Principles of Agreement

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Seeking to promote greater understanding among the participants in Following Our Shepherd, representatives of both churches offer the following principles to guide implementation efforts:

    1. Following Our Shepherd provides for the orderly exchange of ordained ministers of Word and Sacrament between our two churches for the sake of God’s mission in Christ. As full communion partners, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Moravian Church in America may develop common mission plans in order to use resources more effectively and to promote stronger outreach ministry. These principles aim to assist the two churches in developing a process that encourages this common mission.
    2. An ordained minister of one church in full communion may be eligible to engage in occasional or extended service in any position open to a minister in the other church, except as noted otherwise in the polity of either church.
    3. It is important to the faithful and orderly exchange of ordained ministers between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Moravian Church in America that one who would serve in a congregation of the other church first be formed and educated for ministry in that minister’s own tradition, and have experience in serving in that church’s ordained ministry. Such experience and grounding in one’s own tradition are seen as essential prior to serving in a setting of another tradition; therefore, such service is not intended for a first call.
    4. To be eligible to serve in the other church, an ordained minister will demonstrate to the appropriate regional body of the inviting church knowledge of and an appreciation for the history, polity, theological and liturgical identity, practices of ministry, and discipline of that church. The minister will also be expected to preach, teach, administer the sacraments, and participate in the governance of the church in a manner consistent with that knowledge and appreciation.
    5. In evaluating the availability of ordained ministers for service, regional bodies of each participating church will do so in accordance with the stated intentions in Following Our Shepherd.
    6. Placement, supervision, and evaluation procedures of the inviting church shall be observed.
    7. Approval for extended service shall occur only in consultation with, and concurrence of, the sending body. When granting concurrence for an ordained minister to serve in the other church, the sending body will do so in accordance with the stated intentions in Following Our Shepherd. The minister remains accountable to the sending body for continuation of ministerial status.
    8. Responsibility for pastoral care of ordained ministers is shared by the inviting and sending bodies: in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the synod; in the Moravian Church in America, the district or province.
    9. In a disciplinary review or judicial process, the ordained minister remains under the jurisdiction of the sending body, but the inviting body may be asked to participate as appropriate.
    10. Each church will develop a provision whereby an ordained minister may be granted full participation, which may include privilege of voice and vote, in the appropriate regional body of the church in which the ordained minister is serving.
    11. An ordained minister serving in the other church will continue to participate in the pension and benefits program of the sending church.