Title: Lutherans and Episcopalians Discuss Full Communion
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
March 21, 1996
ECUMENICAL PARTNERS DISCUSS IMPLICATIONS OF
FULL COMMUNION OF LUTHERANS AND EPISCOPALIANS (75 lines)
96-06-018-JS
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (ELCA) -- As the Episcopal Church and the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America move toward a historic
decision in 1997 on full communion, they invited ecumenical
partners to discuss the implications for all churches seeking
unity.
The Concordat of Agreement between the two churches would
open the way to broad cooperation in ministry, interchangeability
of clergy, collegiality among bishops -- including joint
consecrations that would, over time, lead to sharing of the
historic episcopate. The historic episcopate is based on the
belief that authority in the church is derived from bishops
ordained by the physical laying on of hands by other bishops, who
can trace their own succession back to Christ's apostles.
Lutheran, Anglican/Episcopal, Orthodox, Roman Catholic,
Reformed and Methodist theologians and church leaders from Europe
and North America gathered at an Episcopal retreat center in
Florida, Jan. 27-29, for presentations of papers and open
conversation.
The practical implications of a shared episcopacy were a
concern for Dr. Henry Chadwick, Oxford, England. He argued that
some kind of structure would be needed -- "shared organs of
decision-making" based on a need to "take counsel."
Bishop Stephen Sykes, a leading ecumenist from the Church of
England, added that "parallel jurisdictions," where Lutheran and
Episcopal bishops share the same territory, may turn out to be "a
hindrance to unity, an obstacle."
The proposed integration of Lutherans into the historic
episcopate will make it difficult to "sell" the Concordat, warned
several participants. The Rev. Carl E. Braaten, an ELCA pastor
and executive director of the Center for Catholic and Evangelical
Theology, Northfield, Minn., said only about 10 percent of
Midwestern Lutherans "are positive about accepting the historic
episcopate."
While Braaten favors the proposals for full communion, he
said he is convinced that they have not penetrated to the grass
roots yet. "Lutherans need to be persuaded" about the episcopate
and the sharing of ministries, he said.
Braaten identified a resistance based on the requirement
that Lutherans accept Episcopal orders, while Episcopalians are
not required to accept the fundamentals of Lutheran faith.
"The Episcopal Church is not required to bind itself to
anything it doesn't already accept," he said. Lutherans should
not accept the episcopate as "part of a deal, a compromise, until
we are convinced that it is good and useful."
Yet Lutherans are free to accept that which they don't
already have, in order to "nourish unity," said Dr. Bruce
Marshall, religion professor at the ELCA's St. Olaf College,
Northfield, Minn. He added that agreement in word and sacrament
is all that's necessary for unity, according to the Lutheran
confessions.
In its final report, the consultation said the Concordat
presupposed "a comprehensive consensus in the Gospel" and that
the proposals about ministry and episcopacy "are only rightly
understood when seen in the light of its understanding of the
church and its larger intent to unite the churches into a truly
common life of worship and mission." It said the emphasis on
episcopate "must not be isolated from this more comprehensive
life together."
"The Concordat actually embodies a future of great
hopefulness for the churches, and not just of North America,"
said Sykes.
"It is a kairos in ecumenism when two sister traditions,
standing in continuity with the church of the patristic and
medieval periods both directly and through the insights of the
Reformation period, are offered the opportunity of embracing
wider unity," he added.
-- This story was written by James Solheim, director of
news and information for the Episcopal Church.
For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service, (312)
380-2058; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312) 380-2955; Lia Christiansen,
Asst. Dir., (312) 380-2956
