wfn.org | ELCA Leaders Stress Concordat Clarity

[Brenda Williams <BRENDAW@elca.org>]

Reply-To: ElcaNews <ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG>
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

January 8, 1998

CONCORDAT WRITERS SHOULD STRIVE FOR CLARITY,
CANDOR
98-01-01-AH

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Church leaders stressed
clarity and candor in their
advice to the teams charged with drafting a
revised proposal for full
communion between the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America and The Episcopal
Church.  An advisory panel of ELCA pastors and lay
people, bishops and
scholars met here Dec. 18-19, together with the
ELCA and Episcopal writing
teams.
     The Rev. Thomas A. Prinz, Alexandria, Va.,
said he hopes "we can assist
with the clarity needed to give this agreement a
second time at bat."  In
August the ELCA defeated the original "Concordat
of Agreement," which sought
to establish full communion between the two
churches, but rededicated the ELCA
to work toward that relationship.
     The writing team is to rework the document in
time for the ELCA's spring
synod assemblies.  But the discussion showed there
is little consensus among
factions in the ELCA supporting and opposing
certain essential portions of the
proposal.
     The Rev. Joan A. Mau, Washington Island,
Wis., said, "No one seemed to
agree on what the text of the Concordat meant.  To
agree on a document we need
to know what we're talking about."
     "Don't dumb it down," urged Terry L. Bowes,
Longmont, Colo.  "Give it
life and meaning -- the way Jesus did in his
teaching."
     Albert Quie, Minnetonka, Minn., said,
"Lutheran folks are so divided
over the historic episcopate.  We need to find a
point of unity within the
ELCA and provide clarity of language that will
lead to trust."
     Lutherans and Episcopalians agree on the
doctrine of "apostolic
succession," an ongoing faithful proclamation of
Christ; Episcopalians bring
the "historic episcopate," an unbroken succession
of bishops as a sign of
unity back to the earliest days of the Christian
church.
     The Rev. Mary Beth A. Peterson, Omaha, Neb.,
said the document should
"state our missional goals clearly," rather than
assume they will be
recognized.
     The Rev. Ronald B. Warren, bishop of the
ELCA's Southeastern Synod based
in Atlanta, said it should be "a missionary
mandate" and added that the eight
Episcopal bishops in his area "have the same
concern."
     The Rev. Peter Rogness, bishop of the ELCA's
Greater Milwaukee Synod,
said, "I hope we can reduce the size of a
perceived toggle-switch that makes a
loud click with the historic episcopate and a
church run by bishops on one
hand and a locally-run democratic church     on
the other."
     Rogness said, "Both churches acknowledge
apostolic succession.  Our
understandings of oversight and authority are much
the same.  The proposal's
increased emphasis on clergy is not as massive as
some in the ELCA think.  It
does not call for such a big shift, just an
affirmation of both traditions."
     The Rev. Todd W. Nichol of Luther Seminary,
St. Paul, Minn., said,
"There is a practical element to the situation.
We are quite badly strained,
quite deeply divided, perhaps even dangerously so.
 We Lutherans need to be
tending to the unity of our household."
     Nichol, a professor of church history, is one
of three members of the
ELCA writing team.  "Our task is to achieve a
consensus as broad and deep as
possible so as many ELCA members as possible can
say 'Yes.'  Ecumenism begins
at home.  Our ecumenical efforts need to take
account of the fact that the
ELCA is a young and tender church, only 10 years
old," he said.
     "We need to practice honesty," Nichol said.
He added, "Both churches
need to be absolutely clear with each other, so
that each fully understands
and agrees to the meanings and consequences
attached by the other to words and
gestures, documents, practices and ritual
actions."
     Prinz said the issue is "not just a matter of
Lutheran unity."  He said,
"It is not primarily an interior issue, but a
particular part of the call to
unity in Christ.  Lutheran unity alone will fall
short of the larger goal."
     Dr. Michael Root urged against "changing the
Concordat too much."  He
said it should be "rational" and stressed the need
for "clarity and a mission
context."  Root, another member of the writing
team, teaches at the Institute
for Ecumenical Research at Strasbourg, France.
     Root said the ELCA should "not try so hard
for 85 percent of the vote if
that means not producing something that will get
75 percent."  A decision will
require a two-thirds vote at the ELCA's Churchwide
Assembly in 1999.
     Greeting the group the Rev. H. George
Anderson, presiding bishop of the
ELCA,
said he was "amazed and thrilled that everyone we
asked was willing to serve."
He said the advisory panel was to "assess
concerns, represent various regions
of the church and points of view, and help the
drafters see both possibilities
and how issues rank in importance."
     The Concordat, he said, is an effort to come
to reconciliation of our
ministries through the historic episcopate.  The
drafters must bring to this
the Lutheran context in the United States today,
he said.
     The ELCA writing team is made up of Nichol,
Root and the Rev. Martin E.
Marty, Chicago.  Marty, who serves as moderator,
called the discussion,
"extremely valuable and moving."
     The ELCA group was joined by the writing team
from The Episcopal Church:
The Rev. J. Robert Wright, professor of history,
General Theological Seminary,
New York. the Rt. Rev. C. Christopher Epting,
Bishop, Diocese of Iowa, and the
Rev. William Norgren, retired ecumenical officer
for The Episcopal Church.
     Epting told the group about his work with
Lutherans through Ecumenical
Ministries of Iowa: "We are continuing to work
together without breaking
stride.  We are encouraged by the ELCA's vote to
move forward."

