wfn.org | Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee Begins Work

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

January 11, 2001

LUTHERAN-EPISCOPAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE BEGINS WORK
01-008-JB/FI

     WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- In its first meeting, the 14-member
Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee discussed how to
communicate its work, listed a variety of mission-related areas in
which the churches may work together and adopted a charter for its
work that emphasizes trust, cooperation and mission.
     The committee is to "assist in joint planning for mission" and
is authorized through "Called to Common Mission" (CCM), a full-
communion agreement between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).  The presiding bishops of the ELCA
and Episcopal Church appointed seven members each to the coordinating
committee.
     The ELCA, based in Chicago, has 5.15 million members in about
11,000 congregations across the United States and Caribbean. It is
organized into 65 synods, each headed by a bishop. The Episcopal
Church, based in New York, has 2.4 million members in some 7,400
congregations.  The church has 107 dioceses, each headed by a bishop.
     The committee met here Jan. 8-9, following the Celebration of
Full Communion at the National Cathedral Jan. 6.  That special
service marked the Jan. 1 implementation of full communion.
     When their top legislative bodies adopted CCM in 1999 and 2000,
the ELCA and Episcopal Church agreed to work more closely together in
a variety of ministries.  They also agreed to exchange clergy under
certain circumstances.  Full communion is not a merger of the
churches.
     Committee members discussed a wide variety of issues related to
CCM.  Members agreed their purpose is advisory and to help foster
cooperative ministries. In a statement issued after the meeting,
members said at their next meeting they want to concentrate on local
and global mission; exchange of clergy including ordination of
pastors and lay ministry; communication regarding new ordinations and
installations; and worship resources.
     "This committee knows it will work with complex matters," the
statement continued. "We are committed to exploring how we can and
will live through complexities into full communion with full
appreciation of all voices."  The committee invited members of both
churches "to pray with us as we work to implement full communion."

Co-chairs were pleased with ideas expressed
     "This was a wonderful, impressive coalescence of great gifts
and great voices committed to our new life together," said the Rev.
Duane H. Larson, Lutheran co-chair, in an interview following the
meeting. Larson is president of Wartburg Theological Seminary,
Dubuque, Iowa, one of eight ELCA seminaries.
     "I was very impressed with the passion expressed by committee
members," said the Very Rev. Donald G. Brown, Episcopal co-chair.
Brown is dean of Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento, Calif.
     "They expressed care and concern for moving into full communion
with pastoral sensitivity to all concerns and opportunities for
mission and ministry in both churches," he said.  Though the committee 
is charged with the responsibility of helping to implement full communion, 
members expressed the need for assistance and cooperation from 
members of both churches to achieve success, he said.  The coordinating 
committee also recognized that its role is not to supplant the role of 
constitutionally authorized legislative bodies in both churches, he added.
     "We are seeking to be faithful catalysts," Larson said, adding
that the committee invites feedback on "practical implementation" of
full communion.  Larson also said he was "deeply impressed" that
committee members see their work as spiritual, rooted in prayer.
     Other possible joint ministry opportunities discussed by the
committee included multiculturalism, seminary education, youth
ministry, common witness and service such as hunger programs and
disaster response, camps and conference centers, world mission,
congregational development, working with synods and dioceses in other
countries and supporting the ministry of lay members.
     Committee members formally asked staff to write to other staff
in both churches, requesting the committee be informed of ongoing or
new joint ministry opportunities or resources.  The request grew out
of a discussion regarding a document on the possible exchange of
clergy which was distributed to Episcopal Church leaders before it
was sent to ELCA leaders.
     Members also agreed to work to establish committee-related Web
pages housed on the official Web sites of the ELCA and the Episcopal
Church.  The pages -- expected to be established soon -- will list the
committee's charter, summaries of meetings and will invite feedback
from people interested in the committee's work.
     Toward the meeting's end, members discussed the possibility of
exceptions to the ordination standards required by CCM, an ongoing
point of discussion in the ELCA.  Committee members debated -- and
declined to state -- any public position on the issue, saying only
that they would discuss "interchangeability of clergy including
ordination of pastors and lay ministry" at their next meeting.
     For some ELCA members, ordination requirements in CCM are not
acceptable.  Specifically, they object to the requirement that
bishops perform all ordinations; before Jan. 1 in the ELCA, a bishop
could designate another pastor to perform an ordination.  In November
2000 the ELCA Church Council asked the ELCA presiding bishop to
consult with the church's ecumenical partners about the possibility
of allowing someone other than a bishop to perform an ordination.
The council plans to discuss the issue further when it meets April 6-
9 in Chicago.

