CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) will begin formal conversations in June 1999. The ELCA Church Council authorized Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson to convene a representative 10-member panel "to discuss interchurch matters" with counterparts in the LCMS.
The council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between meetings of the ELCA's Churchwide Assembly. The council met here Nov. 13-16. Assemblies are held every other year; the next is August 16-22, 1999, in Denver.
In July the Missouri Synod convention voiced support for LCMS President A.L. Barry's efforts to set up talks between the two church bodies. That action was part of a resolution to express "deep regret and profound disagreement" with ecumenical decisions of the ELCA to enter into full communion with three Reformed churches and to lift certain condemnations of the Roman Catholic Church.
Anderson met with other members of the Committee for Lutheran Cooperation on Nov. 9. That committee includes six ELCA leaders and their LCMS counterparts. The bishop told the council the LCMS leaders were clear that these would not be "church union talks."
Suggested topics for the meetings include Lutheran identity, ELCA ecumenical agreements, the nature of the church and ecumenical activity, and the authorization of sacramental ministries for congregations without pastors. The ELCA and LCMS panels are expected to meet twice a year.
For information contact:
Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Director (773) 380-2955 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html
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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