                            ##########

January 8, 1998

LUTHERAN STUDENTS COMPARE FREEDOM IN FAITH AND
DEMOCRACY
98-01-02-MR

     WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- Under the theme
"Free for All: A Capitol
Celebration of Democracy and Grace," Lutheran
students from across the country
met Dec. 31- Jan. 5 in Washington, D.C. for the
75th anniversary gathering of
the Lutheran Student Movement-USA.
     Joel Christenson, 20, Virginia Miliary
Institute, Lexington, was elected
president of LSM-USA for 1998.  Christenson is
pursuing a bachelor's degree in
international studies.  He is a member of St.
Stephen's Lutheran Church,
Stephenson, Mich.
     Through speakers, worship, small group
discussions and faith-oriented
study, about 600 students and Lutheran campus
ministry staff compared the
freedom given by a democracy to the "gift of
freedom won ... by Jesus Christ."
     "The country we live in is a democracy.  It
is our free government which
gives us the right to simply gather together as a
group of Lutheran college
students," said Emily Moyer, 20, University of
Virginia, Charlottesville.  "As
Christians we are also aware of a different sort
of freedom, our freedom given
through Jesus Christ.  Gathered in our nation's
capital, the symbol of our
free country, we celebrate and contemplate God's
grace, which is free for
everybody who wants it," Moyer said.
     "Martin Luther's definition of Christian
freedom has two parts.  The
first part is that the Christian is free lord of
all, subject to none.  A
person is not to be put down by authorities who
say, 'Just do what you are
told and don't ask any questions.'  The second is
that the Christian is the
servant of all, subject to all," said the Rev.
Timothy F. Lull, president of
Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley,
Calif.
     "The freedom that we have comes to us as a
gift not just for us, but to
be used for the benefit of others.  If we really
understand the gift we do not
claim it, we do not clasp it or hold onto it, but
we give it away," he said.
Lull was a keynote speaker.
     "The struggle for freedom is not simply about
the political, economical
and social freedoms.  The most intense, the most
basic and the most personal
part of the struggle for freedom is the struggle
of every young person growing
up in this society and every other society, trying
to figure out what is her
or what is his God-given destiny.  What is the
plan, the hope and what is the
gift that God has given to your life?" said Lull.
     "It is a very challenging thing to be a
Christian working in a
democracy," said Dr. John J. Hamre, U.S. Deputy
Secretary of Defense.  "The
role of a Christian working for government ... is
to do justice, to finds ways
for our society to share its abundance and to walk
humbly with our God.  We
have to act in an efficient way to end violence
and hunger, and we have to be
very careful not to use our enormous resources for
cheap reasons," Hamre told
the students.
     "God did not put us on earth simply not to
act.  God put us on this
earth to fix the world.  This is what it means to
be a Christian working in
government and to be a Christian citizen.  There
is only one real sin that a
citizen can commit, and that is not to exercise
the right to vote," Hamre
said.
     "God's grace is free.  You do not have to
work for God's grace.  God's
blessings come through human agents," said the
Rev. Barbara Berry-Bailey,
Trinity Lutheran Church, Philadelphia.  "Democracy
should be free but it is
not.  Each of you has to work so all receive that
type of freedom.  Each of
you are important to the mission of God," she
said.  Berry-Bailey was a
keynote presenter.
     "I came to this conference with serious
questions as to whether
democracy and God's grace are consistent.  I think
some liberal and
conservative church groups cozy up to our
government way too much," said
participant Jeff McCurry, 21, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore.
     "The church risks being infected by
capitalism; the biblical witness is
one of giving and community, the capitalistic
witness is one of getting and
individualism.  Christians have a role to play in
democracy in putting forth
to the nation a people constituted by virtues such
as giving, community and
hope," said McCurry.
     LSM-USA celebrated its 75th anniversary at a
banquet held during the
gathering where the establishment of an endowment
for the movement was
announced.  "An investment in the Lutheran Student
Movement is an investment
in the future of the church," said Matthew Mather,
president of LSM.  Mather
is student at Iowa State University, Ames.  The
endowment will provide a
continued base of support for the expansion of a
full-time staff position,
leadership development, scholarships to national
gatherings and increased
autonomy as a movement.
     LSM began in May 1922 when Lutheran
Brotherhood America invited students
from colleges and universities across the county
to attend an organizational
meeting in Toledo, Ohio.  One year later, 74
delegates representing 41
campuses initiated the tradition of an annual
conference.  "The intent was to
get students involved in their faith by starting
student centers at
universities and colleges around the county," said
Mather.
     Students collected $1,813 for V.O.I.C.E.
International (Voluntary
Organizations Initiative in Central and Eastern
Europe/Eurasia), an
information clearinghouse and technical assistance
network to support the
formation and independence of civic organizations
in Central and Eastern
Europe, the Baltics and the former republics of
the Soviet Union.  "V.O.I.C.E.
is LSM's national service project for 1998," said
Heidi Marquez, LSM secretary
for international and multicultural concerns.  "We
will be helping this
organization in its efforts to provide a
Lithuanian community library much
needed information and resources concerning people
with disabilities," said
Marquez.
     LSM-USA is an independent organization of
Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran
Synod students at public, Lutheran and other
private colleges and universities
across the United States.

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