ELCA Department for Communication, News & Information
8765 West Higgins Rd, Chicago, IL 60631 800/638-3522 ext. 2963
HEADLINES FOR ELCA NEWS RELEASE ISSUE #09, April 10, 1994
-- SACRAMENTAL PRACTICES STATEMENT
FORWARDED TO CONGREGATIONS
-- SEXUALITY: SOCIAL STATEMENTS TIME LINE AFFIRMED
-- CARL MAU, LUTHERAN LEADER, DIED
April 10, 1995
SACRAMENTAL PRACTICES STATEMENT
FORWARDED TO CONGREGATIONS
95-09-031-LC
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The first draft of a "theologically
responsible" guide to contemporary sacramental practices will be mailed
to congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America April 25.
The ELCA's Church Council approved distribution of "The Use of the
Means of Grace: A Statement on the Practice of Word and Sacrament" at
its March 31-April 3 meeting here.
The council "encouraged congregations to engage in careful
study of this document" and to share their responses with the Division
for Congregational Ministries (DCM) by June 1996. DCM appointed a task
force, in consultation with the Office of the Bishop, in the fall of 1993 to
prepare the document.
"We feel that the document is very clear about the multitude of
practices that are currently in place within congregations related to the
sacrament of Holy Communion," said Kathy J. Magnus, vice president of
the ELCA. "We think that one of the major pieces of discussion will be
around the earliest age for a child to receive Communion. We will be
eager to hear what the church has to say." Magnus chairs the Church
Council.
The Lutheran church recognizes the Lord's Supper and Baptism
as sacraments -- sacred acts instituted by Jesus Christ. There is a wide
variety of practices in the ELCA surrounding the sacraments, such as
the varying ages at which young people receive the Lord's Supper and
the use of grape juice alongside wine.
According to DCM's research, half of the ELCA's 11,000
congregations use both grape juice and wine, reported the Rev. Mary
Ann Moller-Gunderson, DCM executive director and staff to the task
force.
In an interview the Rev. Karen Bockelman, chair of the task force,
said "We hope this statement will encourage congregations to look at
their practices -- not just Baptism and Communion, but the whole practice
of worship and the proclamation of the Word." Bockelman is pastor of
Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Circle Pines, Minn.
"We chose to develop a document that allows for diversity and a
variety of practices as long as they support rather than violate the
center," said Moller-Gunderson. The document "invites the best
practices among us."
The Church Council was very pleased with the document, said
Magnus. "There was a good discussion around the council table.
Certainly the council was not in agreement on all the points of the
document, but that is why it is now available for study."
"Staff did a very good job of pointing out the areas where there is
likely to be significant discussion," said the Rev. Herbert W. Chilstrom,
bishop of the ELCA. "I was very happy to see the quality of this
document."
The ELCA's Conference of Bishops raised a number of issues
when it reviewed the document at its meeting March 2-7. The synodical
bishops pointed to the practice of administering Holy Communion to
children of all ages and the encouragement of practicing weekly
Communion as areas that will prompt discussion in the ELCA.
Other concerns were around the routine use of grape juice
alongside wine for Communion in many congregations and the trinitarian
formula (baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Certain
changes were made in response to the bishops' input.
The Rev. Charles H. Maahs, bishop of the ELCA's Central States
Synod, praised the document's "gracious tone" but predicted that people
expect such a statement to tell them what to do, not to open discussion.
Maahs is an advisor to the task force.
"We are not advocating communing infants," said the
Moller-Gunderson. "With so many congregations communing fifth
graders it is unlikely they will make the leap to communing infants." The
document opens the possibility that an infant could receive Communion at
Baptism, she said. Current ELCA practice "precludes" infants from
Communion.
"I really appreciate the accessible language and gentle tone [of
the document]," said Terry L. Bowes, Church Council member from
Longmont, Colo. "I think it is going to be a wonderful piece for adult
education and confirmation classes."
The time line calls for the statement and study guide to be mailed
April 25 to all rostered ELCA leaders, said Moller-Gunderson. On April 28
it will be released to the news media and put on LutherLink, the ELCA's
computer network.
The 14-month study period will allow for discussions of the first
draft in synod assemblies in 1996 and of the final draft in 1997. Each of
the ELCA's 65 synods meet in assembly, usually in the spring of each
year.
