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power of bishops

ACNS 3112 - USA - 6 September 2002

Episcopalians, Lutherans and Roman Catholics to discuss the power of bishops

Conference from 20-23 September 2002

[Anglican-Lutheran Society] Episcopalians, Lutherans and Roman Catholics
will discuss the role and power of bishops in the contemporary church at an
international conference from September 20-23, 2002 in Waltham,
Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. Laity and clergy are welcome to this
Anglican-Lutheran Society conference at the Espousal Retreat House and
Conference Center.

The event has been planned in cooperation with the Episcopal Diocese of
Massachusetts and the New England Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America.

The conference theme, "On the Power of Bishops," comes from Article VII of
the Augsburg Confession, a doctrinal statement of the Lutheran Church which
was formulated in the 16th century and remains central to Lutheran theology
today. Six theologians will speak on the history and development of
episcopacy as well as a contemporary understanding of the episcopal office
in the church.

The conference speakers will include the Revd Dr Ian T Douglas, professor of
world mission and global Christianity, the Episcopal Divinity School,
Cambridge, Massachusetts; The Revd Dr G|nther Gassman, former director,
Commission on Faith and Order, World Council of Churches, Geneva,
Switzerland; Dr Michael Root, professor of systematic theology, Trinity
Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio; The Revd Francis A Sullivan, SJ, adjunct
professor of theology, Boston College, and former dean of the faculty,
Gregorian University, Rome; Mrs Elizabeth Fisher, co-moderator, Churches in
Dialogue Commission, European Conference of Churches, and vice-chair,
Council of Christian Unity, Church of England; and Canon Peter Fisher,
principal, The Queens Foundation (an Anglican-Methodist-United Reformed
Theological College), Birmingham, England.

Speakers will deal with historical and contemporary understandings of
bishops as well as the debate in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) about the nature of bishops in "Called to Common Mission", the full
communion agreement which began last year between the ELCA and the Episcopal
Church in the United States.

The conference "theme statement" notes that "the recent debate over 'Called
to Common Mission,' especially among its more vocal Lutheran detractors,
often has characterized episcopacy per se as hierarchical and domineering,
and has objected to the receiving of the episcopal office in historic
succession as a contradiction of the Augsburg Confession and a violation of
Christian freedom. How might Lutheran and Anglicans evaluate these
criticisms and respond to them?"

The conference will also respond to the suggestion of the Anglican-Lutheran
"Niagara Report" of 1987 which calls on the churches to contribute toward an
adequate contemporary understanding and exercise of the episcopal office in
serving the diverse ministries in the church and the life and witness of the
whole people of God.

The conference will begin Friday afternoon, September 20, and end with lunch
on Monday, September 23. On Sunday, participants will worship at Lutheran
Church of the Newtons in nearby Newton. The Rt Revd Rupert Hoare, Dean of
Liverpool Cathedral (Anglican), England, will be the guest preacher.

Both resident and day participants are invited to the conference. For
details email dockomd@aol.com.

The Espousal Retreat House and Conference Center, located in Waltham is
operated by the Stigmatine Fathers and Brothers of the Roman Catholic
Church.

The Anglican-Lutheran Society (ALS) was founded in London in 1984 to promote
better understanding between the two traditions and develop opportunities
for common worship, study, friendship and witness. The ALS presidents are
the Ven John Arnold, Anglican Dean of Durham, England; and the Rt Revd Erik
Vikstrvm, Lutheran Bishop of Porvoo, Finland. The ALS Committee in North
America is headed by the Revd Dr Scott S. Ickert, pastor of Resurrection
Lutheran Church, Arlington, Virginia.

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