Episcopal Press and News
Lutherans and Episcopalians Appoint Team to Prepare Revised Proposal for Full Communion
Episcopal News Service. December 4, 1997 [97-2032]
(ENS) In the wake of a narrow Lutheran rejection of the Concordat of Agreement calling for full communion between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Episcopal Church, a drafting team has been appointed to prepare a revised proposal in the next few months.
At its mid-November meeting in Chicago, the ELCA Church Council asked the presiding bishops of the two churches to appoint the small drafting team and a larger panel of advisors "to reflect the diversity of opinion on this matter with the ELCA" and have a document available for next spring's meetings of ELCA synods.
ELCA Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson has appointed three Lutheran members of the drafting team, headed by Dr. Martin Marty, professor of religion at the University of Chicago. Other members are Prof. Todd Nichol of Luther Seminary in Minnesota and Dr. Michael Root of the Ecumenical Institute in Strasbourg, France.
Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning has appointed the Episcopal Church's members of the drafting team. Bishop Christopher Epting of Iowa will chair a team that includes the Rev. William Norgren, former ecumenical officer of the church, and Prof. J. Robert Wright of the General Seminary in New York.
The actions have provided a fresh air of optimism in what could be a complicated process.
"We are attempting to consult as widely as possible and to respect the variety of concerns by those opposed to the Concordat and those who affirmed it," said Daniel Martensen, the ELCA director for ecumenical affairs.
"These are excellent choices and I'm encouraged that these drafting teams will be able to move things forward," said the Rev. David Perry, the Episcopal Church's ecumenical officer. He added that the two churches were already laying plans for cooperation in producing the educational materials the Churchwide Assembly asked for. "We are preparing models for dialogue at the synodical and diocesan level, as well as speakers, workshops, videos and CDs," he added.
Anderson told the council that he had met with Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning and Presiding Bishop-elect Frank Griswold III and said, "Each has assured me of the commitment of that church to continue on the journey with us as we seek to carry out the charge given by our assembly."
The Episcopal Church's General Convention overwhelmingly approved the Concordat at its meeting last July but the ELCA Churchwide Assembly fell six votes short at its own meeting a few weeks later. The assembly then expressed its determination to present a revised Concordat at its 1999 meeting, in time for a response from the Episcopalian meeting in 2000.
Anderson outlined the assumptions for the process leading to reconsideration at the council meeting. Referring to the primary stumbling block in the Lutheran vote, Anderson said that "the document will include the historic episcopate, shaped in a way that is congenial to Lutheran theology and doctrine of ministry."
"If we want to do something different than that, we are at square one," Anderson added. "With two years to go, we can hope for another try with the historic episcopate and see if the church accepts that. The progress we can make between now and 1999 is to shape a document that will embody the historic episcopate and still be framed within Lutheran understanding," he said.
Most of the opposition among the Lutherans centers on what they perceive as significant differences in ministry. During the debate at the Churchwide Assembly, many rose to strenuously object to what they interpreted as a new role for bishops. Lutherans ordain to a single order of ministry while Episcopalians ordain to three -- deacons, priests and bishops. Lutherans also elect their bishops to terms while Episcopalians elect them for life.
"Bishops function for mission and ministry as servants," Perry told the ELCA council. "The historic episcopate is not magical, it is the power of the Holy Spirit, working in a community for its life and faithfulness to the gospel of Jesus Christ."
Perry and others have cited misunderstandings, often based on a lack of contact between the churches, as a source of opposition. He is convinced that personal contacts and deliberate study will lead to deeper understanding -- and a positive vote on the Concordat.