ELCA NEWS SERVICE
November 17, 2006
ELCA Council Adopts Lutheran-Orthodox Statement
06-179-JB
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) adopted "A Lutheran-Orthodox
Common Statement on Faith in the Holy Trinity" and suggested the
statement be used for guidance and conversations throughout the
church and in ecumenical settings.
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 statement emerged from the third round of the Lutheran-
Orthodox dialogue in 1998. It was placed on the Web site of the
Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations section of the ELCA
Office of the Presiding Bishop as information and shared with the
ELCA Conference of Bishops, an advisory body of the church.
This year the Conference of Bishops received and affirmed
the common statement and asked that the council formally adopt
it.
According to background materials presented to the council,
the statement affirms a common commitment to and understanding of
the theology of the Nicene Creed. The Council of Nicaea adopted
the creed in 325, and in 381 it was reaffirmed by the Council of
Constantinople.
"The statement represents a breakthrough on one of the major
theological controversies that contributed to the split between
the Eastern and Western churches during the 11th century, namely
the phrase in the Nicene Creed that the Holy Spirit proceeds from
the Father 'and the Son,'" the background materials said. The
phrase "and the Son" in Latin is "filioque."
"That phrase 'and the Son' was added to the Nicene Creed
unilaterally by the churches of the West around the 11th century.
It has been a source of division between the churches of the West
and the Eastern Orthodox churches since the formal break between
them in the year 1054," said the Rev. Randall R. Lee, executive,
ELCA Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations, in an interview
with the ELCA News Service.
Lee explained that the common statement says that it is
appropriate, particularly in ecumenical conversations and
worship, to confess the Nicene Creed without the phrase because
the creed was originally adopted without it. In addition the
Lutheran World Federation has said it is "appropriate" to cite
the Nicene Creed without the phrase.
"It's a very important matter to our Orthodox sisters and
brothers, and we are hopeful that the council, by taking this
action in receiving the work of the dialogue, will further our
future conversations with the Orthodox as we all strive to make
manifest the visible unity of the Church," Lee said.
The ELCA's new worship book, "Evangelical Lutheran Worship,"
contains a footnote to the Nicene Creed that says it is
appropriate to confess the creed without the phrase.
Lee also noted that the Roman Catholic Church has not yet
officially acted on the use of the filioque phrase.
"This is a contribution that Lutherans make to the
ecumenical movement and our conversation with the Orthodox," he
said.
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The full text of "A Lutheran-Orthodox Common Statement on
Faith in the Holy Trinity" is at http://tinyurl.com/y6otby on
the ELCA Web site.
Hear comments from the Rev. Randall Lee on the Web at:
http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/061114C.mp3
http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/061114D.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
