ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 9, 2005

ELCA, LCMS Discussions Note Surge Of 'Mission Spirit'
05-060-RL*

     ST. LOUIS (ELCA) – Starting new congregations and mission outreach
were dominant topics in discussion among leaders of the two largest U.S.
Lutheran church bodies meeting here March 30.
     Twice a year, representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod (LCMS) meet as the
Committee on Lutheran Cooperation.  The two denominations work together in
disaster response, world relief, military chaplaincy and various social
ministries.
     "As I move around our church body, I think we're claiming the
'evangelical' in our name," said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding
bishop, adding that the ELCA sees itself as enabling people to be in
mission locally.
     The Rev. Gerald B. Kieschnick, LCMS president, noted that the
Missouri Synod is encouraging partnerships between congregations and
districts to start new congregations.  "Among our district presidents, I
see a healthy amount of energy," said Kieschnick.
     Members of the Committee on Lutheran Cooperation noted similar
approaches among their regional judicatories to train lay ministers.
Working under the supervision of ordained clergy, lay workers often serve
in rural congregations and among ethnic populations that cannot afford a
full-time pastor.
     The committee also reviewed the supply of pastors in their respective
church bodies.  The Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary, said the ELCA
has a total of 1,252 in the candidacy system for ordination.  About
one-fourth of the candidates are available this spring for ordained
ministry in the ELCA.  He noted that seminary graduates are older, with
the average age being 40.5 compared with 34.9 in 1990.  He added that the
ELCA Board of Pensions estimates that 6,000 active pastors will be
retiring in the next 15 years.
     The Rev. C. William Hoesman, president of the LCMS Michigan District
and chair of the LCMS Council of Presidents, reported the Missouri Synod
has 165 seminary graduates available for calls this spring.  Hoesman said
there are about 800 vacancies with some 400 of those congregations
actively seeking pastors.
     The committee also dealt with their churches' relationships with
church bodies overseas, budgets, health care and retirement programs for
church workers, and dialogues with other denominations.
     ELCA representatives previewed the 2005 ELCA Churchwide Assembly
which will be Aug. 8-14 in Orlando, Fla.  Under the theme "Marked with the
Cross of Christ Forever," Almen said key issues will include a worship
book and other resources, proposals for constitution and bylaw revisions,
strategies for mission work among people of African and Middle Eastern
descent, and recommendations from the task force for the ELCA Studies on
Sexuality.
     On March 29, most of the committee members also participated in a
theological discussion, hearing presentations on the report and
recommendations of the ELCA Studies on Sexuality and on LCMS guidelines
for service of women in congregational offices.  The presenters were the
Rev. Stanley N. Olson, executive director, ELCA Division for Ministry, and
the Rev. Samuel H. Nafzger, executive director, LCMS Commission on
Theology and Church Relations.
     Olson said two recommendations from the task force – to concentrate
on finding ways to live together faithfully in the midst of disagreement
and to continue to respect the pastoral guidelines of a 1993 statement of
the ELCA Conference of Bishops – have received general affirmation.  Being
widely discussed is a third recommendation that the ELCA "may choose to
refrain from disciplining those who for the sake of conscience and for the
sake of outreach ministry and the commitment to continuing dialogue, call
or approve partnered gay or lesbian candidates."
     During those discussions, LCMS representatives provided a response to
the report and recommendations of the task force.  The response said the
LCMS sees scriptural authority as the foundational issue on same-sex
unions.  "The report does not speak clearly and authoritatively regarding
homosexual behavior and the ordination of those who are openly involved in
such behavior," the LCMS response said.  "This goes contrary to the
historic and universal understanding of the Christian Church regarding
what the Holy Scriptures teach about homosexual behavior as contrary to
God's will and about biblical qualifications for holding the pastoral
office."
     ELCA representatives on the committee were Carlos Peña, ELCA vice
president; the Rev. Charles S. Miller, ELCA executive for administration;
the Rev. Randall R. Lee, director of the ELCA Department for Ecumenical
Affairs; and the Rev. E. Roy Riley, bishop of the ELCA New Jersey Synod
and chair of the ELCA Conference of Bishops.  Participating in the
theological discussions were Olson and the Rev. JoAnn A. Post, First
English Lutheran Church, Platteville, Wis.
     In addition to Kieschnick, Hoesman and Nafzger, Missouri Synod
participants on the committee were the Rev. William R. Diekelman, LCMS
first vice president; the Rev. Raymond L. Hartwig, LCMS secretary; and Dr.
Thomas Kuchta, treasurer and administrative officer of the Board of
Directors.  Also participating in the theological talks were the Rev.
Walter A. Maier III, professor, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort
Wayne, Ind., and Rev. Ralph Blomenberg, Immanuel Lutheran Church, Seymour,
Ind.
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* Roland Lovstad is a freelance reporter from St. Louis.

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