ELCA NEWS SERVICE
November 16, 2006
ELCA Council Expresses Regret, Repudiates Anabaptist Condemnations
06-176-JB
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) took an action rejecting past
statements attributed to early Lutheran church reformers and
expressed "its deep and abiding sorrow and regret for the
persecution and suffering visited upon the Anabaptists during the
religious disputes of the past."
The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and
serves as the legislative authority of the church between
churchwide assemblies. The council met here Nov. 11-13.
Assemblies are held every other year; the next is here Aug. 6-11,
2007.
The council acted because past statements have become
problematic for the ELCA's present-day relationships with the
Mennonite Church USA and other Christians who trace their
heritage to the 16th century Anabaptist reformers, according to
the council's background materials.
In the action, the council declared that the ELCA
"repudiates the use of governmental authorities to punish
individuals or groups with whom it disagrees theologically." It
rejected the arguments of Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon,
two 16th century church reformers, "in which they hold that
governmental authorities should punish Anabaptists for their
teaching," the action said.
The council's action repudiated similar statements in the
Formula of Concord and declared that condemnations in the
Augsburg Confession directed at the Anabaptists do not apply to
today's Mennonite Church USA. The Formula of Concord and Augsburg
Confession are among the Lutheran confessions written in Europe
in the 16th century.
Finally, the council said condemnations in the Augsburg
Confession related to Anabaptist baptismal faith and practice and
participation in the police power of the state "are properly the
subject of future conversation between our churches."
The Rev. Joseph G. Crippen, chair of the council's program
and services committee, Northfield, Minn., introduced the
proposal to the council.
"This is incredibly well done and has been received well by
the Mennonite Church," he said. "We have to honor our
confessions, but we have new realities we have to address."
"The purpose of the declaration is, first, to apologize for
the persecution of the Anabaptists who are the forebears of the
Mennonite Church in the USA and around the world, and also to
acknowledge that the situation of the 16th century no longer
applies in the 21st century," said the Rev. Randall R. Lee,
executive, ELCA Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Affairs, in an
interview with the ELCA News Service. "The condemnations that
are contained in the Lutheran confessions may have been very
important at that time, but have receded in their importance for
this time and in the future."
Lee explained that the importance of the declaration now is
that it will provide a foundation for international conversations
between the Lutheran World Federation and the global Mennonite
community. "Our action will provide energy to that conversation
in the hopes of furthering our work together," he said.
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, added that
the council's action reflects "wonderful, collaborative work"
that will move the ELCA forward ecumenically while it retains its
integrity as a confessional church.
---
The Declaration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America on the Condemnation of Anabaptists is linked at
http://www.elca.org/ecumenical/ecumenicaldialogue/mennonite/
on the ELCA Web site.
Hear comments from the Rev. Randall Lee on the Web at:
http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/061114A.mp3
http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/061114B.mp3
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
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