Title: ELCA, EKD Leaders Sign Bilateral Agreement, Hold Discussions ELCA NEWS SERVICE
September 27, 2007
ELCA, EKD Leaders Sign Bilateral Agreement, Hold Discussions 07-159-JB
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Top leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) signed an agreement here Sept. 24 that commits the churches to mutual exchange of information and provides assistance and care for English-speaking Lutheran congregations in Germany and German-speaking congregations in the United States. The agreement, effective Jan. 1, 2008, also provides for mutual exchange of pastors, (EKD) deacons, (ELCA) diaconal ministers and Christian education teachers.
The agreement was signed by the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, the Rev. Wolfgang Huber, bishop of the Protestant Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Oberlausitz and chair of the EKD Council, and the Rev. Martin Schindehuette, bishop and head of the EKD Church Office section of Ecumenical Relations and Ministries Abroad.
Established in 1949, the EKD, based in Hannover, is an umbrella organization encompassing Lutheran, Reformed and United member churches in Germany. Today it has 23 member churches that are largely autonomous regional churches.
The agreement is actually a renewal of an agreement first made in 1991, Hanson said at a worship service here at the Lutheran Center, where the new agreement was signed. The "framework" is shared altar and pulpit fellowship within the Lutheran World Federation, he added. The LWF is a global communion of 141 Lutheran churches in 78 countries, with 66 million members. Hanson is LWF president.
"It's a way that we can respect the presence of the EKD as they work with German-speaking congregations in the United States, and they will also work with us similarly with international and English-speaking congregations in Germany," Hanson said in an interview with the ELCA News Service. "Much more so, it's two churches of the North acknowledging that we need to deepen our capacity in mission in somewhat similar contexts but always in the context of the LWF and the World Council of Churches. I think we face some similar mission challenges, and we're going to learn from each other."
"Anytime you have exchangeability of ministries and you're committed to having ministry together, you bring new capacity to being the church in your context. I think it deepens and broadens our capacity to be engaged in mission, not only in the United States but in Europe and together in the world," he said.
The agreement is an acknowledgment that the gospel is not for one nation but "for our one globe," Huber said.
"For me the most important thing is that we go forward in answering the challenges of our modern world together -- we learn from each other, we try to develop common projects, we develop partnerships between regional churches and by those means, we will be better prepared to fulfill our mission as churches in our respective contexts," he said.
Huber added that the agreement helps the ELCA and EKD to work together for the next 10 years in preparation for the 500th anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation, which began Oct. 31, 1517, when Martin Luther, a German monk, nailed 95 theses to the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.
ELCA, EKD leaders discuss Wittenberg centers, Reformation anniversary
In later discussions representatives of the EKD, ELCA and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) shared concerns about ministry "centers" that already exist or are being established in Wittenberg as the anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation approaches.
The ELCA Wittenberg Center, established in 1999, is one of three international ministry centers of the ELCA, said the Rev. Robert Smith, continental desk director for Europe and the Middle East, ELCA Global Mission. Other ELCA centers are in Mexico City and Bethlehem, he said. The Wittenberg Center "provides a global perspective on ministry and mission," as well as opportunities for Lutherans traveling in Germany to deepen their relationships with Reformation traditions, he added.
Recently, the church leadership of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany (VELKD) -- a part of the EKD -- announced they will support the center by providing finances for a pastor to serve there through 2017. VELKD is cooperating with the EKD, ELCA and LWF in the project.
Concerns were raised about a new Wittenberg ministry center to be opened soon by the LCMS. The LCMS Wittenberg Center will be a mission start in cooperation with the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church, the LCMS partner church in Germany, said the Rev. David L. Mahsman, LCMS Board for Mission Service, St. Louis.
Huber said he is concerned that local churches and church institutions are respected as the number of Wittenberg centers increase, and he said there is a "need to coordinate these presences." The LCMS does not want to create a problem or create confusion, Mahsman responded.
The Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director, ELCA Global Mission, said the ELCA is open to conversation "about the future of the ELCA Wittenberg Center" with churches in Germany. He asked what the possibilities were for collaboration between the ELCA and LCMS in Wittenberg. Mahsman said he is open to discussion about whether such a collaborative effort may be possible. Huber ended the conversation with a proposal that a working group be formed to "reflect on an integrated strategy about the Lutheran presence in Wittenberg."
In another discussion, representatives of the EKD and ELCA discussed plans to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Huber reported that he already sees several structures in place in Germany to mark the quincentenary as an event to attract tourism to Wittenberg and other "Luther sites." He expressed concern that the spiritual "heritage and mandate of the Reformation" not be lost and that the cultural impact of the Reformation on classical music and the German language be observed.
Malpica Padilla said the celebration should be a time for all Lutherans to celebrate together, an occasion around which Christians who claim the Reformation can rally and a commemoration to share with the Roman Catholic Church. Huber agreed and added that a danger of the celebration would be to conclude that "our history began 500 years ago," ignoring Lutheran roots in Catholicism and Christian origins in Judaism.
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Information about the ELCA Wittenberg Center is at http://www.ELCA.org/wittenberg/ on the ELCA Web site.
Information about the EKD is at
http://www.ekd.de/english/2169.html on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog