wfn.org | ELCA Lutherans Examine "Church"

[ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

NEWSBRIEF

September 13, 1996

LUTHERANS EXAMINE "CHURCH"

Three decades of ecumenical dialogues have inspired Lutherans to
clarify their identity and their relationships with other
Christians.  The local, regional and international "church" is
the subject of three lectures, Sept. 10-24, for the Lutheran
Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.  LTSP is one of eight
seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  When
the ELCA's 1997 Churchwide Assembly meets in Philadelphia, it
will consider proposals to enter into closer relationships with
the Roman Catholic Church, Episcopal Church and three Reformed
churches -- Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Reformed Church in
America and United Church of Christ.  The Rev. E. LeRoy Riley
Jr., bishop of the ELCA's New Jersey Synod, explored the issue of
the unity and catholicity of the church from a regional
perspective on Sept. 10.  Katie Day, LTSP's associate professor
for church and community, will present the results of her
research on new configurations of local churches and new
ecumenical alliances on Sept. 17.  Ulrich K#hn, professor of
systematic theology at the University of Leipzig, Germany, will
address ecumenical issues from an international perspective on
Sept. 24.  All lectures take place in the seminary's Hagan
Amphitheatre.

For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service,
(312) 380-2958 or AHAFFTEN@ELCA.ORG; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir.,
(312) 380-2955 or FRANKI@ELCA.ORG