The task force plans to consider responses and prepare a final
draft by the end of 1996. That draft could come before the ELCA
Churchwide Assembly, August 14-20, 1997.
"I am confident that this two-year period will yield great benefits
for our church and will deepen our understanding of the means of grace
we receive in Baptism and Communion," said Chilstrom.
##########
April 10, 1995
SEXUALITY: SOCIAL STATEMENT TIME LINE AFFIRMED
95-09-02-AH
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Factors of staff time and funding make
scheduling a date for the adoption of a social statement on human
sexuality difficult, the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America was told at its meeting here March 31-April 2. The council
addressed actions taken by the board of the ELCA Division for Church in
Society (DCS).
The working draft of a possible social statement on human
sexuality is under study in the 11,000 congregations of the ELCA through
June 30. About 32,000 copies have been ordered, and 284 formal
responses have been sent to the church as of mid-March. The first draft
received 21,000 responses.
A formal report on the process to date and response to the draft
will undergo review by the Church Council executive committee and the
council itself before it is presented to the Churchwide Assembly in
August, according to council action. The report is being prepared by
DCS, which studies issues and prepares social statements for the
church's consideration and action.
The council asked DCS to convene a telephone meeting of a
consulting panel the council formed a year ago to address the human
sexuality process. The panel is to provide advice on next steps for the
social statement, due to be considered no earlier than the ELCA's 1997
assembly.
The council's actions built on the work of the board of the Division
for Church in Society which met March 17-19. The board's report was
presented in executive session.
The board noted "the constraints of scheduling the date" for
assembly adoption of a statement in view of limited staff time and funds.
Nonetheless it instructed the Rev. Charles S. Miller, division director, to
proceed with activities toward adoption of a social statement, taking into
consideration all other responsibilities of the division.
The board also asked Miller to put together a "list of activities" the
division can use to "facilitate this church in its moral deliberation, its
practice of hospitality and advocacy for justice in society" in the interim
before a social statement is presented. Miller is to take into account
reaction to the current working draft and the church's first draft in
constructing this list.
Ingrid Christiansen, Chicago, chair of the DCS board, said in an
interview, "We are grateful for the energy and hard work Lutherans
have put toward this in the past 18 months. We encourage them to
continue to study both drafts and the 400 pages of response from
theologians. And we hope faculties of seminaries will keep writing and
researching, providing background on our traditions, the Bible and
Lutheran confessions."
Christiansen continued, "The reponse has brought to our attention
in such vivid ways the pain people are in as they struggle with this
issue. We want our church to be for all Lutherans, and we hope to
encourage our congregations to be as welcoming and inclusive as
possible."
According to Miller the board discussed "at least two possible
responses" in its executive session. He said, "On the one hand there
are compelling reasons to proceed with the process the church has
undertaken. On the other hand we might say, without abandoning the
whole effort, that a social statement is not the best route to take."
Both available funds and staffing concerns need to be
considered, Miller said. "Actual staffing of a next chapter in the social
statement process will have to come from beyond the division." No
contracts are in place with the writing team that developed the current
working draft.
Miller explained, "The process to date has been enormously more
expensive than the normal cost of developing a social statement." He
cited the extraordinary measures needed to accommodate the response
from ELCA members to the first draft and the extension of the process
from a four-year to a six-year time line. The church's study of human
sexuality has cost about $286,000, compared to the $70,000 to $90,000
generally needed to develop a social statement.
In the course of the board meeting, Miller said, a number of
members expressed the opinion that a social statement is not necessarily
the best tool for the church's work on human sexuality right now. "Part
of the struggle for the board was the recognition that the church has
considerable work to do on the authority and understanding of Scripture
before difficult concerns of sexuality (especially homosexuality) can be
dealt with through a social statement," he explained.
The church's ambivalence on the subject of sexuality shows in its
reaction to the study materials, the first draft and the current working
draft, Miller said. Response does not suggest ceasing all work on the
issue of human sexuality, he said. Study that is not geared toward
presentation of a social statement is encouraged.
Miller reported that, of the 284 responses received in the
Department for Research and Evaluation, 148 find the working draft at
least acceptable. The other 136 find it less acceptable or not acceptable.
Miller sees no reason to think the evenly-divided response will shift
dramatically between now and June 30. The number of informal letters
to the division is "very light." Miller judges this split to indicate that the
effort toward a social statement has not moved the church toward a
common witness on the subject of sexuality.
