wfn.org | Lutheran bishop offers praise, caution in wake of CCM vote

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org (ENS)]

For further information contact:
Episcopal News Service
Kathryn McCormick
kmccormick@dfms.org
212/922-5383
http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens

99-145

Lutheran bishop offers praise, caution in wake of CCM vote

by Kathryn McCormick

     (ENS) Declaring that he is grateful that his church, after 
spirited debate, voted to enter into communion with the Episcopal 
Church, the head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 
told an audience at Grace Episcopal Church in New York City that 
the ELCA's experience over two years in full communion with the 
Reformed churches has taught it to expect a wealth of 
possibilities in the new relationship 

     "Jubilation is premature," ELCA Presiding Bishop H. George 
Anderson cautioned, noting that the Episcopal Church must approve 
the agreement at its General Convention next summer, but for the 
ELCA, "full communion has proved to be much more than another 
step on the path of Christian unity. It is more like a whole new 
highway."

     Anderson's remarks came as part of the William Reed 
Huntington Memorial Sermon, delivered on September 15 during an 
annual Eucharist honoring Huntington, rector of Grace Church at 
the turn of the last century. The church was filled despite a 
heavy rainstorm that had pelted the area for hours preceding the 
evening service.

     In addition to his 26 years of service to Grace Church, 
Huntington was the architect of the Chicago-Lambeth 
Quadrilateral, approved by the House of Bishops in 1886 and still 
in use as the declaration of the official ecumenical position of 
the Episcopal Church. The document's listing of the historic 
episcopate as a necessary point to be included in the Episcopal 
Church's approach to unity with other Christians, has long been 
at the heart of Lutheran-Episcopal discussions.

     The Lutheran Churchwide Assembly agreed to join 
Episcopalians in the historic episcopate when it approved the 
document--"Called to Common Mission"(CCM)--that opened the way 
for full communion.

     "Over the last two years, Lutherans and Episcopalians have been 
seeking a way to honor that element in your tradition," 
Anderson said of the historic episcopate, "while also recognizing 
we Lutherans have no such structural requirement in our 
definition of Christian unity."

     He pointed to the variety of ways in which Lutherans have 
organized themselves, never seeing their identity as bound to any 
single structure.

     "Church structure was not an issue," he said of the 
Lutherans' relationships with three churches of the Reformed 
tradition and, most recently, the Moravians. "Once we agreed on 
matters of faith, we were able to move forward with full 
communion.

     "The road to full communion with the Episcopal Church has 
not been that easy, although most Lutherans would see our two 
traditions as holding much in common. That is even true on the 
distinction between essentials and non-essentials," Anderson 
said. Put simply, Episcopalians see the historic episcopate as 
essential to Christian unity; Lutherans do not.

     Lutherans' doubts came through in their vote against 
adopting the original "Concordat of Agreement" approved 
overwhelmingly by Episcopalians in 1997, he said, although 
Lutherans asked that a revised proposal be presented at their 
1999 assembly.

     CCM "clarified the question of the necessity of the historic 
episcopate," he said. He quoted from the document:

     "The Episcopal Church is free to maintain that sharing in 
the historic catholic episcopate, while not necessary for 
salvation or for recognition of another church as a church, is 
nonetheless necessary when Anglicans enter the relationship of 
full communionXThe Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is free 
to maintain that this same episcopate, although pastorally 
desirable when exercised in personal, collegial, and communal 
ways, is nonetheless not necessary for the relationship of full 
communion."

     Some of the implications of life within the historic 
episcopate, particularly questions about the installation of 
bishops, fueled an intense campaign against CCM during the months 
before its approval, Anderson said, recalling the tense days just 
before the final vote.

     "It is significant to me that we finally got around to our 
Lord's own reason for praying that his followers might be one--
'so that the world might believe'," he said. "That is why I am so 
grateful that our assembly did vote to approve "Called to Common 
Mission."

     The ELCA's experience with full communion with Reformed 
churches "has been full of discoveries. Time after time we have 
discovered ways in which our ministries can complement and 
support each other," he declared. "Beforehand we had talked of 
supplying vacant parishes and sharing expertise, but now we are 
talking about specific cooperation in dozens of program areas."

     Moreover, the work surrounding CCM is not yet done, he 
added. Episcopalians must decide whether or not to accept it next 
summer, while Lutherans work on reconciliation and healing.

     "I believe we took a very constructive and positive step," 
he asserted, noting that thanksgiving and prayer both were 
needed. "Thanksgiving that our two traditions have been led this 
far, and prayer that the Lord of the Church might give us the 
opportunity to witness more fully to the world--together."

--Kathryn McCormick is associate director of News and 
Information for the Episcopal Church.