ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 27, 2006  

Military Chaplaincy, Ongoing Ministries Focus of ELCA-LCMS Meeting
06-060-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA) and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS)
discussed military chaplaincy issues and reviewed the status of
various ministries within their churches when they met April 6
here at the churchwide office of the ELCA.
     The leaders met as the Committee on Lutheran Cooperation
(CLC) to discuss topics of mutual interest and concern.
     The ELCA has 4.9 million members in 10,461 congregations;
the LCMS has 2.5 million members in 6,151 congregations.
     The leaders spent considerable time discussing military
chaplaincy.  It has been difficult for the chaplaincies as a
whole to recruit for the armed forces, said the Rev. Ted
Wuerffel, LCMS associate director of Ministry to the Armed
Forces, who reported on behalf of the LCMS and ELCA.  Wuerffel
noted that, because of the larger number of "second-career"
seminarians, the recruiting pool for the armed forces through
seminaries is smaller than in previous years because of age
limits on entry into military service.
     The ELCA has 100 active-duty military chaplains, and 175
chaplains in the military reserves or National Guard.  The LCMS
has 89 military chaplains on active duty and 115 in the National
Guard or reserves.  Because of the war in Iraq, Wuerffel said the
U.S. Army is the branch most likely to call National Guard or
reserve chaplains, many of whom are pastors of congregations.
     When a guard or reserve chaplain has completed a tour of
duty, re-entry into a role as congregational pastor can be
difficult, said the Rev. C. William Hoesman, chair, LCMS Council
of Presidents, and president, LCMS Michigan District, Ann Arbor.
     "We do not do well with that.  We find that congregations
and pastors have issues to deal with sometimes.  This has not
always been a smooth thing," he said.
     The LCMS started a doctor of ministry (D.Min.) track at its
Ft. Wayne, Ind., and St. Louis seminaries "to help keep military
chaplains on a par with civilian pastors getting a D.Min.,"
Wuerffel said.
     Wuerffel addressed recent concerns raised about prayer and
religious practices in the military, particularly at the U.S. Air
Force Academy.  The U.S. Air Force conducted an official
investigation and issued interim guidelines following publicity
regarding concerns about the influence of evangelical Christians
at the Academy.  Under the interim guidelines, the Academy must
work to accommodate the religious beliefs of all cadets and
cannot promote a specific faith through its religious practices,
he said.
     Responding to the interim guidelines, the Rev. Gerald B.
Kieschnick, LCMS president, St. Louis, shared copies of a March
14 memo he wrote to Gen. T. Michael Moseley, U.S. Air Force chief
of staff, and Michael W. Wynne, secretary of the Air Force.
     In that memo, Kieschnick wrote, "considering the pluralistic
nature of the military and First Amendment guarantees of the free
exercise of religion and freedom of expression, we believe that
the current interim Air Force policy runs counter to the right of
every chaplain to pray publicly using Jesus' name, whether or not
that right is exercised."
     "At the same time we would like the firm assurance from your
office that should any of our chaplains choose for conscience
reasons not to pray publicly that they will not receive negative
consequences upon their military careers," he wrote.
     Wuerffel also gave the Lutheran leaders an official
statement on prayer in the U.S. Navy from the chief of Navy
chaplains.  It emphasized "mutual respect, cooperation and
inclusiveness in delivering prayers at command functions."  It
also said that if a chaplain chooses not to pray at an official
military function "he or she may do so without adverse
consequences."
     The Lutheran leaders also discussed other topics:
     + World Council of Churches (WCC) Ninth Assembly, Porto
Alegre, Brazil, Feb. 14-23: The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA
presiding bishop, said a presentation on Christian identity by
the Rev. Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury, Anglican
Communion, was a highlight of the assembly.  It was "tragic" the
assembly could not respond to Christian-Islamic relations in the
world, and, he said, there was "great appreciation" for a
critique of the actions of the U.S. government offered by the
U.S. Conference of Churches of the WCC, he said.
     Carlos Pena, ELCA vice president, Galveston, Texas, a member
of the CLC, was elected to the WCC Central Committee; the Rev.
Walter Altmann, president, Evangelical Church of the Lutheran
Confession in Brazil, was elected WCC moderator.