The section of the working draft dealing with gay and lesbian
persons receives the most negative response, Miller said, with the vast
majority of those concerned thinking it is too liberal.
##########
April 10, 1995
CARL MAU, LUTHERAN LEADER, DIED
95-09-033-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Carl H. Mau Jr., 72, died of cancer
March 31 in Des Moines, Wash. Mau, a pastor of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, served as general secretary of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Geneva from 1974 to 1985. He was
the LWF's fifth general secretary since the federation was founded in
1947.
"Dr. Carl Mau was general secretary of the Lutheran World
Federation at a very critical time," said LWF General Secretary Ishmael
Noko, "when it made a significant shift in its theological
self-understanding, namely from a free association of churches to a
communion of churches in pulpit and altar fellowship."
"He provided the LWF with a very strong leadership," Noko
added. "The ELCA and indeed world Lutheranism have lost a respected
leader of outstanding qualities."
"Not more than once or twice in a generation, God calls someone
from the church in the United States to an important place in the family of
Lutherans around the globe. Such a person was the Rev. Dr. Carl Mau,"
said ELCA Bishop Herbert W. Chilstrom.
"He served during critical times of adjustment when the churches
of the third world were beginning to show signs of maturity, moving from
mission churches to indigenous entities. Through his strong but pastoral
spirit he gave guidance to churches in many countries as they sought to
join the communion of Lutheran churches around the world," said
Chilstrom.
Mau's tenure at the LWF was marked both by "spiritual
closeness" between Lutherans and Roman Catholics, Orthodox and
Methodists and by the regional and worldwide unity of Lutherans. The
LWF now includes 120 Lutheran church bodies around the globe,
representing 56 million of the world's 59.7 million Lutherans.
"As LWF general secretary, Mau truly made the federation a
global partnership," said the Rev. Roger R. Kahle, managing editor of The
Lutheran magazine and former English editor in the LWF news bureau,
1979-87. Mau saw that world assemblies were held in Africa and
Eastern Europe and "discovered" Lutherans in the Soviet Union --
Lutherans who had been sent to Siberia and Soviet Asia during the Stalin
era.
Mau worked to give equal recognition to all Lutheran churches.
"The mentality of federation members changed from `donor churches' in
Europe and the United States and `recipient churches' to the concept of
partnership," Kahle said.
Full and equal partnership of Christians of all races in the church
was a priority for Mau, as was the equal participation of women and
men in the life and decision-making processes of all niches of the
church.
Mau was in the sixth generation of Lutheran pastors in his family,
dating back to 1762, when the Rev. A.J.F. Mau became pastor of a
church in northern Germany -- a tradition that continues with Mau's
brother, the Rev. Frederick H. Mau, Lodi, Calif., and his daughter, the
Rev. Joan A. Mau, Trinity Lutheran Church, Washington Island, Wis. He
is also survived by his wife, Thilda, and sons Eric and Christian. He was
preceded in death by his son Mark.
Mau was born June 22, 1922, in Seattle. He served in the U.S.
Navy college training program for the chaplaincy during World War II. He
earned degrees in 1944 at Washington State University, Pullman, Wash.,
and in 1946 at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.
Mau was ordained in the former American Lutheran Church in
1946 and served as missioner and pastor of Luther Memorial Lutheran
Church, Portland, Ore., until 1950. He was director of the LWF's office in
Hanover, Germany, 1950-1957, pastor of Luther Memorial Lutheran
Church, Tacoma, Wash., 1957-1960, and director of the Wisconsin
Lutheran Student Foundation, Madison, Wis., 1960-1964.
Mau was associate general secretary of the LWF, Geneva,
1964-1972, and general secretary of the LWF's USA Committee, New
York, 1972-1974.
Mau served as associate pastor of Reformation Lutheran Church,
Washington, D.C., from 1985 until his retirement in 1989. He provided
spiritual counsel to government workers and led an educational ministry
for examining public policy issues in the context of biblical theology.
In his retirement Mau served as co-chair of the ELCA's Task
Force on Peace and as a board member of Ecunet -- an international,
ecumenical computer network -- and appeared as a regular panelist on
the national television program "American Religious Town Hall." He was
a member of Eminent Church Persons Groups of the World Council of
Churches discrediting apartheid in South Africa and monitoring elections
in Namibia.
A memorial service was held April 7 at Grace Lutheran Church,
Des Moines, Wash.
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