wfn.org | United Methodists, Lutherans hold third round of talks

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Sept. 17, 2002	News media contact: Kathy L.
Gilbert7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.	 10-21-71BP{414}

NOTE: This report is accompanied by a sidebar, UMNS story #415. A
head-and-shoulders photograph of Bishop Melvin Talbert is available at
http://umns.umc.org/photos/headshots.html online.

By Kathy Gilbert*

OSLO, Norway (UMNS) - Preaching at the conclusion of four days of talks
between the United Methodist and Evangelical Lutheran churches, Bishop
Melvin Talbert urged followers of Jesus Christ to "hug the world, become
bridges and be prophetic witnesses."

Talbert, ecumenical officer for the United Methodist Council of Bishops,
drew on 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 as he offered those three images for living
faithfully in the world today. 

"In the aftermath of 9-11, in the midst of conflicts in the Middle East and
the world, there is one who loves and cares enough to embrace us as a mother
holds a child," Talbert said Sept. 15.

The bishop spoke at First United Methodist Church, founded in 1865 as Oslo's
first Methodist congregation. The Rev. Roar G. Fotland, United Methodist
dean of the Lutheran seminary in Norway, translated Talbert's sermon into
Norwegian.

"It is our mission as God's people to be bridges of hope, faith and love,"
the bishop said. "God calls each person of faith to enter into the struggle
of the downtrodden and dare to speak a word for Christ. It is our mission to
see that goodness has a chance."

Participants in the bilateral dialogue held their third round of meetings in
Oslo prior to the meeting of the executive committee of the World Methodist
Council. The goal of the dialogues is to form full communion between the
United Methodist Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. 

The Church of Norway (Lutheran) and the United Methodist Church in Norway
adopted "Fellowship of Grace," in 1997 and the two churches have a
relationship of full communion. They recognize each other's sacraments of
baptism and Holy Communion, as well as ordination of clergy and
administration. The Rev. Lars-Erik Nordby, member of the dialogue team, was
instrumental in the agreement.

"This landmark agreement has provided helpful insights into key theological
issues for United Methodists and Lutherans," said Talbert and Bishop Allan
C. Bjornberg, bishop of the Denver area of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America. Bjornberg and Talbert are co-chairmen of the bilateral
dialogues.

Members of the dialogue team explored justification and sanctification at
the Sept. 12-15 meeting. The Rev. Paul Chilcote, a United Methodist with
Asbury Seminary in Orlando, and the Rev. Timothy J. Wengert, Lutheran
Seminary at Philadelphia, presented a paper on the United Methodist and
Lutheran positions on justification and sanctification.

"As in the previous two meetings, we are encouraged by the level of
convergence that is being experienced around these topics, even though there
are distinctions unique to each tradition," Talbert said. He stressed the
meetings are not meant to result in a merger of the two denominations but
rather a full communion that shares mission and ministry. 

Previous conversations have addressed baptism and Holy Communion. The
dialogue will reconvene in February and focus ministry and mission in both
traditions.

The team also met with former Norwegian Lutheran Bishop Andreas Aarflot and
heard from Fotland about the seminary in Norway at the Betanien Foundation,
a United Methodist deaconess foundation. Nordby is the director.

Besides Talbert, Nordby and Chilcote, others on the United Methodist
dialogue team are the Rev. Amy Laura Hall, Duke Divinity School, Durham,
N.C.; the Rev. Jean Miller-Schmidt, Iliff School of Theology, Denver; and
Judith Crain of Green Bay, Wis.

In addition to Bjornberg and Wengert, other members of the Lutheran team are
the Rev. Kathryn L. Johnson, Louisville (Ky.) Presbyterian Theological
Seminary; the Rev. H. Frederick Reisz Jr., Lutheran Theological Southern
Seminary, Columbia, S.C.; and the Rev. Cynthia D. Moe-Lobeda, the Graduate
School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University.

Staff members for the dialogue are the Rev. Betty Gamble, executive with the
United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns;
and the Rev. Paul A. Schreck, associate for bilateral dialogues, Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America.
# # #
*Gilbert, a news writer for United Methodist News Service, is on assignment
in Norway.

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United Methodist News Service
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http://umns.umc.org