     The LCMS did not have a representative at the WCC assembly,
said the Rev. Samuel H. Nafzger, executive director, LCMS
Commission on Theology and Church Relations, St. Louis.  Nafzger
said the LCMS, which is not a member of the WCC, was not invited.
     + LCMS Update: Kieschnick reviewed several LCMS initiatives
including "Ablaze!" intended as a "movement" by members to reach
100 million people worldwide with the gospel by 2017, including
50 million in the United States; "Fanning the Flame,"a fund-
raising effort to raise $100 million for Ablaze!, start 200 new
congregations and increase the number of missionary families from
65 to 100; an effort to assist partner churches with special
needs such as restoring church buildings in Eastern Europe; "For
the Sake of the Church," a ministry aimed at doubling the number
of students in the Concordia University system; and a ministry to
increase recruitment and retention of church workers.
     The Synod also has two "blue ribbon" task forces.  One is
examining how the church will fund its mission and the other is
studying church structure and governance. A new LCMS worship book
will be available in September, Kieschnick added.
     + ELCA update: The ELCA has had "a good year" since the 2005
Churchwide Assembly in Orlando, Fla., Hanson said, acknowledging
that some people were disappointed with the defeat of a proposal
that would have made it possible for people who are gay or
lesbian and in a committed relationship to serve as ELCA clergy.
"As a church body we have a sense that we matured through that
experience," he said.
     A series of new worship resources, "Evangelical Lutheran
Worship," will be available in October, which includes a new
worship book and downloadble resources; the ELCA churchwide
organization is "living into" a plan for mission and
reorganization implemented by the churchwide assembly; "identity,
unity and mission" are themes running throughout the ELCA, and
Hanson said his video greeting to synod assemblies this spring
will focus on the words, "Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America."
     An "ominous sign" is a statistic suggesting that less than
30 percent of ELCA members are in worship each week, he said.  In
addition, 54 percent of ELCA congregations have less than 100
people in worship each week, while larger congregations have
greater numbers in worship each week. The ELCA is facing "huge
transitions" in leadership in 2007: more than 20 of the 65 synods
elect bishops, and many incumbents are unable to serve again
because of term limits or retirements.
     + Nafzger said the Synod released a booklet, "Christian
Faith and Human Beginnings: Christian Care and Pre-Implantation
Human Life;" it is preparing a Bible study on the "Left Behind"
series of popular books; and it will address "public sin and the
8th Commandment," homosexual behavior, and relationships between
men and women.  Nafzger said he participated in the opening
session of the latest round of U.S. Lutheran-Roman Catholic
Dialogue and was "pleased to be part of that."
     + Finances: the LCMS expects to finish the fiscal year that
ends June 30, 2006, about $2 million behind budget, much of that
due to the start-up costs for "Fanning the Flame," said Ronald
Schultz, administrative officer, LCMS board of directors.   This
fiscal year the denomination raised about $13.3 million for
international and domestic disasters, he said.
     The Rev. Charles S. Miller, ELCA executive for
administration and executive assistant to the presiding bishop,
said the ELCA's fiscal year, ending Jan. 31, 2006, was "an
outstanding year for us financially."  Income was up,
particularly for the World Hunger Appeal, which received $17.7
million in gifts, he said. Gifts for disaster relief, especially
tsunami and hurricane relief, were $36.8 million.
     The ELCA churchwide organization is now working on a long-
range plan in which budget resources will serve the
denomination's Plan for Mission, he said.  "I believe that in
five years we won't look the same in the way programs are
delivered," Miller said.
     + Next meetings:  The CLC will meet Oct. 3 in St. Louis.
The following day leaders of both churches will engage in a
theological discussion on a 1971 report, "Function of Doctrine
and Theology in the Light of the Unity of the Church."   That
report is "the most salient and concise analysis" of issues that
divide and unite Lutherans, said the Rev. Randall R. Lee,
executive, ELCA Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations.
     In addition to Hoesman, Kieschnick, Nafzger, Schultz and
Wuerffel, other LCMS representatives on the CLC who attended were
the Rev. William R. Diekelman, first vice president, and the Rev.
Raymond L. Hartwig, LCMS secretary.
     In addition to Hanson, Lee, Miller and Pena, other ELCA
leaders on the CLC are the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary,
and the Rev. E. Roy Riley Jr., bishop of the ELCA New Jersey
Synod, Hamilton Square, and chair, ELCA Conference of Bishops.
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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.
    
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