wfn.org | [ENS] Joint 'mission: possible' for ELCA,

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Daybook, from Episcopal News Service

July 28, 2005

Joint 'mission: possible' for ELCA, Episcopal campus ministries

By Douglas Fenton

[Episcopal News Service]  "Called to Common Mission" is more than
"possible"--it's the reality
of the work being done on college campuses across the nation by Lutheran
and
Episcopal
campus ministries. That was the conclusion of the second joint
chaplains'
gathering between
the ELCA and ECUSA, held June 23-26 and sponsored by the Division for
Higher
Education
and Schools at the ELCA offices in Chicago and the Office for Young
Adult &
Higher Education
at the Episcopal Church Center.

The first such gathering was held in 1987.

At the Lutheran School of Theology (LSTC), Brent House (Episcopal Campus
Ministry), and the
University of Chicago, 156 participants prayed, sang, danced, dialogued
and
feasted. Author,
lecturer, and postulant Lauren Winner provided three provocative
addresses
centered on the
words 'called', 'common' and 'mission.' Engaging chaplains to consider
their
call, to wonder
about what was both uncommon and held in common in their common
ministry,
and to
formulate an articulate statement regarding the mission of the church on
campus, Winner
spoke passionately about the work of the church in the academic realm as
a
"dynamic and
never passive relationship" with those on the journey.

In a panel discussion, University of Chicago Divinity School professor
emeritus Martin E.
Marty, the Rev. Ellen Wondra, Seabury- Western Seminary's professor of
theology and ethics,
and the Rev James Nichols, president of LSTC, responded to questions on
religion versus
spirituality, the current political climate, the war in Iraq and their
effect on young people's
commitment to academic pursuits and goals.

At the closing banquet, ELCA chaplains recognized peers who have
contributed
to campus
ministry throughout the past year. The Episcopal Provincial Coordinators
for
Ministry in
Higher Education plans to institute two such awards for subsequent
years.
The first will be
called the Distinguished Leadership Award, given to a chaplain who has
excelled in providing
a model for campus ministry. The second honors the Rev. Sam Portaro, a
career chaplain
recently retired from Brent House at the University of Chicago. It will
be
called the Sam
Portaro Award for Creativity and Intellectual Enquiry. The awards may be
given annually at
the chaplains' conference.

The two churches' national offices for campus ministries have agreed to
hold
another joint
conference in June 2006.

-- The Rev Douglas Fenton is the staff officer for Young Adult & Higher
Education Ministries.