Title: Lutheran, Episcopal Bishops Hear Caution, Encouragement ELCA NEWS SERVICE October 8, 1996 LUTHERAN, EPISCOPAL BISHOPS HEAR CAUTION, ENCOURAGEMENT 96-22-063-FI WHITE HAVEN, Pa. (ELCA) -- "I encourage you to maintain the pastorally responsible caution exhibited so far in what is so obviously a good venture," the Archbishop of Canterbury George L. Carey told about 200 bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Episcopal Church meeting here Oct. 3-8. "Let us also be courageous in this pursuit," he said. "Some goals are so worthy, it is glorious even to fail." Carey, head of the world Anglican communion that includes the Episcopal Church, was referring to a Concordat of Agreement the two church bodies will consider adopting in 1997 that would bring them into "full communion." The practical and theological implications of such an agreement were at the center of discussions between the Lutheran and Episcopal bishops and of presentations to the first gathering of its kind in American history. In a few days many of the bishops had come quite a distance in understanding what it means to be a bishop in the other church, said Carey. "It seemed to me there is still a bit of theological work to be done on the nature of the episcopal office," he said. "Prior to all this must come the mission of the church. Will the mission of the church be stronger for unity? My unhesitating answer is 'Yes, it will be.'" Episcopal ordination is traced back to the early Christian church through an "historic succession" of bishops. Lutheran attempts to reform the Christian church in the 16th century stressed the functions of ordained ministry -- proclamation of the gospel and administration of the sacraments -- over any related tradition. The Concordat of Agreement asks the Episcopal Church to fully accept the ordained ministry of the Lutheran church, although ELCA clergy are not part of the historic succession. Episcopal bishops would participate in the future installations of ELCA bishops until the Lutheran bishops are included in the "historic episcopate." "Lutherans don't like conditions," said Dr. G#nther Gassmann. "How can we get into succession without seeing conditions but gifts?" Gassmann is a Lutheran theologian who headed the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches. The two churches already share a common mission informally without full communion, he said. "If you enter full communion," Gassmann added, "it is no longer optional, but it is a commitment for cooperation and common mission in a society." "We need to interpret to ourselves and to our constituents that the gift of the historic episcopacy is not some additional requirement," said ELCA Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson. "'Bishop' is a term that has been used officially in our church only within the past 20 years," he reminded the audience, asking that the churches enter into full communion honoring each other's understanding of what bishops do. "What has been accomplished here in a few days has been amazing," said Anderson. "Questions have been answered or at least addressed in a new light." "It's so hard for us to come together first by theology," said the Rt. Rev. Richard F. Grein, Episcopal bishop of New York and a member of the Lutheran-Episcopal Dialogue which drafted the Concordat. "When we come together in friendship, it's so much easier. That's why this meeting has been so important," he said. "I have a deep feeling that much love has been made known in this house over the past few days," said the Episcopal Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning. "The trust that was developed here is a promising sign for the future." Browning pointed to the centuries of cooperation and the decades of dialogue the two churches have enjoyed. Full communion is more than just for the good of the two churches, he said. "It is reaching out to the brokenness in our world that we as Episcopalians cannot do by ourselves." The Rev. Eric W. Gritsch, Baltimore, emeritus professor of church history, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa., took the bishops through a brief history of the Lutheran Reformation in 16th century Europe and described how a movement to correct certain abuses in the Roman Catholic Church grew to become a church of its own. Lutheranism defines itself as "a reform movement within the church catholic," he said. The movement addressed what Gritsch called "ritual abuses related to a tyrannical church structure" by insisting that "for the true unity of the church it is enough to agree concerning the teaching of the gospel and the administration of the sacraments" without agreement on anything else. He said, "Lutheranism cannot exist without its ecumenical intentions." The Lutheran response to "a tyrannical church structure" also addressed the office of the bishop. "'Bishop' is not an office," said Gritsch. "It's something we do." The "power of bishops" is to protect the unity of the church and not to govern the people, he said. John E. Booty, Center Sandwich, N.H., historiographer of the Episcopal Church, told the bishops that "Anglican identity occurs through the use of the Book of Common Prayer." Booty said, "It is through the use of the Book of Common Prayer that we are a peculiar community within the church of God." The Book of Common Prayer outlines the orders of bishop, priest and deacon. "In this book there are guiding principles ... all acting to promote community in the love of God," he said. Those principles go beyond the ordained community to include all Christians. "The fundamental ministry is Christ's ministry," said Booty. For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service, (312) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312) 380-2955 or [log in to unmask]