Future meetings set
     Committee members agreed to meet in areas of the United States
where joint ministry is already in progress or where mission
possibilities exist.  They tentatively set meeting dates and places
for the next two years.  They are: June 4-5, 2001, Salt Lake City;
Feb. 4-5, 2002, Miami; June 3-4, 2002, site to be announced.
     Committee members from the ELCA are Terry L. Bowes, Longmont,
Colo.; the Rev. Nancy M. Curtis, Kane, Pa.; Larson; the Rev. Andrea
DeGroot-Nesdahl, bishop of the South Dakota Synod, Sioux Falls; the
Rev. Gregory J. Villalon, Division for Ministry, Chicago; the Rev.
Norman W. Wahl, Rochester, Minn.; and the Rev. Ronald B. Warren,
bishop of the Southeastern Synod, Atlanta.  ELCA staff assigned to
the committee are the Rev. Daniel F. Martensen, director of the
Department for Ecumenical Affairs and assistant to the bishop, and
the Rev. Randall R. Lee, executive assistant to the ELCA secretary
and associate for bilateral dialogues.
     Committee members from the Episcopal Church are the Rev. Grant
H. Abbott, St. Paul, Minn.; Brown; the Rt. Rev. Leopold Frade, bishop
of the Diocese of Southeast Florida; the Rev. Alfred A. Moss Jr.,
Arlington, Va.; Emily Perow, Hartford, Conn.; Midge Roof, Danville,
Ind.; and the Rt. Rev. Carolyn Tanner-Irish, bishop of the Diocese of
Utah.  Staff assistance was provided by the Rev. Canon David W.
Perry, deputy for ecumenical and interfaith relations, the Episcopal
Church, New York.
     Coordinating committee members applauded Perry, who announced
he will soon retire from his position.  He will be succeeded by the
Rt. Rev. C. Christopher Epting, presently serving as bishop of the
Diocese of Iowa.

EDEO, LERN boards meet
     The boards of the Episcopal Diocesan Ecumenical Officers (EDEO)
of the Episcopal Church and the Lutheran Ecumenical Representatives
Network (LERN) of the ELCA met separately and together Jan. 6-7 at
the College of Preachers on the grounds of the Washington National
Cathedral.
     EDEO and LERN have met before in conjunction with the annual
National Workshop on Christian Unity.  Parts of the boards' meetings
were devoted to planning for that workshop April 30-May 3 in San
Diego.
     Board members discussed steps they could take to implement the
new relationship of full communion.  "We are on the threshold of a
doorway to new understandings," said the Rev. Canon Robert J. Miner,
EDEO president and ecumenical officer, Episcopal Diocese of
Connecticut, Wallingford.
     Miner listed several recommendations EDEO was prepared to make,
including meetings among Episcopal and Lutheran clergy in dioceses
and synods, and jointly sponsored Christian education programs.  He
said EDEO and LERN can pursue further conversations among their own
members and facilitate contacts between bishops.
     The Rev. Dennis A. Andersen, LERN president, Bethany Lutheran
Church, Seattle, brought several recommendations from his board for
projects involving the two organizations, such as pairing local
members and listing their members on their churches' Web sites.  He
said new grassroots programs will suggest themselves from those
contacts.
     In an interview after the meeting, Miner said, "We are going to
find that our life together will be greatly enriched by the
opportunities that 'Called to Common Mission' is opening for us."
     "As we live in a pluralistic society where the percentage of
Christians is getting smaller and smaller, I am concerned that we are
able to share the knowledge of the love of God that has been made
known in Jesus Christ in a very positive way and in a coordinated
fashion that does not undercut one Christian body in favor of
another," said Miner.
     The bishop of each of the ELCA's 65 synods is considered that
synod's ecumenical officer.  Each bishop names one representative to
LERN, which is coordinated through the ELCA Department for Ecumenical
Affairs.
---
     Editors: The Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee, ELCA
News and Information and the Episcopal News Service agreed to
specific rules for news coverage of coordinating committee meetings.
Official church news service representatives may attend meetings.
Discussion may be summarized but not attributed to any member.  Co-
chairs speak for the committee and plan to be available following
meetings for question-and-answer sessions with any reporters.
     ELCA News and Information has followed these procedures in
reporting ecumenical dialogues.
---
     The EDEO and LERN boards issued "A Common Declaration" in 1998
which is available at
http://www.dfms.org/ecumenism/concordat/comdecl.html on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
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