wfn.org | Lutheran-United Methodist Dialogue Discusses Sacraments

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

February 19, 2002

LUTHERAN-UNITED METHODIST DIALOGUE DISCUSSES SACRAMENTS
02-035-FI/LB*

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) and the United Methodist Church (UMC) both accept two
sacraments -- Baptism and the Lord's Supper.  Members of the
Lutheran-United Methodist dialogue met Feb. 14-17 in Orlando, Fla.,
and "found significant agreement among the churches' histories and
doctrinal teachings" on the sacraments, according to a communique
from the dialogue chairs.
     The Lutheran co-chair of the dialogue is the Rev. Allan C.
Bjornberg, bishop of the ELCA's Rocky Mountain Synod, Denver.  The
United Methodist co-chair is Bishop Melvin G. Talbert, Nashville,
Tenn.
     "Baptism is understood to be the entry into church life; the
Lord's Supper is the regular gathering around the holy meal for faith
communities," said the communique.  "The two church bodies have these
sacraments in common and these are the only rites considered
sacraments by these church bodies."
     The two churches may have different understandings of the
sacraments, Talbert told the United Methodist News Service, but "we
quickly came to realize these differences are basically in terms of
nuance."
     Both traditions believe in the "real presence" of Jesus Christ
in the Lord's Supper, Talbert cited as an example.  While Lutherans
emphasize Christ's presence in the bread and wine, United Methodists
focus on the Holy Spirit, he said.
     "When we partake of the bread, we are, in fact, remembering who
Jesus really was and is," said Talbert. "Once we partake of Holy
Communion, Christ's spirit empowers us and sends us forth to do
mission and ministry in the world."
     "We are hitting our stride now as our dialogue really gets
under way," Bjornberg said in an interview.  "We have identified some
areas of wonderful convergence, but we also know there is some work
to do.  There are lots of questions yet to be answered, but there's a
lot of exciting conversation."
     The UMC includes ministries in Africa, Asia and Europe, and
talks between Lutherans and United Methodists in other parts of the
world have set the stage for the U.S. dialogue, said Bjornberg.
     "There is an agreement between United Methodists in Norway and
the Church of Norway, which is Lutheran and one of our Lutheran World
Federation partners.  So, that gives us a leg up on the work," he
said.
     While the dialogue must continue its conversation about the
sacraments, Bjornberg said, "I think everyone around the table was
surprised at the amount of convergence that we discovered in our days
together in Orlando."
     "We are moving now to issues of justification and
sanctification," he said.
     "Methodists have a strong tradition of moving forward in
sanctification in this life," Bjornberg said.  "We have to hear
carefully from them what they mean by that, how they articulate that
and how that works for us, as Lutherans, who continually say we are
saved by grace alone," he said.
     The two churches or their predecessor church bodies conducted
official dialogues from 1977 to 1979 and from 1985 to 1987.  This was
the second meeting of the third round, which began in September 2001.
The next meeting of the dialogue will be in September 2002 in
Chicago.  Participants plan to meet twice a year.
     With 8.5 million members, the UMC is the second-largest
Protestant denomination in the United States.  The ELCA is the fourth
largest, with 5.13 million members.
     The ELCA has 10,816 congregations organized in 65 synods, each
headed by a bishop, across the United States and Caribbean.
     The UMC has 36,361 congregations in 50 episcopal areas across
the United States and Puerto Rico.  It includes another 1.4 million
Methodists in about 5,150 congregations in 18 episcopal areas in
Africa, Asia and Europe.

*Linda Bloom is director of the United Methodist News Service, New
York.

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