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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 14, 1999

LUTHERAN ECUMENISM A FOCUS OF CHRISTIAN UNITY WORKSHOP
99-127-FI

     ROCHESTER, N.Y. (ELCA) -- Many of the speakers here May 3-6 for
the 36th annual National Workshop on Christian Unity discussed various
ecumenical relationships in which the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) finds itself.  About 50 ELCA members were among the 400
ecumenical officers and representatives from a number of Christian
denominations in attendance.
     The ELCA entered into "full communion" with three churches of the
Reformed tradition -- the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Reformed Church
in America and United Church of Christ -- in 1997.  That year the ELCA
approved a Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification with the
Roman Catholic Church which awaits international acceptance.
     Full communion is a common confessing of the Christian faith; a
mutual recognition of Baptism and a sharing of the Lord's Supper,
allowing for joint worship and an exchangeability of members; a mutual
recognition and availability of ordained ministers to the service of all
members of churches in full communion, subject only but always to the
disciplinary regulations of the other churches; a common commitment to
evangelism, witness and service; a means of common decision making on
critical common issues of faith and life; and a mutual lifting of any
condemnations that exist between churches.
     Lutherans rejected a proposal for full communion with The
Episcopal Church in 1997 and are now considering an alternative
proposal.  The ELCA will act this year also on a proposal for full
communion with the Moravian Church in America.
     The ELCA is involved in dialogues with Roman Catholic and Orthodox
churches in the United States, and it is renewing talks with the African
Methodist Episcopal Church and the United Methodist Church.  The
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod begins formal discussions with the ELCA
in June.
     The ELCA is an active member of the National Council of Churches
of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCC), Lutheran World Federation and World
Council of Churches (WCC).
     The Rev. John H. Thomas, assistant to the president for ecumenical
concerns, United Church of Christ, addressed a "Lutheran-Reformed
Celebration of Full Communion" at Rochester's Downtown United
Presbyterian Church.  To illustrate the promise of the new relationship,
he built on the theme of a popular television program, "This Old House,"
in which workers fix up a different home each week.
     God is constantly renewing the Church, said Thomas.  "There is
something chosen and precious about this old house ... this community of
Christ," he said.  "This precious house is also given a precious
vocation" ... to announce the gospel.
     Thomas noted that the Church is structurally sound, built on the
foundation of a lively faith in Jesus Christ.  We are "not called to
create ... but to renovate, renew and transform this old house," he
said.  This is not "historic preservation."
     The Vatican and Lutheran World Federation (LWF) are on the verge
of signing the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, said
the Rev. John F. Hotchkin, executive secretary of the secretariat for
ecumenical and interreligious affairs, National Council of Catholic
Bishops, United States Catholic Conference.
     The declaration builds on dialogues conducted in the United States
and around the world to state a basic understanding Lutherans and Roman
Catholics have regarding a doctrine at the center of the churches'
historic dispute, and it said related condemnations the churches
exchanged in the 16th century no longer apply.
     Hotchkin said churches often define their identities by their
differences and a statement of consensus may threaten those identities.
He called the document "a journey into the very core of our differences"
to find the churches' consensus about the doctrine of justification.
     Dr. Donna Geenaert, SC, ecumenical director for the Canadian
Conference of Catholic Bishops, described methods being used with the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada to study the Joint Declaration in
congregations across Canada.
     Two Lutherans and two Roman Catholics in each of 12 Canadian
cities conduct local dialogues, said Geenaert.  Those 48 people meet
annually with those involved in a national dialogue.
     The local dialogues help the churches explain the results of
national and international dialogues through bulletin inserts, videos
and "living room dialogues."  Geenaert said the future of the dialogues
is unclear, but the two churches "work together with a greater sense of
freedom after declaring the condemnations no longer apply."
     In August the ELCA Churchwide Assembly will vote on a Lutheran
proposal for full communion with the Episcopal Church, "Called to Common
Mission."  Some Lutherans oppose the proposal because the ELCA would
incorporate the "historic episcopate" of the Episcopal Church; they feel
that would detract from the authority the gospel gives the office of
ministry.
     Lutherans and Episcopalians agree on the doctrine of "apostolic
succession," an ongoing faithful proclamation of Christ.  Episcopalians
bring to the relationship the historic episcopate, a succession of
bishops as a sign of unity back to the earliest days of the Christian
church.
     Episcopalians are not asking Lutherans to accept the historic
episcopate as an article of faith, said the Rev. Donald S. Armentrout,
an ELCA pastor who is associate dean for academic affairs and professor
of church history and dogmatic theology at the Episcopal School of
Theology, University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn.
     "The historic episcopate is the primary way that the church has
organized itself," Armentrout told members of the Episcopal Diocesan
Ecumenical Officers (EDEO) and Lutheran Ecumenical Representatives
Network (LERN).  Lutherans dropped the historic episcopate in the 16th
century because the bishops did not join the German Reformation, not
because they opposed the historic episcopate.
     "We (U.S. Lutherans) are asking to be reincorporated into the
historic episcopate which most of Christendom has," said Armentrout.
"The ELCA is being asked to adopt a sign of apostolicity that is not
necessary but may help us in our mission to the world."
     The Rt. Rev. Rustin Kimsey, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of
Eastern Oregon, related the story of Heppner, Ore., where he licensed a
Lutheran pastor to serve a neighboring Episcopal congregation.  Lutheran
