wfn.org | ELCA Ecumenical Affairs Staff Seeks Advice on Priorities

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

February 10, 2003

ELCA ECUMENICAL AFFAIRS STAFF SEEKS ADVICE ON PRIORITIES
03-024-JB

     DENVER, Colo. (ELCA) -- The Department for Ecumenical Affairs of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was advised to
continue current bilateral church dialogues, build on positive signs
from recent meetings with officials of the Lutheran Church-Missouri
Synod (LCMS) and maintain funding for the Lutheran World Federation
(LWF).
     The department's advisory committee discussed those subjects and
more in a wide-ranging meeting here Jan. 26-27, following the LWF North
America Pre-Assembly Consultation.  The consultation was intended to
prepare delegates, advisors and staff for this summer's LWF Assembly in
Winnipeg, Manitoba.
     The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, attended the
advisory committee meeting.  He noted that "ecumenism is central to my
leadership of this church."
     "It's a great time [for the department] and we're having a lot of
fun," said the Rev. Randall R. Lee, director and assistant to the
presiding bishop, in summarizing the department's work in recent months.
"We're doing interesting work, and I think we're doing it well."
     At this meeting the department's advisory committee was asked to
deal with a series of questions aimed at determining priorities for the
department's work for the next few years, Lee said.  Meeting with the
advisory committee were members of the ELCA Conference of Bishops'
liaison committee with the department.
     In November, leaders of the ELCA and LCMS had a "very positive"
meeting in St. Louis, Lee reported.  LCMS officials "urged that a deeper
relationship between the two church bodies be attempted," he said.  ELCA
and LCMS leaders agreed to meet twice a year, and the next meeting was
set for April 3 in Chicago.
      LCMS leaders asked that two LCMS representatives be invited to
participate officially in Lutheran-Roman Catholic and Lutheran-Orthodox
dialogues, meetings in which the ELCA now participates, Lee said.   The
LCMS representatives also asked for a formal theological dialogue
between ELCA and LCMS officials.  The LCMS representatives also asked
for a formal theological dialogue between ELCA and LCMS officials.
     Also discussed was a 2001 LCMS convention action declaring that
the ELCA cannot be considered "an orthodox Lutheran church body," he
said.
     Suggestions of continued dialogue with LCMS leaders met with mixed
reactions from advisory committee members.  For example, the Rev.
Timothy Wengert, professor of Reformation history, Lutheran Theological
Seminary at Philadelphia, said he knows of some LCMS members who are
"pained" by actions such as the declaration about the ELCA.  "On behalf
of those folks, we have to continue to talk," he said.
     "I want to register my vote that we stay in some conversation with
them,' said the Rev. Murray D. Finck, bishop of the ELCA Pacifica Synod,
Yorba Linda, Calif.  It's important to keep close relationships locally
and a national conversation is desirable, he added.
     Kathy J. Magnus, LWF regional officer for North America, Chicago,
said she is concerned that no women are present in the ELCA-LCMS
meetings and should be, especially since the ELCA ordains women, she
said.
     Following discussion, Lee proposed that ELCA leaders meet with
LCMS leaders semi-annually, and he suggested there be some "pre-
conversation" with a small group to understand the content, context and
status of the 2001 LCMS convention action about the ELCA before formal
dialogue is initiated.	Further, the advisory committee suggested
delaying action until next year on the LCMS request for participation in
Lutheran-Roman Catholic and Lutheran-Orthodox dialogues.
     The committee heard reports and offered advice on several other
ecumenical matters:
     + It recommended continuing bilateral conversations with
representatives of Roman Catholic, Orthodox, United Methodist, Mennonite
and African Methodist Episcopal traditions.  The committee also
suggested that seminary professors and students from the ELCA and
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) could initiate an informal
dialogue between the two churches.
     + On funding for ecumenical and interfaith organizations, the
committee said priority should be given to maintaining financial support
for the LWF.  "Our most important ecumenical commitment is to the (LWF)
communion," Lee said.
     + The committee discussed the status of the ELCA's five full
communion relationships.  The ELCA is in full communion with the
Episcopal Church, Moravian Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.),
Reformed Church in America and United Church of Christ.  Such
relationships have led congregations to share ministries and resources,
and, in some cases, allows for exchange of clergy.  Hanson told the
committee that there have now been three people in the ELCA who have
been ordained by a pastor other than a bishop. The ELCA's full communion
agreement with the Episcopal Church requires that a bishop preside at
all Lutheran ordinations, however, the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly
adopted a bylaw that allows for the possibility of exceptions to that
requirement under certain circumstances.
     + Hanson will lead a small delegation of ELCA leaders on an
"ecumenical journey" to Europe March 14-31.  Planned stops include
Geneva, Switzerland, to meet with staff of the LWF and World Council of
Churches; Istanbul, Turkey, to meet with His All-Holiness Batholomew I,
the Ecumenical Patriarch; Rome, to meet with Cardinal Walter Kasper of
the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, and for a
possible meeting with Pope John Paul II; and London/Canterbury, and a
meeting with Archbishop Rowan Williams, the new Archbishop of
Canterbury.  "I'm going with the idea of establishing relationships
personally and deepening church-to-church relationships," Hanson said.
     + Churches Uniting in Christ (CUIC) is a dialogue of nine U.S.
Protestant churches with a goal of establishing full communion
relationships.	The ELCA is not a full participant, but has joined the
discussions as "a partner in mission and dialogue."  The Rev. Philip L.
Hougen, bishop of the ELCA Southeastern Iowa Synod, Iowa City, is an
ELCA representative to the CUIC.  He reported that the CUIC churches are
hoping to reach agreement on full communion in 2007.  Hougen said the
churches have some "big issues" to resolve first, including the historic
episcopate, ordained elders and lay presidency.
     + U.S. Lutheran and Jewish leaders will meet May 12 at the ELCA
churchwide office in Chicago for dialogue, said the Rev. Franklin E.
Sherman, the department's associate for interfaith relations, Allentown,
Pa.  The May 12 dialogue grew out of a meeting Hanson had in August 2002
with several Jewish leaders in New York.  That meeting came about over
some concerns about Hanson's statements on violence in Israel and the
West Bank.
     + The committee urged the National Council of Churches of Christ
in the U.S.A. to  maintain a person on its staff with expertise in
interfaith relationships.  The NCC is an ecumenical organization with 36
member churches, including the ELCA.e
     Preceding the planning meeting, the Rev. Michael Kinnamon,
professor, Eden Theological Seminary, St. Louis, former CUIC general
secretary and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) minister, presented
some perspectives on the future of the ecumenical movement.

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John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
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