Northeast U.S. ELCA Bishops Support 'Called to Common Mission'

ELCA BISHOPS IN NORTHEAST U.S. PLEDGE
SUPPORT OF 'CALLED TO COMMON MISSION'
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CHICAGO (ELCA) Seven bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) pledged to support a proposal for full communion with The Episcopal Church and said they would "work and advocate" for its adoption at the 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly in Denver this summer.
The bishops, representing the ELCA's Region 7 in the northeast United States, announced their unanimous support in a resolution. Their action follows a similar announcement of support from the eight bishops of the ELCA's Region 8, representing mid-Atlantic coast states.
The proposed agreement with the Episcopal Church, known as "Called to Common Mission" (CCM), will be considered by ELCA voting members meeting in Denver Aug. 16-22. The ELCA is the fifth-largest Protestant denomination in the United States with 5.2 million members.
"Our participation in God's mission to the world through the church can and will be genuinely enhanced by an agreement for full communion with The Episcopal Church with whom we have enjoyed an interim Eucharistic sharing since 1982," the bishops said. "We believe that clear witness to our unity in the gospel with our Episcopalian brothers and sisters is a faithful response to the gospel we are to proclaim to the world."
CCM has generated some opposition in the ELCA, much of it focused on the historic episcopate. The ELCA and the Episcopal Church agree on the doctrine of "apostolic succession," an ongoing faithful proclamation of Christ; Episcopalians bring to the relationship the "historic episcopate," a succession of bishops as a sign of unity back to the earliest days of the Christian Church.
Concerns also have been raised about the role of bishops and Lutheran identity in a full communion agreement with the Episcopal Church.
The proposed agreement resulted from dialogues that began formally in 1983 between representatives of ELCA predecessor bodies and the Episcopal Church. The result was a document called the "Concordat of Agreement," approved by a convention of the Episcopal Church in 1997.=20 That same year, the Concordat failed by six votes to win a two-thirds majority at the ELCA assembly, and voting members asked that it be revised. The revision is CCM.
In their resolution, the Region 7 bishops said "more than 30 years of dialogue and the commitment of countless faithful leaders" has brought the ELCA to this "critical and marvelous opportunity" to link the two traditions.
CCM is "clearer and more appropriate to our American Lutheran heritage than the original Concordat," the bishops said. They also said CCM responded to nearly every point of contention raised with the previous Concordat, including:
--an adaptation of the historic episcopate to the Lutheran understanding of ministry, which is in conformity with the Lutheran Confessions;
--periodic review of the office of bishop to see that it is exercised under the gospel;
--election of bishops for six years with no provision for serving as bishop beyond term(s) of office;
--continued participation of both pastors and bishops in the laying on of hands at ordinations, with the bishop presiding as a sign of the larger unity of the church; and
--an understanding of the office of the bishop as a sign of unity of the church, but not a requirement for it.
The seven ELCA bishops who signed the resolution are the Rev. Roy G. Almquist, Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod; the Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, Metropolitan New York Synod; the Rev. Juan Cobrda, Slovak Zion Synod; the Rev. Robert L. Isaksen, New England Synod; the Rev. Lee M. Miller, Upstate New York Synod; the Rev. E. Roy Riley, New Jersey Synod; and the Rev. David R. Strobel, Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html