and Episcopal congregations in that area have created a "council of
advice" to oversee their relationship, "putting forward the best story
about both of our traditions," he said.
     Kimsey said that relationship is an exception which he hopes will
be affirmed by the ELCA and Episcopal Church entering into full
communion.  He said the relationship in Heppner will need to be
reevaluated if the current proposal for full communion is rejected.
     Members of EDEO and LERN "affirmed their conviction that the unity
and mission of the Church are interdependent.  That is, they are
different sides of the same coin, and that the mission challenges before
us will be addressed by our unity," said a statement drafted from small-group reports.
     "We give thanks to God for leading us to this point, trusting that
the Spirit will provide us with the gifts we need to make our full
communion a powerful witness to the world," said the statement.
     The Rt. Rev. William Burrill, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of
Rochester, N.Y., called divisions among Christians "obscene."  "We have
got to help our people hear the gospel," he said, and make Lutherans and
Episcopalians as uncomfortable as possible with the obscenity of the
divided church.
     "The Episcopal Church continues to be deeply committed to work
with the ELCA and to pursue full communion," said the Rev. Ellen Wondra,
associate professor of theological studies, Colgate Rochester Divinity
School, Rochester, N.Y.  She noted little opposition to the current
proposal among Episcopalians.
     The ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August will also consider a
proposal for full communion which the Northern and Southern Provinces of
the Moravian Church in America have already approved.
     In a seminar on full communion, the Rev. Otto Dreydoppel Jr.,
director of Moravian studies and assistant professor of church history,
Moravian Theological Seminary, Bethlehem, Pa., said Lutheran-Moravian
full communion makes sense because of "our shared theologies and
parallel histories."
     Dreydoppel said full communion is necessary as a formal witness to
the unity of the church catholic.  He said Moravians hope full communion
with Lutherans will renew the theological foundation of their worship
life.
     "The theology of the heart" as expressed through liturgy and
worship is something Moravians bring to the proposed relationship with
Lutherans, said the Rev. Randall R. Lee, associate for bilateral
relations and dialogue, ELCA Department for Ecumenical Affairs.
     The Rev. Norman A. Hjelm, an ELCA pastor and retired director of
the NCC's Faith and Order Commission, addressed a seminar on
ecclesiology -- the doctrine of the church -- and its relationship to
the unity of the Church and the churches.  He oversaw an NCC study of
ecclesiology and the development of a related statement which the NCC
adopted in 1997.
     The study asked the NCC's member churches to study their own self-
understanding as "church" and what it is about that self-understanding
that has led them to make the ecumenical commitment it takes to join the
NCC, said Hjelm.  He said, as far as he knew, nothing had been done with
the statement.
     Hjelm said the statement had some specific recommendations about
the churches renewing their ecumenical commitment in celebration of the
NCC's 50th anniversary in the fall of 1999.   Another recommendation was
to establish joint working groups with Roman Catholics, Pentecostals and
Evangelicals, "with the intention of seeing how the ecumenical
expression in this country can be made more complete and more
inclusive."
     The current director of the NCC's Faith and Order Commission, the
Rev. William G. Rusch, is also an ELCA pastor.  He mapped key ecumenical
events of the previous 12 months in another seminar.
     All the activity around Christian unity in the world belies the
view that the churches are in "an ecumenical winter," said Rusch.  He
pointed specifically to the WCC's Eighth Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe,
in December.
     Some may define the WCC assembly by what did not happen, Rusch
said.  There was no significant change in the council's membership -- no
significant influx or exodus of churches.  There were no significant
ecumenical statements and no dominant social issues, he said.
     Rusch said two decisions will have a significant effect on the
WCC.  One was to propose a forum of Christian churches and ecumenical
organizations -- a table for all churches, even non-members of the WCC,
to participate in discussions.  The other decision begins conversations
toward greater involvement of Orthodox churches in the WCC.
     The ecumenical movement is closely tied to a liturgical movement,
said the Rev. Eugene L. Brand, distinguished international professor in
residence, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, and former
assistant general secretary for ecumenical affairs of the Lutheran World
Federation.
     "The liturgical movement, like the ecumenical movement, has been
concerned with catholicity -- that is the wholeness of the church," said
Brand.  Churches usually make liturgical changes in cooperation with
other church bodies, and those changes usually have effects beyond one
church body.
     Brand pointed out that the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's
Supper are common elements of Christian churches.  The Lord's Supper is
"an ecumenical event," though it is recognized and celebrated
separately.  Baptism is generally recognized across Christian
denominations, but it is still celebrated separately.
     Christians often say they were baptized Methodist or baptized
Catholic, said Brand.  "The way we practice Baptism belies what we
believe about Baptism," he said.
     Brand recommended that Christian churches in a given city consider
returning to the early Christian practice of using a common baptistry,
baptizing all new Christians in a single place and possibly using the
same worship service.
     The National Workshop on Christian Unity is an annual meeting
comprised of several ecumenical networks meeting separately and
together.  The workshop involves Episcopal Diocesan Ecumenical Officers,
the Lutheran Ecumenical Representatives Network, the National
Association of (Roman and Eastern Catholic) Diocesan Ecumenical
Officers, and Ecumenical Colleagues which includes the American Baptist
Churches in the U.S.A., Christian Church (Disciples of Christ),
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), United Church of Christ and United
Methodist Church.
     The next National Workshop on Christian Unity will be held May 15-18, 2000, 
in Louisville, Ky.

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