Title: Reformed Churches Approve Full Communion with ELCA
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
July 18, 1997
REFORMED CHURCHES APPROVE FULL COMMUNION WITH LUTHERANS
97-23-069-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Three U.S. churches of the Reformed tradition have
given initial approval to sharing full communion with the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America. The ELCA Churchwide Assembly will vote on the
proposal when it meets Aug. 14-20 in Philadelphia.
"The work we do in the name of Jesus can be strengthened and exciting
new possibilities will be presented by a closer relationship," said the
Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the ELCA. "The ELCA seems
ready to respond. We trust the mind of the church to express itself
responsibly and pray for the unity we share in Christ Jesus among our
churches."
"A Formula of Agreement," the product of 32 years of ecumenical
conversations, outlines full communion among the ELCA, Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.), Reformed Church in America and United Church of Christ.
Full communion does not mean unification or merger. It involves
mutual recognition of each other's ministries and sacraments, the removal
of any previous condemnations and the establishment of channels of
"consultation and decision-making within the existing structures of the
churches."
The General Synod of the Reformed Church in America was the first
body to approve the agreement, on June 18 in Milwaukee. A voice vote of
the 250 delegates recorded only a few "no" votes.
The first of the four votes necessary for full communion will prove
to be "a pivotal moment in ecumenical history," said the Rev. Guy Edmiston,
bishop of the ELCA's Lower Susquehanna Synod, Harrisburg, Pa. Edmiston is
the Lutheran co-chair of the Lutheran-Reformed Coordinating Committee that
has had the task of informing the church memberships of the details of the
proposal.
The RCA synod also passed a resolution clarifying that the RCA
already enjoys "full table and pulpit fellowship and the recognition of
each other's ministries" with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and UCC by
virtue of the three churches' memberships in the World Alliance of Reformed
Churches. The Formula will not change that relationship.
The 209th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted
489 to 38 in favor of full communion with the ELCA on June 19 in Syracuse,
N.Y. That vote sets the stage for ratification of the proposal by the
church's presbyteries.
The General Synod of the United Church of Christ invited the ELCA
into full communion on July 5 in Columbus, Ohio. About 10 of the 700
delegates voted in opposition.
"Surely, this is an historic moment," UCC President Paul H. Sherry
told delegates after the vote. "It is a moment of renewal and celebration.
It is a moment when we truly see our oneness in Christ Jesus. As I look
around this hall and think of the centuries of separation, and I think of
this coming together, I give thanks to God."
The Rev. Stanley N. Olson, bishop of the ELCA's Southwestern
Minnesota Synod, Redwood Falls, Minn., said, "I thank you for this action
of affirmation of our oneness in Christ." "In August, we will be praying
prayers very much like your prayer of discernment: 'Give us the mind of
Christ in whose name we gather and in whose Body we are one. Amen.'"
"We await the vote of our Churchwide Assembly. Our agenda is still
being planned," said the Rev. Daniel F. Martensen, director of the ELCA
Department for Ecumenical Affairs, in a note to the synod. If the 'Formula
of Agreement' is approved in Philadelphia, a steering committee will be
created to begin the implementation process.
Church Memberships
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America . . . . . . . .5,200,000
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) . . . . . . . . . . . . .3,700,000
Reformed Church in America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .300,000
United Church of Christ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,500,000
For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html
