wfn.org | Church of Norway congregations receive Leuenberg Agreement text

["News News" <NEWS@elca.org>]

OSLO, Norway/GENEVA 16 March 2000 (lwi) - The Church of Norway has now
distributed to all its congregations the text of its 1999 decision to
join the Leuenberg Church Fellowship (LCF).

On 19 November 1999, the General Synod of the Church of Norway adopted
the Leuenberg Agreement, saying its decision was based on the
"conviction that the calling to the unity of churches in Jesus Christ
will also be realized through and in the fellowship" of the signatory
churches to the agreement.

Adopted in Leuenberg, Switzerland in 1973 by most of the Lutheran,
Reformed and United churches in Europe as well as the related churches
of the Waldensians, Czech Brethren and Hussites, the Leuenberg Agreement
expresses the commitment of its signatories to a common understanding of
the gospel and the implementation of fellowship by overcoming doctrinal
condemnations of the Reformation time through consensus. The more than
100-member LCF, to which these churches belong, is an association that
includes most of the Reformation churches in Europe and some churches in
Latin America.

Congratulating the Norwegian church for signing the agreement, the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) General Secretary Dr. Ishmael Noko has
described the ecumenical development as a "courageous step inasmuch as
some of the implications of the simultaneous communion fellowship with
the Anglicans and Reformed churches will need to be clarified further in
the years ahead."

His remarks are contained in a letter addressed to Stig Utnem, general
secretary of the Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and
International Relations. Noko states that the Lutheran church now
presents itself as an important and active partner in a process of
clarification, which the LWF as a family of churches will continue to be
directly involved with in the years ahead.

The full text of the agreement adopted by the Church of Norway follows:

Signatory's Protocol by the Church of Norway
on the Signing of
The Agreement between Reformation Churches
in Europe
(Leuenberg Agreement)

Adopted by the Church of Norway General Synod
on 19 November 1999

The Church of Norway expresses with pleasure its readiness to sign the
Leuenberg Agreement. By signing this Agreement we give a concrete,
written expression of our positive evaluation of it. In addition,
however, we also wish to explain the way in which we understand our
commitment as a signatory church.

The ecumenical position of the Church of Norway

The Church of Norway is involved in ecumenical relationships with other
churches in manifold ways. Through the Porvoo communion between Nordic
and Baltic Lutheran churches and the Anglican churches in Great Britain
and Ireland, we are in full church fellowship with these Anglican
churches.  We also have an agreement of altar and pulpit fellowship with
the Methodist Church in Norway ("Fellowship of Grace"). Through the
Lutheran World Federation we are in full church fellowship with the
other Nordic folk churches and all other member churches of the
Federation. We are also a member of the World Council of Churches and
the Conference of European Churches.

The close fellowship with other churches also implies a commitment with
regard to other agreements being entered into. There should be
theological compatibility between the various agreements and the
ecclesial and theological tradition in which we stand.

On the Signing of the Leuenberg Agreement

On the basis of the above considerations, we wish to specify in the
following points, the way in which we understand our signing of the
Agreement. In so doing, we also specify our understanding of the
Agreement.

With gratitude we recognize that the doctrinal disagreements between our
churches have been sufficiently clarified through the Leuenberg
Agreement. By signing the Agreement, the Church of Norway officially
confirms this recognition.

We affirm the understanding of the gospel and the sacraments expressed
in the Leuenberg Agreement. In this way, we put behind us the doctrinal
disagreements which our churches have considered to be church dividing.
On the basis of our agreement regarding the understanding of the gospel
(L.A. § 33), we commit ourselves, through the Agreement, to offer altar
and pulpit fellowship to the signatory churches.

This obligation rests on a conviction, expressed in the Agreement, "that
together we share in the one Church of Jesus Christ and that the Lord
frees us and commits us to common service." (L.A. § 34.)

The Church of Norway stresses the importance of the doctrinal dialogues
that have been conducted between the signatory churches since 1973. The
deepening of ecclesiastical and sacramental understanding is an
important factor in our positive assessment of the Leuenberg Agreement
and our joining the Leuenberg Fellowship. We wish to underline the need
for further theological discussions. In line with the other churches of
the Leuenberg Fellowship, we cannot enter into altar and pulpit
fellowship with churches practising re-baptism.

Against the background of the ecumenical agreements into which we have
entered, it has become clear to us that both the meaning and the
structuring of ecumenical church fellowship will vary according to
context. In all our churches there are forms of pastoral oversight
("episkope"). Such a function is necessary in all churches. The concrete
structure and understanding of such a ministry of oversight may,
however, vary.

In the Porvoo agreement, the Church of Norway has stated, together with
the other Porvoo signatory churches, that fellowship in word and
sacrament is made explicit through the ministry of oversight which is
exercised by the pastoral ministry in the church and by the ministry of
bishops on whom the ministry of oversight is bestowed in a particular
way. Together, these are an outward sign of church unity.

Both through ecumenical dialogue and through our own church history we
have learned to value this tradition. The role of the episcopal ministry
in the Church of Norway has facilitated the achievement of church
fellowship with Anglican churches. This does not for us preclude
recognition of other churches which do not have an episcopal ministry,
or the possibility of full church fellowship with such churches.

In signing the Leuenberg Agreement, we acknowledge our close relations
to the signatory churches of this Agreement. Signing the Leuenberg
Agreement does not mean that we support a development of Protestant
synodical structures in Europe.  Co-operation with the signatory
churches of the Leuenberg Fellowship should not lead to obstruction of
other ecumenical relations.

The realization of church fellowship takes place on both theological and
practical levels, in daily life among the churches that have entered
into the fellowship.  We value the challenges that follow from our
signing of the Agreement and from the altar and pulpit fellowship which
it represents. It is our hope that we, as the Church of Norway and as a
member of the Porvoo communion, will be able to contribute through the
Leuenberg church fellowship to the mutual enrichment of our traditions
and our church life.

On this basis of, and in line with, the agreement achieved in the
Leuenberg Agreement, which is compatible with the confession of our
church, we wish hereby to declare church fellowship with the signatory
churches of the Leuenberg Agreement.

Signing the Agreement takes place in the conviction that the call to
unity of the churches in Jesus Christ is also realized in, and by means
of, the fellowship of the signatory churches of the Leuenberg Agreement.

(The LWF is a global communion of 128 member churches in 70 countries
representing nearly 59.5 million of the world's 63.1 million Lutherans.
Its highest decision-making body is the Assembly held every six or seven
years. Between Assemblies, the LWF is governed by a 49-member Council,
which meets annually, and by its Executive Committee. The LWF
secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
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