Episcopal Church Adopts Full Communion with ELCA

     DENVER (ELCA) -- "The Episcopal Church is now, as of today, in full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) on the basis of a shared ministry in the historic episcopate and for the sake of common mission in proclaiming and serving the gospel," the Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, declared July 8.  Griswold's comment followed action of his church's 73rd General Convention to approve three resolutions to receive and implement the new accord, which the ELCA approved here last August.
     An international inaugural worship service of Holy Communion will celebrate the agreement on the Feast of the Epiphany -- January 6, 2001 -- at a location to be determined.  Amendments to the churches' governing documents go into effect Jan. 1.
     "Full communion" is not merger but opens the way for the two church bodies to work more closely in starting new ministries and in supporting current struggling congregations.  Among other features, it allows for the exchange of clergy.
     "The birth of this new relationship has been a long time coming," said the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the ELCA.  "Although many persons worked for years to bring us to this grand moment, it is ultimately 'the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes,'" he said, quoting Psalm 118.
     Formal Lutheran-Episcopal talks began in 1969.  In 1991, the talks produced a "Concordat of Agreement" which first outlined full communion between the two churches.
     In 1997 the Episcopal Church approved the Concordat, but the ELCA assembly fell short of the two-thirds vote required for adoption of that plan.  At the direction of that assembly, the ELCA began drafting a revised proposal -- "Called to Common Mission" (CCM).  The ELCA approved CCM in 1999.
     Lutheran churchwide assemblies are held every two years, and Episcopal general conventions are held every three years.
     The 2000 Episcopal General Convention received the revised proposal and understood it to be substantially the same as the Concordat in 1997, and the constitutional amendments could have second reading to implement CCM.
     The Episcopal convention runs July 5-14 in the Colorado Convention Center -- the same site where the ELCA Churchwide Assembly met in 1999.  Anderson, who was in Iceland at the time of the Episcopal vote, plans to visit the convention July 12.
     "Adoption of 'Called to Common Mission' shows the world a new way to be one in Christ.  Helping the world to believe must always be our priority as we work out our new life together," said Anderson.
     The Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary, read Anderson's statement July 8 to the Episcopal House of Deputies, after that house finished voting on the resolutions.  The Episcopal House of Bishops approved the resolutions on July 7.
     "With you we celebrate this moment.  I can indicate to you that wonderful surprises await us," Almen told the deputies.
     "While most of our parishes will not be affected directly by this action, we are aware that in certain situations this decision represents a significant step, a step that will provide crucial opportunity for greater effectiveness together in witness and service," said Almen.  "Be it urban ministry, be it rural ministry, be it campus ministry or other situations of ministry, this agreement of mutual recognition will prove to be highly constructive."
     The 5.2 million members of the Chicago-based ELCA have more than 10,800 congregations which are organized into 65 synods, each headed by a bishop.  The 2.5 million members of the Episcopal Church, based in New York, have more than 7,400 congregations in 106 dioceses, each headed by a bishop.
     The Episcopal legislature consists of two houses.  The House of Deputies includes up to eight representatives from each diocese -- four clergy and four lay.  The House of Bishops involves all Episcopal bishops -- current and retired.  Resolutions must be passed by both houses.
     Full communion was enacted through three resolutions.  The first received the text of the revised proposal, CCM.  The second and third resolutions gave the necessary second reading to amend the Episcopal constitution -- suspending rules of Episcopal ordination to recognize current ELCA clergy and allowing for the exchange of clergy.
     Before the convention began, Griswold told reporters that full communion with the ELCA would be "a very significant sign to the ecumenical community" of a dialogue's possible outcome.  He said the agreement "invites us to yield some of our sense of ourselves and the uniqueness of our traditions, both by sharing some of ourselves and by making some adjustments in our tradition for the sake of unity."
     Griswold said he has seen Episcopal and Lutheran congregations operating side by side in rural and urban areas, and full communion would allow them to be more efficient by sharing resources and ministries.  He noted that campus ministries are models of such cooperation.
     The Rt. Rev. William J. "Jerry" Winterrowd, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado, Denver, spoke of his "solid relationship" with the Rev. Allan C. Bjornberg, bishop of the ELCA's Rocky Mountain Synod, Denver.  "We have in the past and will continue to have joint ventures," he said.  If CCM failed, "it would create a sense of demoralization in two churches which are already working well together," he added.
     Ecumenical guests were introduced in both houses.  Dr. Addie J. Butler, vice president of the ELCA, Philadelphia, addressed the House of Deputies.
     In addition to Almen, Bjornberg and Butler, other guests from the ELCA represented the Department for Ecumenical Affairs: the Rev. Daniel F. Martensen, director; the Rev. Darlis J. Swan, associate director; and the Rev. Randall R. Lee, associate for bilateral relations and dialogue.
     The ELCA is a "richly diverse church body," said Butler, "and issues of ecumenism are regularly on the agenda of the church."  The ELCA Churchwide Assembly approved CCM eleven months earlier in the same room where the deputies met, she said.
     The ELCA entered into full communion with three Reformed churches -- the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Reformed Church in America and United Church of Christ -- in 1997 and with the Moravian Church in America in 1999.  In 1997 it approved the Lutheran-Catholic "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification," which was signed in 1999 by representatives of the Lutheran World Federation and the Vatican.
     Episcopal debate on full communion with the ELCA began with hearings the convention's 30-member ecumenical relations committee conducted July 6.  Many speakers favored the resolutions, but some questioned whether the 2000 convention could have a second reading on constitutional amendments first read in 1997 while the Lutherans had revised the basic proposal for full communion.
     "We need a better document than what we have," said the Rev. David K. Ottsen, deputy from the Episcopal Dioceses of Northern Indiana, Mishawaka.  He contended that Anglican churches have found ways to exchange clergy in other countries without having to suspend rules of Episcopal ordination.
     Other speakers explained that churches in other countries found themselves in situations different from those in the United States. Other ecumenical agreements involved smaller church bodies or churches using different structures.
     "I want to speak in favor of this resolution with all the passion I can," said the Rev. William T. Rontani Jr., St. Luke's Mission, Calistoga, Calif., who said his congregation serves many Lutherans in an area where there are few or no Lutheran congregations.  "To vote against it would be devastating to the congregation of St. Luke and the Christian community of Napa Valley," he said.
     "Every once in a while comes a moment that God must have called into being," said<