ELCA NEWS SERVICE

September 27, 2007  

ELCA, EKD Leaders Sign Bilateral Agreement, Hold Discussions
07-159-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Top leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) and the Evangelical Church in Germany
(EKD) signed an agreement here Sept. 24 that commits the churches
to mutual exchange of information and provides assistance and
care for English-speaking Lutheran congregations in Germany and
German-speaking congregations in the United States.  The
agreement, effective Jan. 1, 2008, also provides for mutual
exchange of pastors, (EKD) deacons, (ELCA) diaconal ministers and
Christian education teachers.
     The agreement was signed by the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA
presiding bishop, the Rev. Wolfgang Huber, bishop of the
Protestant Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Oberlausitz and
chair of the EKD Council, and the Rev. Martin Schindehuette,
bishop and head of the EKD Church Office section of Ecumenical
Relations and Ministries Abroad.
     Established in 1949, the EKD, based in Hannover, is an
umbrella organization encompassing Lutheran, Reformed and United
member churches in Germany.  Today it has 23 member churches that
are largely autonomous regional churches.
     The agreement is actually a renewal of an agreement first
made in 1991, Hanson said at a worship service here at the
Lutheran Center, where the new agreement was signed.  The
"framework" is shared altar and pulpit fellowship within the
Lutheran World Federation, he added.  The LWF is a global
communion of 141 Lutheran churches in 78 countries, with 66
million members.  Hanson is LWF president.
     "It's a way that we can respect the presence of the EKD as
they work with German-speaking congregations in the United
States, and they will also work with us similarly with
international and English-speaking congregations in Germany,"
Hanson said in an interview with the ELCA News Service. "Much
more so, it's two churches of the North acknowledging that we
need to deepen our capacity in mission in somewhat similar
contexts but always in the context of the LWF and the World
Council of Churches.  I think we face some similar mission
challenges, and we're going to learn from each other."
     "Anytime you have exchangeability of ministries and you're
committed to having ministry together, you bring new capacity to
being the church in your context.  I think it deepens and
broadens our capacity to be engaged in mission, not only in the
United States but in Europe and together in the world," he said.
     The agreement is an acknowledgment that the gospel is not
for one nation but "for our one globe," Huber said.
     "For me the most important thing is that we go forward in
answering the challenges of our modern world together -- we learn
from each other, we try to develop common projects, we develop
partnerships between regional churches and by those means, we
will be better prepared to fulfill our mission as churches in our
respective contexts," he said.
     Huber added that the agreement helps the ELCA and EKD to
work together for the next 10 years in preparation for the 500th
anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation, which
began Oct. 31, 1517, when Martin Luther, a German monk, nailed 95
theses to the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.

ELCA, EKD leaders discuss Wittenberg centers, Reformation
anniversary
     In later discussions representatives of the EKD, ELCA and
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) shared concerns about
ministry "centers" that already exist or are being established in
Wittenberg as the anniversary of the start of the Protestant
Reformation approaches.
     The ELCA Wittenberg Center, established in 1999, is one of
three international ministry centers of the ELCA, said the Rev.
Robert Smith, continental desk director for Europe and the Middle
East, ELCA Global Mission.  Other ELCA centers are in Mexico City
and Bethlehem, he said.  The Wittenberg Center "provides a global
perspective on ministry and mission," as well as opportunities
for Lutherans traveling in Germany to deepen their relationships
with Reformation traditions, he added.
     Recently, the church leadership of the United Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Germany (VELKD) -- a part of the EKD --
announced they will support the center by providing finances for
a pastor to serve there through 2017.  VELKD is cooperating with
the EKD, ELCA and LWF in the project.
     Concerns were raised about a new Wittenberg ministry center
to be opened soon by the LCMS.  The LCMS Wittenberg Center will
be a mission start in cooperation with the Independent
Evangelical Lutheran Church, the LCMS partner church in Germany,
said the Rev. David L. Mahsman, LCMS Board for Mission Service,
St. Louis.
     Huber said he is concerned that local churches and church
institutions are respected as the number of Wittenberg centers
increase, and he said there is a "need to coordinate these
presences." The LCMS does not want to create a problem or create
confusion, Mahsman responded.
     The Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director, ELCA
Global Mission, said the ELCA is open to conversation "about the
future of the ELCA Wittenberg Center" with churches in Germany.
He asked what the possibilities were for collaboration between
the ELCA and LCMS in Wittenberg.  Mahsman said he is open to
discussion about whether such a collaborative effort may be
possible.  Huber ended the conversation with a proposal that a
working group be formed to "reflect on an integrated strategy
about the Lutheran presence in Wittenberg."
     In another discussion, representatives of the EKD and ELCA
discussed plans to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the
Reformation.  Huber reported that he already sees several
structures in place in Germany to mark the quincentenary as an
event to attract tourism to Wittenberg and other "Luther sites."
He expressed concern that the spiritual "heritage and mandate of
the Reformation" not be lost and that the cultural impact of the
Reformation on classical music and the German language be
observed.
     Malpica Padilla said the celebration should be a time for
all Lutherans to celebrate together, an occasion around which
Christians who claim the Reformation can rally and a
commemoration to share with the Roman Catholic Church.  Huber
agreed and added that a danger of the celebration would be to
conclude that "our history began 500 years ago," ignoring
Lutheran roots in Catholicism and Christian origins in Judaism.
---
     Information about the ELCA Wittenberg Center is at
http://www.ELCA.org/wittenberg/ on the ELCA Web site.

     Information about the EKD is at
http://www.ekd.de/english/2169.html on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
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