CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will make his first official visit to three world ecumenical centers -- Istanbul, Rome and London -- March 14-24. A delegation of ELCA synod bishops, church staff and church council members will accompany the presiding bishop and = continue on to Geneva. Anderson was elected bishop of the 5.2-million member = church in 1995.
The trip=27s itinerary includes visits to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, headquarters of world Orthodoxy, Istanbul, Turkey, = March 16-17; the Vatican of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, March 18-20; and the offices of the Anglican Communion at Lambeth Palace in London, March 23-24. Anderson will return to Chicago on March 25, and much of the delegation will proceed to offices of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Geneva, March 26-30.
In Istanbul the delegation will have an audience with His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew I and hold informal discussions with = members of the Synodical Commission on Inter-Christian Affairs about Lutheran-Ortho= dox relations.
The agenda in Rome includes conversation on Lutheran-Roman Catholic rapport with Bishop Jean-Claude P=E9risset, adjunct secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Bishop Michael Fitzgerald, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
The delegation will meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury George L. Carey and the Rev. Canon John L. Peterson, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, in London. Anglican-Lutheran and Anglican-Lutheran-Mor= avian relations will be discussed.
The ELCA is a member church of the WCC and the LWF. In Geneva the delegation will visit with executives of the two organizations and meet with LWF General Secretary Ishmael Noko. It will also confer with WCC General Secretary Konrad Raiser of the Evangelical (Lutheran) Church of Germany.
In addition to Anderson, the delegation includes the Rev. April Ulring Larson, bishop of the La Crosse (Wis.) Area Synod; the Rev. Duane Larson, associate professor of systematic theology, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa.; the Rev. Daniel F. Martensen, director of the Department for Ecumenical Affairs, Chicago; the Rev. Donald J. McCoid, bishop of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod, Pittsburgh; Beverly A. Peterson, member of the Church Council and vice president of the Montana Synod, Billings, Mont.; the Rev. Eric C. Shafer, director of the Department=
for Communication, Chicago; the Rev. Larry V. Smoose, member of the Church
Council and pastor of Reformation Lutheran Church, Media, Pa.; the Rev.
Edgar R. Trexler, editor of The Lutheran, magazine of the ELCA, Chicago;
and the Rev. Ronald B. Warren, bishop of the Southeastern Synod, Atlanta.
For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS=40ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html
- - -
About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
