Title: Anderson: ELCA and Missouri Synod Should
Work Together
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

October 23, 1997

ANDERSON: ELCA AND MISSOURI SYNOD SHOULD WORK
TOGETHER
97-30-087-CA

     WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (ELCA) -- If closer
relations between the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and
the Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) are not possible on
the national level,
regional and local Lutheran bodies should explore
ways of working together,
said The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop
of the ELCA.  Anderson
spoke Oct. 19 here at an event sponsored by the
American Lutheran Publicity
Bureau.
     "For the last years we have simply drifted
farther apart, sniping at
each other and putting the worst construction on
each other's actions,"
Anderson said. "It is time to challenge this cold
war head on and to find
ways to tone down the rhetoric."
     "I believe we need to re-open theological
discussions," Anderson
said.
     But the bishop said he hoped that such
discussion could involve more
than the officials and formally-appointed
theologians of the denominations.
"I also think we should put our energy into local
cooperation and
bridge-building," Anderson said. He urged
Lutherans from different
traditions to "explore ways of working together
even though our national
offices cannot."
     Since the formation of the 5.2 million member
ELCA in 1987, the LCMS,
with 2.6 million members,  has been sharply
critical of positions taken by
the larger church body.  LCMS president Dr. Alvin
Barry expressed "deep
disappointment" at the decision of the ELCA last
Summer to enter full
communion with Presbyterian and Reformed Churches.
"They question our right
to the name 'Lutheran,'" Anderson noted.
     In spite of the strong criticism, Anderson
said LCMS leaders have
"assured us that they will continue to cooperate
with us in areas like
refugee work, Lutheran World Relief, disaster
relief and chaplaincy
programs." But he added, "from my point of view,
that is not enough."
     "I believe we have much to offer the world as
Lutherans, and that the
present standoff does not permit us to exercise
that gift," Anderson
stated.
     The St. Louis-based LCMS has always declared
its willingness to
engage in theological discussion, so Anderson
suggested that a new
discussion might begin with a "thorough analysis
of the ecumenical
proposals and agreements."
     Responding to a question, Anderson noted that
the reformer Martin
Luther was "crushed by a system which thought it
had all the answers."
     The ELCA bishop said his topic -- "The Future
of Lutheran Unity" --
was once commonplace. But today, he said, "I can't
remember the last time I
heard someone talk about Lutheran unity having a
future. "The question
really is, given the present direction of the ELCA
and the LCMS, is talk of
Lutheran unity as pointless as discussing unity in
the former Yugoslavia?"
     Turmoil in American society caused by
mobility, stress, the feeling
of marginalization and the fragmentation of
society into "smaller and
smaller units" has taken its toll on the churches,
Anderson said.
     Lutheran teachings on the authority of
scripture, the pervasiveness
of sin, the life-long baptismal covenant, and the
vocations of Christians
to serve the world can speak to these anxieties,
Anderson said.  But
reaching out to the needs of the culture for
direction, assurance,
challenge and spiritual food is "a job too big for
any of us -- any one
congregation or one church body," he added, and
said, "for that reason, the
ELCA has begun to reach out in greater cooperation
with sister
denominations," hence the search for fellowship
with other church bodies.
     The bishop's call for regional and local
cooperation took tacit note
of the fact that in some parts of the country,
ELCA and LCMS churches and
clergy work closely together in spite of LCMS
policies that forbid joint
worship services or exchange of pastors.
     The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau is an
independent,
inter-Lutheran publishing venture, producing
Lutheran Forum magazine and
Forum Letter, a  newsletter.
     Asked whether he thought that both the ELCA
and the LC-MS were
sharply divided on theological and ecumenical
issues, Anderson declined to
analyze the internal situation in the other church
body. Referring to a
concert of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach that
he had attended the
previous night, Anderson asked, "Is the ELCA
'harmonious?' I would say,
'no,' that we are contrapuntal."
     "I still cherish the vision of a single
Lutheran voice in this
country, combining the gifts that each of our
traditions has to bring,"
Anderson concluded. "I don't think that it will
occur in my lifetime, but I
would like to set out on that path."
     The ALPB event honored Dorothy Zelenko, a
member of St.  Matthew
Lutheran Church in White Plains. She is a
long-time board member of the
ALPB and was co-editor of "For All the Saints: A
Prayer Book For and By the
Church," published by the inter-Lutheran
organization.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or
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