ELCA NEWS SERVICE August 13, 2003 ELCA Assembly Hears from LCMS President 03-CWA-22-DM MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- The Rev. Gerald B. Kieschnick, president of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, told the 2003 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) today that scheduled theological discussions will be important for improving relationships between the two church bodies. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 11-17 at the Midwest Airlines Center. There are about 2,100 people participating, including 1,031 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is "Making Christ Known: For the Healing of the World." The two largest U.S. Lutheran church bodies -- the ELCA has 5 million members, the LCMS about 2.5 million -- have agreed to begin in November new discussions of theological issues that have divided them. It has been several years since the two bodies held specifically doctrinal discussions. Both Kieschnick and the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, have taken office since those earlier talks were held. Bringing greetings to the ELCA assembly, Kieschnick said the talks "are important for maintaining hope for healing wounded relationships, for strengthening tenuous associations, for addressing honestly and openly the doctrinal disagreements that exist between our two churches, and for nurturing the cooperative work that we do together." Although the two church bodies are not in full communion with each other, they do cooperate in various human-care endeavors throughout the United States and internationally. "It is only in Christ and his Word that we can find healing for those issues that divide us, as he is the one who has the power to strengthen relationships between us," Kieschnick said. Kieschnick encouraged the ELCA assembly in its pursuit of an evangelism strategy for the church body. A proposed strategy on evangelism was adopted by the assembly Aug. 13. "I encourage your pursuit of this all-important cause, in accord with God's holy and perfect will, and pray that you will 'be a dynamic church of disciples who give joyful witness to Jesus as Savior and Lord,'" Kieschnick said, quoting from the proposed strategy. He added that his own church body is beginning new initiatives intended also to make Christ known more widely. Such efforts are not without their challenges, Kieschnick said. "Foremost among the challenges to the Church's witness to the world is remaining faithful to Holy Scripture as we study and respond to some of the great moral issues of the day," he said. Among those, he cited specifically the decision of the Episcopal Church earlier this month to approve the election of the Rev. Gene Robinson, who is openly homosexual, to be bishop of New Hampshire. "While it is clear from Gods Word that his forgiving love in Jesus Christ is constant for all people, this action nevertheless constitutes a momentous break from the Christian Churchs 2,000- year-long understanding of what Holy Scriptures teach about homosexual behavior as contrary to God's will and the biblical qualifications for holding the pastoral office," Kieschnick said. He said that the Episcopal Church's action will provoke controversy throughout the Anglican Communion and "all of Christendom." He referred also to the ELCA's current study that may lead to recommendations to the 2005 Churchwide Assembly to develop a policy on blessing same-gender relationships and whether or not people in such relationships should be pastors or lay ministers of the church. "I pray that your study and deliberation of this matter will be made in the light of the biblical understanding of human sexuality and the qualifications for the pastoral office," Kieschnick said. "It is my fervent prayer that God the Holy Spirit will guide you, our brothers and sisters in Christ, as you wrestle with this matter in the months and years to come." -- -- -- Information about the ELCA Churchwide Assembly can be found at http://www.elca/org/assembly/03 on the Web. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news