ELCA NEWS SERVICE
August 10, 2007
ELCA Assembly Welcomes LCMS President 07-CWA-034-JI
CHICAGO (ELCA) - The president of The Lutheran Church-- Missouri Synod urged the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) to ground in Scripture its initiatives under consideration at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly this week.
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 6-11at Navy Pier's Festival Hall. About 2,000 people are participating, including 1,069 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is "Living in God's Amazing Grace: Thanks be to God!"
LCMS President Gerald B. Kieschnick, in greetings from the Synod, said he "read with interest" about the ELCA's proposed initiatives, particularly those about mission and outreach, renewed evangelism leaders, discipleship, and "Book of Faith: Lutherans Read the Bible."
"Every initiative and every directive of the church must be guided and empowered by the Word of God," Kieschnick said.
He reminded the assembly that the LCMS, at its July 14-19 convention in Houston, "reaffirmed [its] commitment to Holy Scripture as the inspired, inerrant, infallible, revealed, written Word of God."
Kieschnick said that Scriptures "must always and in every way guide our decisions and set the directions for our service," including cooperative work the ELCA and LCMS do together through agencies such as Lutheran Services in America, Lutheran Disaster Response, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, and Lutheran World Relief.
"It is clear from the discussions in your assembly regarding the possibility of amending your church's `Vision and Expectations' document that the LCMS and the ELCA continue to hold different positions on the interpretation and authority of Holy Scripture," Kieschnick said, "and that such differences exist also within the ELCA. For the sake of our mutual witness and service together, the implications of such action, should it be taken, would need to be addressed, fraternally and evangelically."
"Vision and Expectations" is the ELCA policy document for clergy and other professional leaders.
The ELCA and LCMS are North America's largest Lutheran church bodies, with 4.8 million members and 2.5 million members, respectively.
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Information about the 2007 ELCA Churchwide Assembly can be found at http://www.ELCA.org/assembly/ on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news