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	October 20, 2004 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 76

	Inter-Lutheran committee discusses
	LCMS role in Lutheran-Catholic dialogue

	The possibility of The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod once
again being a full participant in the Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue
was raised Oct. 14 at a meeting in Chicago of the Committee on Lutheran
Cooperation (CLC).

	The CLC has six members from each the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) and from the Missouri Synod, including ELCA
Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson and LCMS President Gerald Kieschnick.

	The issue of LCMS participation arose when Dr. Randall R. Lee,
director of the ELCA's Department for Ecumenical Affairs, reported on
the recently concluded 10th round of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic
dialogue in the United States. That round this year released a
statement, "The Church as Koinonia of Salvation: Its Structures and
Ministries."

	"I took the opportunity to reiterate our desire to be full
participants, not just observers, in the dialogue," said Dr. Samuel H.
Nafzger. A member of the CLC, Nafzger is executive director of the LCMS
Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR).

	The Missouri Synod was a full participant in the dialogue from
its beginning in 1965 through the ninth round but was not included as a
full participant in the 10th round. Instead, the Synod was invited only
to have an official observer, Dr. Charles Arand of Concordia Seminary,
St. Louis.

	In 1992, ELCA and Roman Catholic officials planned a
consultation on future talks for the following year without contacting
the Missouri Synod. Then-LCMS President A.L. Barry wrote to officials of
the respective church bodies to express his concern over the
development.

	"We want to be full participants," Nafzger said. "President
Barry wrote this, the commission adopted a resolution commending him for
it, and President Kieschnick and I have reiterated this."

	To the 1995 Synod convention, the CTCR reported, "At its
September 1992 meeting the CTCR adopted a statement expressing its
disappointment with the action to exclude the LCMS from the discussions
of the consultation and declaring its support for Dr. Barry's letter, in
which he reaffirmed the longstanding commitment of the LCMS to
ecumenical dialogue."

	"Just because we have not yet resolved important points of
disagreement doesn't mean we don't want to participate in the dialogue,"
Nafzger said. "We are committed to working toward a resolution of
disagreements."

	The ELCA's Lee told the CLC that a proposed topic for the next
round of talks is "Hope for Eternal Life."

	In other discussions, CLC members reported on issues and
developments in their respective church bodies, including a review of
this year's LCMS convention and key items on the agenda for next year's
ELCA Churchwide Assembly.

	ELCA-LCMS talks

	The day before the CLC met, ELCA and LCMS representatives met in
Chicago for the second in a series of theological talks.

	A news release prepared by the participants said the talks
"sought greater mutual understanding, focusing on areas of continued
cooperation and differences between the two churches." Two papers were
presented related to the report of the LCMS president and vice
presidents to this year's Synod convention evaluating current
cooperative pastoral working arrangements with the ELCA.

	Kieschnick presented a paper on the development of the report
and the action of the convention. ELCA Secretary Lowell Almen described
the importance from the ELCA's perspective of maintaining cooperative
pastoral working arrangements, especially in regard to chaplaincy, the
release said.

	The two church bodies cooperate in support for military
chaplains, social ministry chaplaincy and social ministry organizations,
and some schools and campus ministries. Joint work is carried out
through Lutheran World Relief, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service,
Lutheran Services in America, and Lutheran Disaster Response.

	Almen and LCMS Secretary Raymond L. Hartwig characterized the
Oct. 13 discussion as "insightful and constructive," the release said.

	In addition to Kieschnick, Hartwig and Nafzger, LCMS
participants in the theological talks or the CLC were Synod First Vice
President William R. Diekelman; Michigan District President William
Hoesman; Rev. Ralph Blomenberg, Seymour, Ind.; and Dr. Walter A. Maier
III of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne.

	In addition to Hanson, Almen, and Lee, ELCA participants in one
or both meetings were Rev. Charles S. Miller, ELCA executive for
administration; Rev. E. Roy Riley, bishop of the ELCA New Jersey Synod;
and Dr. Timothy J. Wengert of Lutheran Theological Seminary at
Philadelphia.

	The next meeting of the ELCA-LCMS theological talks will be
March 29 in St. Louis. The CLC will meet in St. Louis March 30.

	Some information for this story was provided by John Brooks, the
ELCA's director for news and information.

	****************************************

	If you have questions or comments about this LCMSNews release,
contact Joe Isenhower Jr. at joe.isenhower@lcms.org or (314) 996-1231,
or Paula Schlueter Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org or (314) 996-1230.

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