Washington, D.C. Synod;  The Rev. Michael L. Cooper-White, president of the ELCA's 
Gettysburg Theological Seminary; Kristen E. Kvam, chair of the ELCA Department
for Ecumenical Affairs advisory committee; Lily R. Wu, ELCA Church Council; and 
Jutta Anderson, wife of the presiding bishop.
    The service will be broadcast on the Internet with live audio
and still photos from http://www.FaithAndValuesMedia.org.  There will
be links to this site from the ELCA and Episcopal Church web sites.
    Live video will be available via satellite for individuals with a satellite dish 
and for groups gathered at downlink sites.  Satellite coordinates are C Band, 
Galaxy 11, transponder 8.
     Anderson will preside over the eucharistic liturgy.  Griswold will preach and 
preside over the renewal of baptismal vows, which will be done early in the service.
    "There is no more fitting way to launch our shared mission and ministry than by 
hearing Christ's promise and welcoming his presence in this eucharistic service," 
Anderson said.
    "The heart of our mission imperative comes from our grounding in the baptismal 
promises that we share," Griswold commented.  "Born anew in the waters of Baptism, 
we will discover God's mission unfolding in surprising and enriching ways."
A PROCESSION OF PROCESSIONS
    The service will begin with a series of four processions.  Representatives of synods 
and dioceses of both churches will form one procession.  Other processions will 
include international ecumenical guests, members of the full communion dialogue and 
writing teams, and staff from both churches.  Invited guests include a number of
governmental leaders.
     The internationally known St. Olaf College Choir will sing during the processions 
and during the service.  The Minnesota college is one of 28 ELCA colleges and 
universities.
     Dr. Addie J. Butler, ELCA vice president, Philadelphia, and the Rev. Ernestina R. 
Campbell, an ordained Episcopal deacon from Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento, Calif., 
will be assisting ministers for the  service.
     Organists will include Martin D. Jean, who teaches at the School of Music and the 
Institute of Sacred Music, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.; John Ferguson, 
professor of organ and church music at St. Olaf; Douglas Major, National Cathedral 
organist and choirmaster; and Bruce Neswick and Eric W. Suter, cathedral
organists.  Cathedral choirs will sing during the service.
      Each church has a limited number of tickets for the public, available through the 
ELCA's Department for Ecumenical Affairs and the Episcopal Church's Office for 
Ecumenical and Interfaith  Relations.
     The newly formed Lutheran-Episcopal Joint Coordinating Committee will gather on 
the Monday following the celebration to begin its work.
      The ELCA, based in Chicago, is a 5.15-million member church with nearly 11,000 
congregations across the United States and Caribbean.  It is organized into 65 synods, 
each headed by a bishop.
      The Episcopal Church, based in New York, has 2.4 million members in some 7,400 
congregations.  The church has 107 dioceses, each headed by a bishop.
       Information about the January 6 celebration in Washington,  D.C., as well as the 
text of Called to Common Mission, is at  http://www.elca.org/ea/ on the ELCA 
Department for Ecumenical Affairs Web page.

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      *John Brooks is director of ELCA News and Information. The Rev.
Jan Nunley is deputy director of  the Episcopal Church's Office of
News and Information.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORGm
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html