wfn.org | German Bishop Says Unity of Church Already Exists in Baptism

["Frank Imhoff" <Frank.Imhoff@elca.org>]

German Bishop Says Unity of Church Already Exists in Baptism
Johannesdotter: Divide Significantly Felt at the Eucharist

HANOVER, Germany/GENEVA, 21 December 2004 (LWI) * In the context of
ecumenical dialogue between the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches and
the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ),
the bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schaumburg-Lippe, Juergen
Johannesdotter (Bueckeburg), Germany says baptism must be seen as the real
sacrament of unity. 

In an article in VELKD-Informationen (newsletter of the United Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Germany - VELKD), Johannesdotter says baptism had not been
an issue in the ecumenical dialogue for a long time. On the Eucharist, he
points out that the dispute between the churches was nowhere more visible and
tangible than over the Eucharist, which was seen as the sacrament of unity
for all intent and purpose. Baptism, on the other hand, was recognized both
in the Protestant and the Roman Catholic Church * despite all the other
differences in sacramental doctrine. In baptism, the gift of the unity of the
churches was already a reality, he stresses.

He calls for confidence building measures, saying churches are not divided by
theologies but by mistrust. He writes, "Disappointed yearning for an
ecumenical 'one-age' has rapidly evolved into equally unhelpful talk about an
ecumenical 'ice age.'"

Johannesdotter is also concerned about the wrangling over a date for the next
ecumenical Kirchentag (church convention), five years after the signing of
the JDDJ by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and Roman Catholic Church.
This may lead to the perception "that the impatient yearning for visible
progress in ecumenical relations has been succeeded by a backward movement
motivated mainly by church politics," he argues. He notes that "a rather
sober mood has taken the place of a euphoric sense of a new beginning,"
creating the possibility of seeing differences and division as a wound which
cannot yet heal.
 
The VELKD brings together eight Evangelical Lutheran churches in Bavaria,
Brunswick, Hanover, Mecklenburg, North Elbe, Saxony, Schaumburg-Lippe and
Thuringia, representing around 10.4 million people. (349 words)

The full text of  the article by Bishop Juergen Johannesdotter is available
on the VELKD Web site at www.velkd.de 

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 138 member
churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a membership of nearly 65
million Lutherans. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of
common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology,
humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless
specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or
opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article
contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with
acknowledgment.]

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