wfn.org | USA Lutherans Propose Bylaw to Agreement with Episcopalians

[FRANKI@elca.org]

Regulation Seeks Exceptions to Ordination Procedures under CCM

CHICAGO, United States of America/GENEVA, 17 April 2001 (ELCANews/LWI) - The
Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) by a
vote of 26-6 and one abstention, sent to the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly a
proposed bylaw that would allow for exceptions to the church's ordination
procedures required by "Called to Common Mission" (CCM), a full communion
agreement of the ELCA and The Episcopal [Anglican] Church (USA).

In a separate action the Council at its meeting in Chicago, April 6-7 2001,
adopted a policy that explains how the bylaw, if approved by the assembly,
would be implemented.

The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the
legislative authority of the church between its churchwide assemblies.
Assemblies are held every other year; the next is August 8-14 in
Indianapolis.

The proposed bylaw and policy had been reviewed by the ELCA Conference of
Bishops and the board of the ELCA Division for Ministry this year, and were
left essentially unchanged by the Church Council.

The ELCA Conference of Bishops includes the church's 65 synod bishops, the
presiding bishop and ELCA secretary.

For many ELCA leaders the proposed bylaw and policy represent the best
chance the church has to heal some internal divisions that resulted when CCM
was adopted by the ELCA in 1999 and by the Episcopal Church in 2000. Both
churches formalized the new relationship on 1 January 2001. A formal
celebration of "full communion" took place at Washington's National
Cathedral on January 6. CCM creates possibilities for shared ministry in the
churches, and in some cases allows for exchange of clergy.

The carefully worded bylaw and policy proposals are intended to answer CCM
opponents who say the full communion agreement threatens Lutheran identity
and gives too much authority to bishops. Under CCM a bishop must regularly
preside at all ordinations. The bylaw would allow a synod bishop, under
certain circumstances, to authorize an ordination to be done by another
pastor. Prior to CCM Lutheran bishops presided at ordinations but could
freely delegate another pastor to preside.

To be adopted, the bylaw must achieve a two-thirds majority vote at the ELCA
Churchwide Assembly.

Prior to the discussions, the Rev. H. George Anderson, ELCA presiding
bishop, shared with the council a March 20 letter he received from the Rt.
Rev. Frank T. Griswold, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. In it,
Griswold said he had serious concerns about the ELCA's proposed bylaw and
what it might mean for the full communion agreement.

According to Griswold, the proposed bylaw could be interpreted as "a
unilateral alteration of the mutual commitment that both churches have
solemnly made.

At the ELCA Conference of Bishops meeting last month in San Antonio, many
bishops said they expected only limited numbers of requests for unusual
ordinations under the proposed bylaw, and virtually none in future years.

The ELCA, a member of the Lutheran World Federation since 1988, is based in
Chicago, and has over 5.1 million members in 11,000 congregations. The New
York-based Episcopal Church has 2.4 million members in some 7,500
congregations. It has 107 dioceses, each headed by a bishop.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 131 member
churches in 72 countries representing over 60.2 million of the nearly 64
million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches
in areas of common interest such as ecumenical relations, theology,
humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various
aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted, material presented does
not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units.
Where the dateline of an article contains the notation (LWI), the material
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