ELCA NEWS SERVICE
October 19, 2004
ELCA, LCMS Leaders Discuss Church Dialogues, Key Issues
04-198-JB
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Top leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
(LCMS) discussed a wide variety of topics in a meeting here Oct.
14, including the possibility that both could be part of a new
round of theological dialogues with the Roman Catholic Church.
The subject was discussed in the Committee on Lutheran
Cooperation (CLC), hosted here by the ELCA. Participants
included the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, and the
Rev. Gerald B. Kieschnick, LCMS president, St. Louis.
The Rev. Randall R. Lee, director, ELCA Department for
Ecumenical Affairs, and assistant to the presiding bishop,
reported on the ELCA's church-to-church dialogues, including the
recently concluded 10th round of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic
dialogue in the United States. The two churches released a
statement this year, "The Church as Koinonia of Salvation: Its
Structures and Ministries." A proposed topic for the next round
of talks is "Hope for Eternal Life," Lee said.
"Regardless of the topic, we are interested in being full
participants in the discussion [in the next round]," said the
Rev. Samuel H. Nafzger, executive director, LCMS Commission on
Theology and Church Relations.
Lee asked how that was possible given the fact that the
Lutheran World Federation -- of which the ELCA is a member and
the LCMS is not -- and The Vatican signed the Joint Declaration
on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) in 1999, a significant
theological document. The JDDJ, signed in Augsburg, Germany,
resolved one key point of contention that led to the Protestant
Reformation, separating Lutherans and Catholics for nearly 500
years.
The LCMS was part of early dialogues on justification with
the Roman Catholics, Nafzger said, and it has participated in
other theological dialogues such as one with the Episcopal
Church.
"We believe some progress was made," Nafzger said of the
JDDJ. "We did not feel all of [the] issues were resolved. He
added that the LCMS had no desire to "place an obstacle on what's
been done."
Kieschnick asked Hanson if he could envision a day in which
Lutherans are in "full communion" with the Roman Catholics.
"We don't minimize the issues that remain, but the resolve
to keep addressing them is still there," Hanson said. The ELCA
is guided by its ecumenical statement that expresses the church's
hope that all Christians may be united again, he said. Hanson
also said that unless Lutherans and Roman Catholics engage in
"spiritual ecumenism," the "hard work" accomplished in agreements
such as the JDDJ will not have much of a chance of succeeding.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, The Vatican's senior ecumenical officer,
who recently visited the ELCA here coined the phrase, "spiritual
ecumenism."
The ELCA has been involved in some talks with leaders of the
Commission for Interreligious Affairs of Reform Judaism in the
United States. In response to a question from Kieschnick about
the purpose of the dialogues, Lee said there is an increase "in
distrust between Christians and Jewish people because of the
question of how to deal with the Middle East." A goal of such
talks is to "build trust" with Reform Judaism leaders.
The CLC discussed several other topics:
+ Kieschnick reviewed significant issues within the LCMS,
including the church's emphasis on mission; theological matters
such as "who should receive Holy Communion" in LCMS
congregations; concern about the roles of women in the church;
funding for national church ministries; "coordination and
collaboration" of ministries by church institutions, partner
churches and other groups; and the formation of pastors and lay
ministers. "We still have a shortage of clergy," Kieschnick
said. Two-thirds of LCMS pastors are over age 45, said the Rev.
C. William Hoesman, chair of the LCMS Council of Presidents and
president of the LCMS Michigan District, Ann Arbor. "There's a
critical shortage [of clergy] coming for us, " he said.
+ In the ELCA, Hanson said "evangelical" is becoming much
more a part of the church's mission, not just part of its name.
Other concerns he cited were the church's desire to become a
multicultural church when some 97 percent of its members are
White; leadership formation; the nature of the ELCA in its three
"expressions," as congregations, synods and the churchwide
organization; membership now slightly under 5 million and slowly
declining; declines in financial giving to synods and the
churchwide organization while giving to congregations has
increased; determining which ministries should be performed by
congregations, synods and the churchwide organization; and
restructuring and governance.
+ Kieschnick reported the LCMS completed its recent fiscal
year in the black by about $2 million, though he said he "still
has a significant concern about future funding." The Rev.
Charles S. Miller, ELCA executive for administration and
executive assistant to the presiding bishop, said ELCA income
through the first seven months of the 2004 fiscal year was up
$950,000 over the same period one year ago. Some ELCA synods are
experiencing tight finances, he said.
+ Kieschnick reviewed the results of the 62nd LCMS
Convention held in July in St. Louis. With the theme, "One
Mission Ablaze to the Ends of the Earth," the synod set a goal of
reaching 100 million people worldwide with the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, he said. The synod also hopes to initiate 2,000 new
congregations by 2017, the 500th anniversary of the Protestant
Reformation, he said.
+ The Rev. Lowell G. Almen reviewed key agenda items for the
Ninth ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Aug. 8-14, 2005 in Orlando, Fla.
Key topics he cited included the church's plan for restructuring
and governance; proposals for new worship materials; a proposal
for interim Eucharistic sharing with the United Methodist Church;
recommendations from a task force for the ELCA Studies on
Sexuality; consideration of an Arab and Middle Eastern ministry
strategy; and consideration of an African Descent ministry
strategy.
Theological Discussion Precedes CLC Meeting
The second in a series of theological conversations between
representatives of the ELCA and LCMS preceded the CLC meeting
here Oct. 13.
The conversations sought greater mutual understanding,
focusing on areas of continued cooperation and differences
between the two churches, according to a statement issued after
the meeting. Two papers were presented related to the report of
the LCMS president and vice presidents to the LCMS convention in
July on evaluation of the current cooperative pastoral working
arrangements with the ELCA.
Kieschnick presented a paper on the development of the
report and the action of the convention. Almen described the
importance from the ELCA's perspective of maintaining cooperative
pastoral working arrangements, especially in regard to
chaplaincy.
Areas of cooperative working arrangements include 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 the Rev. Raymond L. Hartwig, LCMS secretary,
characterized the Oct. 13 discussion as "insightful and
constructive," the statement said.
In addition to Kieschnick, Hartwig, Hoesman and Nafzger,
LCMS participants in theological conversations or the CLC were
the Rev. William R. Diekelman, first vice president; the Rev.
Ralph Blomenberg, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Seymour, Ind.; and
the Rev. Walter A. Maier, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort
Wayne, Ind.
In addition to Hanson, Almen, Lee and Miller, ELCA
participants in one or both meetings were the Rev. E. Roy Riley,
bishop of the ELCA New Jersey Synod, Hamilton Square; and the
Rev. Timothy J. Wengert, Lutheran Theological Seminary at
Philadelphia.
The next meeting of the ELCA-LCMS theological conversation
group is March 29, 2005, in St. Louis; the CLC will meet March
30, 2005, in St. Louis.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
