wfn.org | Lutheran, Episcopal Seminary Communities Discuss Shared Ministry

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 10, 2000

LUTHERAN, EPISCOPAL SEMINARY COMMUNITIES DISCUSS SHARED MINISTRY
00-053-BP*

     NEW YORK (ELCA) -- More than 100 Episcopalians and Lutherans
gathered Feb. 29-March 1 at The General Theological Seminary (GTS) of
the Episcopal Church here for a conference on the future of shared
ministry in an urban setting.
     Sponsored by GTS and The Lutheran Theological Seminary at
Philadelphia (LTSP), one of eight seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA), "Common Mission in the City" drew students,
professors and administrative leaders from both institutions. The
conference began with a worship service Feb. 29; the Rev. Stephen P.
Bouman, bishop of the Metropolitan New York Synod, preached.  It then
opened with a lecture by the Rev. Philip D.W. Krey, LTSP  president.
     Participants heard presentations by congregational clergy and by
faculty from both seminaries.  Workshop topics included liturgy and
spirituality, social witness and diaconal ministries.
     "We need to get on with our common mission, because God has placed
a whole new set of issues before us. We need to be ready for the new
lessons that full communion, shared ministry and common mission will
bring," Krey said in his opening address.
     Krey said churches with a state-church heritage -- which both the
Episcopal and Lutheran churches share -- are also called to urban
mission, because they expect and insist that municipal, state and
federal structures provide services to their constituents
      "Many Lutheran and Episcopal churches have remained in our
depressed urban communities after other mainline churches have left," he
said.  Krey said he believes the U.S. culture is experiencing a
religious revival, and the opportunity for increased evangelism offered
by common mission with theological depth must not be missed.  Exciting
and productive forms of cooperative ministries are going on, and they
must continue and grow, he said.
     Following presentations by Archdeacon Michael Kendall of the
Episcopal Diocese of New York and the Rev. Pamela Cooper-White, an
Episcopal priest and associate professor of practical theology at LTSP,
participants gathered in GTS' chapel for a celebration of the Lord's
Supper.
     Krey was the celebrant and the Rev. Mark Sisk, bishop of the
Episcopal Diocese of New York, preached. The liturgy symbolized the
seminaries' cooperation, marking the first time any Lutheran book of
worship was used in the Episcopal chapel's 183-year history.
     "The enthusiasm for shared ministry between our churches has been
strongly present throughout this conference," said GTS' Dean, the Rev.
Ward B. Ewing. "We hope events like this will help to generate similar
enthusiasm throughout our churches."
     In 1998, representatives of GTS and LTSP signed a covenant which
committed the schools to plan academic and social justice programs
jointly.  Plans for a joint Hispanic ministry between the seminaries are
currently underway.
     In addition, a full communion proposal between the ELCA and the
Episcopal Church, "Called to Common Mission," was adopted by the ELCA
last summer and is to be considered by the Episcopal Church's General
Convention this July. GTS' faculty and trustees have adopted unanimous
resolutions urging its passage.
     Many ELCA seminarians from Philadelphia traveled to New York for
the event which also drew clergy from throughout the New York
metropolitan area.

[*Bruce Parker is director of communications, The General Theological
Seminary, New York.]

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html