wfn.org | ELCA Presiding Bishop Stresses Baptism at Unity Event

[ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 1, 1997

ANDERSON STRESSES BAPTISM AT UNITY EVENT
97-16-48-AH

       SACRAMENTO, Calif. (ELCA) -- "Grand Forks is inundated,
and the one thing they can't get is water," the Rev. H. George
Anderson told the National Workshop for Christian Unity here.
"Conflicts seem to flood our church.  We are awash in raw sewage
and debris, amid dangerous currents, and we need the pure water
of Baptism."
       Anderson is presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA).  There are always divisions, but the
church is healthy when it is able to debate issues from within,
Anderson said. "It is a blessing that we continue to argue
face-to-face in our assemblies," he said.
        The annual workshop brought together almost 500
participants from 16 U.S. denominations April 21-24 under the
theme, "Be Reconciled to God."
       The water of Baptism is what all Christians share,
Anderson said. "Each of us in this room has come out of that same
limitless sea, no matter where or when we were baptized.
Different hands brought us to the water -- hands of our human
families, and different hands brought the water to us -- our
denominational family -- but it was not the hands, it was the
water that made us Christians," he said.
       Water finds its own level, Anderson said.  "No part of its
surface is closer to God than another.  Its natural state is
oneness," he said. "Perhaps this will help us see one another as
we really are -- children of the same spiritual mother."
       Anderson urged workshop participants to view the church
"as a conduit, an aqueduct bringing the reconciling power of God
to a thirsty world."  He said, "Our world is sorely in need of
that reconciliation."  He cited widening racial, economic and
social gaps.
        "Into this thirsty world, God has laid the church,"
Anderson said. "If we are to be that conduit, that aqueduct, we
must be connected to one another; we must be able to do ministry
not only with each other, but through each other," he said.
       In August the ELCA Churchwide Assembly will vote on
establishing "full communion" with the Episcopal Church, through
a document called "The Concordat of Agreement," and with three
churches of the Reformed tradition -- the Presbyterian Church
USA, Reformed Church in America and United Church of Christ --
through the "Formula of Agreement."  It will also vote to declare
certain 16th century condemnations of the Roman Catholic Church
no longer apply.
       Anderson found the workshop's theme, Be Reconciled to God,
"intriguing, because it is precisely our efforts to be faithful
to God that make us so skittish about major ecumenical projects."
He said, "In our loyalty to our understanding of God's will, we
hesitate to make any moves that could be seen as a departure from
the truth."
       Anderson asked, "Can our reconciliation with God lead us
to see our own narrowness?  Can reconciliation with God include a
new appreciation for our common birth in Baptism and our common
responsibility for carrying water to a thirsty world?  I pray
that it will be so."
       At a seminar with Anderson focusing on the ELCA's 1997
ecumenical proposals the Rev. Michael Kinnamon said, "The
Concordat and Formula of Agreement should be of central concern
to all Christians in this country, not just the members of these
five churches."  Kinnamon, a member of the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ), is dean of Lexington Theological Seminary
in Kentucky.
       Kinnamon expressed hope "that both sets of relationships
would consider identifying a mission priority to share, to mark
and shape the new relationship."
       Both documents, Kinnamon said, insist upon an appreciation
for genuine diversity and concern for the truth of the gospel.
He called it "a theological mistake to think of unity as
synonymous with agreement."
       Kinnamon said, "It is our inherent unity in Christ that is
determinative.  Christ has made us his own, and Christ is not
divided."
       Kinnamon challenged participants to see ecumenism as
"essentially a renewal movement."  He said, "The perspective here
is neither that Christians should `get along,' glossing over
differences, nor that all differences must be fully resolved,
rather that Christians need one another for the sake of their
uniqueness."
       Kinnamon said, "The very language of communion helps
remind us that unity is not a state we achieve but a dynamic
relational reality."  A partnership, he said, helps churches
focus less on what they have been and more on what they can
become.
       The Workshop on Christian Unity was also the setting for
an annual meeting of the  Lutheran Ecumenical Representatives
Network (LERN).  In joint meetings with counterparts from the
Episcopal Church and the churches of the Reformed tradition, LERN
members discussed the upcoming votes and ways to increase
understanding among clergy and laity at the grass roots.
       Darlis Swan, associate director of the ELCA's Department
for Ecumenical Affairs, said, "At this event people received
information that will help them interpret the content of the
proposals.  Their imaginations have been sparked to think about
joint mission efforts that can be brought about by approval of
the proposals."

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html