wfn.org | Maintaining the Lutheran Identity by Preserving the VELKD

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Maintaining the Lutheran Identity by Preserving the VELKD
General Synod to Hold Special Session on Structural Debate in
2004

STADE, Germany/GENEVA, 27 November 2003 (LWI) - The General
Synod of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany
(VELKD) will hold a special session on the ongoing structural
debate during the first half of 2004. The decision was reached
during the October 11-14 VELKD synod in Stade, Germany.

The VELKD is still a church and thus also an independent body
under public law, insisted its Presiding Bishop Dr Hans Christian
Knuth of Schleswig, when he addressed journalists on a joint
resolution by the bishops' conference and VELKD governing board
on October 11. 

In a joint session on the structural issues, the bishops'
conference and governing board emphasized VELKD's commitment to
fellowship with Protestant churches of different confessions in
the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), and the need to see this
fellowship as a church within the church.

The Lutheran churches want to continue in the future, "as an
independent and recognizable community, to make their decisive
contribution to Lutheranism world-wide and to the Evangelical
Church in Germany," Knuth told the General Synod. But he affirmed
the need for stronger ties with the EKD, which should be defined
further through an agreement which becomes part of both the EKD
and VELKD foundational documents. "I am assuming that this
compromise model is taken seriously, and that there is no
intention behind it to gradually undermine the other party," said
Knuth. The "association model," he continued, is meaningful when
it implies that two partners "are linked in a stable relationship
with clear designation of [their individual] functions." A
stronger integration would also require changes in the EKD.

Bishop Knuth pointed out that the VELKD was prepared to enter
into "complex negotiations" to bring about an agreement with the
EKD, but this process would last several years. The aim would
continue to be integration of the VELKD Lutheran Church Office as
the "Lutheran office" within the EKD office. "Whether that then
means moving the office, we'll have to see," said the presiding
bishop. This could only be decided at the end of the
negotiations, after careful investigation.

The president of the VELKD General Synod, Judge Dirk Veldtrup of
Hanover asked that the structural debate include adequate time
for consultation. He was critical of pressure to "step up the
pace" of discussion on a new structure for the Protestant church.
In particular, he felt that the General Synod's right to
participate in the decisions needs to be guaranteed, and that
there must be appropriate participation also in the discussions.

Bishop Hermann Beste of Schwerin, the presiding bishop's deputy,
said that the VELKD's past work proves its worth. In the
structural debate, he said, the point is not anxiety to preserve
one's own turf, but how to represent a clearly Lutheran
position.

Call for Reference to God in the EU Draft Convention 

The VELKD synod also called on the European Union to acknowledge
its religious roots and to include a reference to God in the
preamble to its draft constitution. In a resolution October 14,
the synod noted with gratitude that the status of churches is
given recognition in Part I, Article 51 of the Draft Treaty
Establishing a Constitution for Europe, and that appreciation for
their particular mission is expressed therein.

In a further resolution, the synod appealed for Whit Monday to
be observed as a " holy day of unity in the faith."

Model of Reconciled Diversity in Church Relations

VELKD's official for relations with Roman Catholics, Bishop Dr
Johannes Friedrich of Munich, emphasized that the ecumenical goal
is not the institutional merger of the churches, but rather
reconciled diversity. In his report to the synod, he said that
reconciled diversity does not mean that everyone remains the
same. To be reconciled does not require "total agreement" either.
The goal of reconciled diversity is that no church regard as
contrary to the Gospel what other churches officially teach and
celebrate. "Any church which only thinks the ecumenical goal has
been reached when it gains another church's unconditional
agreement to its position is dreaming either of 'returning to
the fold' or of the Pope becoming a Protestant. "Neither of the
two is our aim," he said.
 
On the subject of inter-communion, Friedrich called for the
intensification of efforts so that an understanding could be
reached. He said that at least provisional pastoral solutions are
urgently needed. He suggested that this area be dealt with by
applying the model of a differentiated consensus as was used in
the case of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of
Justification, solemnly affirmed by the Lutheran World Federation
and Roman Catholic Church in 1999. 

It is not enough to simply keep telling people what is not
allowed and what they may not do, said Friedrich. In this regard,
he noted that proposals have already been made by Roman Catholic
theologians and canon law experts which do not require a decision
from Rome, but can be implemented locally by national bishops'
conferences and diocesan bishops.

Dirk Veldtrup Re-elected as General Synod President 

The synod re-elected Dirk Veldtrup, a judge in the Hanover
district court as president. He received 32 votes against 26 for
the other candidate, Dr Wilfried Hartmann, an education professor
from Hamburg. Born in 1948, Veldtrup, has been a General Synod
member since 1973 and its president since 1985. Other officers
elected included first vice-president, Oberkirchenraetin Heide
Emse, North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church; second
vice-president, Dorothea Kutter, Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Saxony; committee members, Anne-Christin Jost, Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Thuringia, and Martin Pflaumer, Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Bavaria.

The VELKD is a union of eight Evangelical Lutheran Churches in
Bavaria, Brunswick, Thuringia, of Hanover, Mecklenburg, Saxony,
Schaumburg-Lippe, and the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran
Church representing about 11 million people. Its annual General
Synod comprises 62 representatives from the member churches.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical and inter-faith 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 LWF's information service.
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 may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

*	*	*

LWI online at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/Welcome.EN.html 

LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION
PO Box 2100, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: (41.22) 791.63.54
Fax: (41.22) 791.66.30 
Editor's e-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org