wfn.org | [LCMSNews] ELCA, LCMS talks note 'mission spirit'

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	April 6, 2005 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 24

	ELCA, LCMS discussions
	note surge of ?mission spirit

	Stronger interest in starting new congregations and mission
outreach was a dominant topic in discussions among leaders of the two
largest U.S. Lutheran church bodies meeting March 30 in St. Louis.

	Twice a year, representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church?Missouri Synod meet as the
Committee on Lutheran Cooperation (CLC). The two denominations work
together in disaster response, world relief, military chaplaincy, and
various social-ministry capacities.

	Reporting on priorities for missions and higher education set by
the Synod at its convention last July, LCMS President Gerald B.
Kieschnick referred to ?Ablaze!??the convention-approved movement
to
tell 100 million people worldwide about Jesus Christ by 2017, the 500th
anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. He said the Synod?s
colleges
and seminaries have been asked to help the effort by offering special
courses equipping pastors and other professional church workers to
provide mission leadership.

	Kieschnick noted that the Synod?s partner churches overseas will
play an integral role in ?Ablaze!? Meanwhile, in the United States,
the
Synod is encouraging partnerships between congregations and districts to
start new congregations. ?Among our district presidents, I see a
healthy
amount of energy,? Kieschnick said.

	?The themes are similar,? observed ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark
Hanson. ?As I move around our church body, I think we?re claiming
the
?evangelical? in our name.? He said the ELCA sees itself as
enabling
people to be in mission locally.

	The committee members also noted similar approaches among their
regional judicatories to train lay ministers. Working under the
supervision of ordained clergy, the lay workers often serve in rural
congregations and among ethnic populations that cannot afford a
full-time pastor.

	The committee also reviewed the supply of pastors in their
respective church bodies. Dr. Lowell Almen, ELCA secretary, said 1,252
candidates are available this spring for ordained ministry in the ELCA.
He noted that seminary graduates are older, with the average age being
40.5, compared with 34.9 in 1990. He added that the ELCA Board of
Pensions estimates that 6,000 active pastors will be retiring in the
next 15 years.

	Dr. C. William Hoesman, LCMS Michigan District president and
chairman of the LCMS Council of Presidents, reported 165 seminary
graduates available for calls this spring. The Synod currently has about
800 vacancies, he said, with some 400 of those congregations actively
seeking pastors.

	ELCA representatives previewed the ELCA Churchwide Assembly next
August. Around the theme ?Marked with the Cross of Christ Forever,
Almen said that key issues will include a worship book and other
resources, proposals for constitution and bylaw revisions, strategies
for mission work in Africa and the Middle East, and recommendations from
the ELCA Studies on Sexuality Task Force.

	The CLC discussions also dealt with relationships with overseas
church bodies, budgets, health care and retirement programs for church
workers, and dialogs with other denominations.

	On March 29, most of the CLC members also participated in a
theological discussion, hearing presentations on the report and
recommendations of the ELCA sexuality task force and on LCMS guidelines
for service of women in congregational offices. The presenters were Dr.
Stanley Olson, executive director of the ELCA Division for Ministry, and
Dr. Samuel Nafzger, executive director of the LCMS Commission on
Theology and Church Relations.

	Olson said two recommendations from the task force?to
concentrate on finding ways to live together faithfully in the midst of
disagreement and to continue to respect the pastoral guidelines of a
1993 statement of the ELCA Conference of Bishops ? have received
general
affirmation. Being widely discussed is a third recommendation that the
ELCA ?may choose to refrain from disciplining those who for the sake
of
conscience and for the sake of outreach ministry and the commitment to
continuing dialogue, call or approve partnered gay or lesbian
candidates.

	During those discussions, LCMS representatives provided a
response to the report and recommendations of the task force. The
response said the LCMS sees Scriptural authority as the foundational
issue on same-sex unions. ?The report does not speak clearly and
authoritatively regarding homosexual behavior and the ordination of
those who are openly involved in such behavior,? the LCMS response
said.
?This goes contrary to the historic and universal understanding of the
Christian Church regarding what the Holy Scriptures teach about
homosexual behavior as contrary to God?s will and about the Biblical
qualifications for holding the pastoral office.

	In addition to Kieschnick, Hoesman, and Nafzger, LCMS
participants in the CLC meeting were Dr. William Diekelman, LCMS first
vice president; Dr. Raymond L. Hartwig, LCMS secretary; and Dr. Thomas
Kuchta, treasurer and administrative officer of the Board of Directors.
Also participating in the theological talks were Dr. Walter A. Maier
III, professor at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, and Rev.
Ralph Blomenberg, a parish pastor from Seymour, Ind.

	Other ELCA representatives on the CLC were Carlos Peña, ELCA
vice president; Dr. Charles S. Miller, executive for administration; Dr.
Randall Lee, director of the Department for Ecumenical Affairs; and Dr.
Roy Riley, bishop of the New Jersey Synod and chair of the Conference of
Bishops. Participating in the theological discussions were Olson and
Rev. JoAnn A. Post, a parish pastor from Platteville, Wis.

	***************************************

	If you have questions or comments about this LCMSNews release,
contact Joe Isenhower Jr. at joe.isenhower@lcms.org or (314) 996-1231,
or Paula Schlueter Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org or (314) 996-1230.

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