Title: ELCA Bishops Hear Presiding Bishop-Elect's Support for Ecumenism
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 11, 2001

ELCA BISHOPS HEAR PRESIDING BISHOP-ELECT'S SUPPORT FOR ECUMENISM
01-252-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- In a report to the Conference of Bishops of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Rev. Mark S. Hanson,
ELCA presiding bishop-elect, said he is "deeply committed" to ecumenical
cooperation globally.  However, he left open the possibility of
revisiting the church's 10-year-old ecumenical statement, noting that a
change in leadership is a good time to ask questions.
     "We need to step back, appreciate it, if not change it," Hanson
said, as he held a copy of "Ecumenism: The Vision of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America."   The policy statement was adopted by the
1991 ELCA Churchwide Assembly.  It commits the ELCA to pursue the goal
of full communion and has formed the basis for the adoption of full
communion agreements in the 1990s with five churches: The Episcopal
Church, USA,  the Moravian Church in America, Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.), Reformed Church in America and United Church of Christ.
     Hanson led a session on ecumenical relationships Oct. 8 as part of
the bishops' meeting here Oct. 4-9.  The Conference of Bishops is an
advisory body of the church's 65 synod bishops, ELCA presiding bishop
and ELCA secretary.
     When Hanson assumes the role of presiding bishop Nov. 1 there will
be an interim director in the ELCA Department for Ecumenical Affairs.
The Rev. Jon S. Enslin, former bishop of the ELCA South-Central Synod of
Wisconsin, will serve a six-month term as interim director.  He succeeds
the Rev. Daniel F. Martensen, director and assistant to the presiding
bishop, who will retire Oct. 31.
     "This is the time to ask questions about the next steps in our
ecumenical work," Hanson said to the bishops. "We have limited energy,
limited resources, but it is essential that we give focus to that."
Hanson said he hoped the church could be "imaginative" in the next few
months about its ecumenical work.
     Martensen and the Rev. H. George Anderson, ELCA presiding bishop,
will always be associated with the ELCA's ecumenical advancements,
Hanson said.  Hanson, who was installed here Oct. 6, said he felt the
presence of the ELCA ecumenical relationships at that event.
     Anderson will conclude his six-year term as presiding bishop Oct.
31.
     Preceding Hanson's comments, Martensen offered some final
reflections to the bishops on the ELCA's ecumenical and interfaith work.

     "Much is yet to be done," he said. "Many tasks need to be taken,
numerous challenges faced."
     In his report, Martensen cited six ecumenical tasks for the
church: implementing full communion relationships; continuing bilateral
dialogue processes; emphasizing reception of ecumenical advances;
engaging churches involved in Churches Uniting in Christ; helping to
coordinate cooperative work among Christian World Communions through and
with members of the Lutheran World Federation; and deepening interfaith
relations.
     The name of the department should be changed to the "Department
for Ecumenical and Interfaith Affairs" in the near future, Martensen
recommended.  Such a change would indicate the scope of the department's
work and conform more closely to the names of similar departments in
other churches, he said.
      Martensen also cited six challenges for the church in his report
to the bishops: attention and sensitivity to voices reflecting tension
and conflict in the church, confronting and working to transcend the
current crisis in conciliar ecumenism, addressing a multicultural and
multi-religious society, addressing the institutionalized theological
seminary "silo" mentality affecting training of clergy, bringing
ecumenical immersion experiences to new generations, and re-examining
and perhaps changing our "self-understanding" as church.
     Martensen thanked Anderson and the synod bishops for their support
and ecumenical work during his tenure.
     In a brief discussion that followed, the Rev. Peter Rogness,
bishop of the ELCA Greater Milwaukee Synod, said he would support a
review of the church's ecumenical document because relationships may
have changed.
     "The fact that we are at different points with different church
bodies makes it germane for us to look at that again," he said.
     The Rev. Paul J. Blom, bishop of the ELCA Texas-Louisiana Gulf
Coast Synod, Houston, said he would appreciate development of a policy
statement on interfaith relations, similar to the ecumenical document
adopted in 1991.


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