ELCA NEWS SERVICE
November 5, 2007
Committee on Lutheran Cooperation Focuses on Cooperative Ministries
07-183-JB
BALTIMORE (ELCA) -- Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
(LCMS) discussed their denominations' cooperative ministries when
they met Oct. 24 here at the Lutheran Center. The ministries
address domestic disaster response, immigration matters, social
services, and international development and relief.
The Lutheran church leaders, meeting as the Committee on
Lutheran Cooperation (CLC), normally meet twice a year to discuss
their common witness and provide updates to each other about
current joys and concerns within their church bodies.
The leaders spent considerable time discussing their
collaborative ministry through Lutheran Disaster Response,
focusing on different understandings of the ministry that have
emerged in recent years. The Rev. Rebecca S. Larson, executive
director, ELCA Church in Society, and the Rev. Matthew C.
Harrison, executive director, LCMS Board for Human Care
Ministries, agreed to continue discussions about the ministry and
return to the CLC with recommendations for the future.
At this meeting, the leaders met with executives who lead
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), Lutheran
Services in America (LSA) and Lutheran World Relief (LWR), all
based here:
+ It's been "a tough year," and the climate is not favorable
for immigrants, who are "vilified" on talk shows and by
comedians, said the Ralston H. Deffenbaugh, LIRS president. The
church's role in immigration matters is to care with dignity for
all people, he said. It was a serious blow to U.S. immigration
policy when reform efforts collapsed in the U.S. Congress last
June, likely meaning that Congress will not revisit the topic
until a new president is in office, Deffenbaugh said. Refugee
admissions to the United States are down considerably, he said,
including numbers of Iraqi refugees admitted. Of the 7,000
Iraqis the United States planned to admit in 2007, about 1,600
have been admitted so far this year, Deffenbaugh said.
+ Lutheran social ministry organizations serve 6 million
people annually, about 1 in 50 people, said Jill A. Schumann, LSA
president. The value of LSA's combined services is about $9.5
billion, she said, noting that for the size of the ELCA and LCMS,
"Lutherans do an enormous amount of work for the world."
Schumann asked the Lutheran church leaders to be active with
social ministry organizations, provide access to speakers and
consultants, and be allies. In 2007 LSA is celebrating its 10th
anniversary.
+ The Rev. John A. Nunes, LWR president, said the
organization is developing a "Lutheran Malaria Initiative (LMI),"
an effort to comprehensively address and work to contain malaria,
"a core element in the cycle of global poverty," he said.
Malaria -- a containable and treatable disease, Nunes said --
kills 1.2 million people in the world each year. The LMI began
with a seed grant from the United Nations Foundation. LWR
program staff is identifying people and organizations working on
the disease, its nature and effects, and the capacities of
existing and potential partners to participate in such a wide-
ranging initiative, he said. A Nov. 27 consultation on the
initiative is planned in Chicago, Nunes said.
The Rev. Gerald B. Kieschnick, LCMS president, presented the
key actions of the 63rd LCMS Regular Convention in Houston in
July. The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, discussed
key actions of the 10th Biennial ELCA Churchwide Assembly, held
in Chicago in August.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the Lutheran church
leaders agreed to keep meeting as a sign of commitment to shared
ministry. Hanson said the two church bodies have a warm
relationship, and it is the ELCA's intention to move toward
"altar and pulpit fellowship" with the LCMS. Nafzger agreed,
saying he "can't imagine how any Christian can be satisfied with
division at the altar but that the Missouri Synod is committed to
the Lutheran understanding that altar and pulpit fellowship must
be based on agreement in doctrine and practice, and that won't
happen if we don't talk to one another."
Kieschnick added that he appreciated the ELCA leaders'
willingness to meet with LCMS leaders "even though some
theological differences continue to exist between the two church
bodies." Some in the LCMS have been critical of the meetings
with ELCA leadership because of these differences, he said.
Kieschnick indicated the LCMS leaders' willingness to continue
meeting with ELCA leaders "because it's the right thing to do."
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Information about the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
is at http://www.ELCA.org on the Web.
Information about the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod is at
http://www.lcms.org on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
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