wfn.org | ELCA Bishops Advise Approving Agreement With United Methodists

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 16, 2005

ELCA Bishops Advise Approving Agreement With United Methodists
05-044-JB

     DALLAS (ELCA) -- The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) advised its church to commit to "interim
Eucharistic sharing" with the United Methodist Church, a step that may
lead to a full-communion agreement between the two churches sometime in
the future.
     The ELCA Conference of Bishops is an advisory body of the church,
consisting of the ELCA's 65 synod bishops, presiding bishop and secretary.
It met here March 3-7.
     The proposal for interim Eucharistic sharing is to be considered by
the ELCA Church Council for possible transmission to the ELCA Churchwide
Assembly.  The council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the
legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies.  The
council is to meet April 7-11 in Chicago.  Assemblies are held every other
year; the next is Aug. 8-14 in Orlando, Fla.
     For the United Methodist Church, the proposal could be endorsed when
its Council of Bishops meets in April, said the Rev. Allan C. Bjornberg,
bishop of the ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod, Denver.  Bjornberg is the
Lutheran co-chair of the current dialogue between the two churches.
     "What we're proposing is interim Eucharistic sharing, which allows
congregations to come together to share worship, to do joint study and
exploration and to get to know each other a lot better. It allows space
for people to learn about one another's traditions," Bjornberg said in an
interview with the ELCA News Service.
     Discussions with the United Methodist Church date back to the 1970s,
Bjornberg said.  The first round of dialogues was about baptism, and
representatives of the two churches found significant agreement, he said.
In the 1980s the dialogue series was about the ministry of bishops and
various levels of ministry. There was "convergence" around many of those
issues, Bjornberg said.
     The current round of discussions began in 2001, and it was about Holy
Communion or the Eucharist, Bjornberg said.
     The Lutheran co-chair said both the ELCA and the United Methodist
Church have been "on parallel tracks in terms of our theological
understandings."
     "[The] United Methodists are 10 million people, a church that's twice
the size of the ELCA, and we've never had historical condemnations," he
said. "We're both churches that came out of reforming movements, separated
by a couple of centuries.  There are just so many parallel tracks and so
many convergences that seem apparent."
     A possible next step for the two churches would be to enter into a
relationship of full communion, which would allow ordained ministers from
one church to serve in the other, and such an agreement promotes sharing
of resources and ministries throughout the churches.
     "That's been the stated objective," Bjornberg said. "We have not put
any kind of timeline on it.  When we were in interim Eucharistic sharing
with the Episcopal Church U.S.A., that went on for two-and-one-half
decades -- a long time.  So, what comes next is that period of exploration
and sharing [with the United Methodist Church]."
     The ELCA has full-communion agreements with five churches.  They are
the Episcopal Church, Moravian Church in America, Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.), Reformed Church in America and United Church of Christ.

Future Supply of Pastors a Concern; Authorized Ministry Policy Recommended
     In his report to the ELCA Conference of Bishops, the Rev. Lowell G.
Almen, ELCA secretary, said he is concerned about the long-term supply of
pastors in the ELCA. The ELCA Board of Pensions predicts some 6,000
pastors will retire in the next 15 years, he said.  If current trends
continue, the church will have one-fourth to one-third fewer pastors than
it has now, Almen said. The ELCA needs to step up its "recruitment efforts
with young pastors," he said.
     In addition, Almen said 25 congregations withdrew from the ELCA in
2004, the largest number to withdraw in a single year since the ELCA was
formed in 1988.  In 2002, 18 congregations withdrew, he said.
     In a separate action, the Conference of Bishops recommended that the
board of the ELCA Division for Ministry and the Church Council approve a
"Policy and Guidelines Related to Synodically Authorized Ministries of
Word and Sacrament."   The conference also said that it understands that
synodically authorized ministry of Word and Sacrament "is normally
intended for a specific congregation or other ministry where appropriate
ordained ministry is not available for an extended period of time."
     When the bishops considered the policy, they debated one portion
regarding weddings.  The proposed policy said, in keeping with the
historic practice of the Lutheran Church and the ELCA's bylaws, "only
ordained ministers are authorized by this church to preside at marriage
services." After considerable discussion, the conference voted down a
proposal to remove the section on marriage services from the policy.
     Finally, the conference encouraged the ELCA Division for Ministry to
continue studying future implications for synodically authorized ministry
and to consult with the Conference of Bishops, ELCA seminaries and
ecumenical partners. It also asked the Division for Ministry to continue
to explore development of strategies for responding to "emerging needs and
opportunities" within the ELCA, and to bring recommendations to the
conference for review.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news