Opponents of Lutheran-Episcopal Agreement Meet, Discuss Strategy

MAHTOMEDI, Minn. (ELCA) -- Opponents of a Lutheran proposal for full communion between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Episcopal Church reaffirmed their determination to defeat the proposal when the 1999 ELCA Churchwide Assembly meets in Denver Aug. 16- 22.
About 125 people, mostly Lutherans, expressed numerous concerns about the proposal known as "Called to Common Mission (CCM)." They met May 10-11 here at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church. Pastors, seminary professors and lay people generally said they want to work together with Episcopalians but are not pleased with the requirements of CCM. To approve CCM, at least two-thirds of 1,039 assembly voting members must vote yes.
CCM has generated controversy in the ELCA. It is a Lutheran revision of a similar proposal, the "Concordat of Agreement," that failed by six votes to achieve a required two-thirds majority at the 1997 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. Both are the result of dialogues involving Episcopal and Lutheran representatives that began nearly 30 years ago. If approved, CCM opens formal possibilities for exchange of clergy and other cooperative projects.
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. Many Lutheran concerns raised about CCM involve the historic episcopate and how it may affect the role of bishops in the ELCA, the office of ministry and Lutheran identity. Speakers at the May 10-11 conference focused on these issues.
Opening the conference was Dr. Randall Balmer, professor of American religion, Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, and senior writer for "Christianity Today." The ecumenical movement has been "both a mistake and a failure," he said, noting that membership, attendance and giving are declining in most mainline denominations. The ecumenical movement has lost touch with the grass roots in a "rush" to minimize differences, while evangelical and fundamentalist groups have grown because "they know how to speak the language of the culture," Balmer said.
"The ecumenical movement is an idea whose time has gone," he added.
Dr. Cynthia Jurisson, associate professor of American church history, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, said CCM isn't the best choice for those in the ELCA who are concerned with issues about diversity and mission. The ELCA and the Episcopal Church are already diverse, made up of two different religious subcultures and two different forms of governance, she said. Both can coexist peacefully without CCM, which she said will require the ELCA to adopt Episcopal polity.
"Our differences can define us but need not divide us," she said.
Jurisson said CCM does not meet the mission needs of the ELCA. "CCM, while it purports to be about mission, says virtually nothing substantive about mission," she said. "The word 'mission' is mentioned less than 15 times in the document while the word 'bishop' is mentioned more than 40 times. It's a legalistic document about legal ecclesiological agreements between the leadership of two denominations."
Jurisson also criticized the ELCA's efforts to educate its members about CCM. Nearly all information distributed by the ELCA favors CCM, and that is not an educational effort, she said.
Jurisson called for open discussion of CCM in forums throughout the ELCA, similar to an action the ELCA Church Council reaffirmed at its April meeting in Chicago.
"There has clearly been suppression of the opposition voices," she said.
The Rev. Gordon (Tim) S. Huffman, Jr., professor of Christian mission, Trinity Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, suggested both the ELCA and the Episcopal church can work together in many ways now, without CCM and without sharing the historic episcopate.
"Is full communion really needed before synods can have joint mission work?" he asked. "Is there anything these two churches can't do together if they have the will?" Huffman said adopting CCM is like asking someone to get married and requiring that person to have "plastic surgery," suggesting it's the ELCA that must change its polity under the terms of CCM.
"Without the historic episcopate, the Lutheran church is the only mainline denomination that hasn't suffered significant losses in membership," Huffman said. "It (CCM) should be put to rest so we can move forward to a new ecumenical future."
Huffman also suggested some people have "been threatened and vilified" for opposing CCM, but he did not identify anyone.
The Rev. Michael Rogness, professor of homiletics, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., said he appreciated that the ELCA Conference of Bishops attempted to clarify CCM by adopting a resolution in Tucson, Ariz., this spring that spells out a series of their understandings of the document. However, the fact they felt compelled to issue a document with some 20 statements to clarify CCM is "symptomatic of the problem," he said.
Episcopalians are "astonished" at the opposition to CCM in the ELCA, Rogness said. He also said a joint commission to be formed if CCM is approved will make recommendations for several years to both churches that must be adopted. The proposed agreement is ironclad and allows no exceptions, Rogness said.
"It's way out of tune with the way the world is running," he said. "Frankly, I'm tired of it and I wish the church would get back to proclaiming the gospel. Read these documents and then decide this for yourselves."
The conference was held at the site of a similar meeting earlier this year, where an alternative proposal to CCM was formulated. That resolution, the "Mahtomedi Resolution," calls on the ELCA Churchwide Assembly to reject CCM because of the historic episcopate requirement, and at the same time affirms "a commitment to continue to work together with our Episcopal neighbors in common faith and mission." That resolution has been adopted by at least six synod assemblies, most of them in the Upper Midwest. The resolution is expected to be considered at 23 of the ELCA's 65 synod assemblies this spring and summer, said the Rev. Roger C. Eigenfeld, St. Andrew's Lutheran Church.
The Mahtomedi Resolution is getting support because it's "not only faithful, but it's clear," said Dr. Marc Kolden, academic dean and professor of systematic theology, Luther Seminary. However, Kolden emphasized that the "first order of business" for those opposed to CCM is to defeat it at the churchwide assembly.
Other speakers at the conference discussed specific strategies to raise concerns about CCM at synod assemblies and at the churchwide assembly. Others talked about ways to change the ELCA through better organization at the grassroots level.
"This is a family argument," said the Rev. Bradley C. Jenson, Kenwood Lutheran Church, Duluth, Minn. "The ELCA is a good church with good leaders. We happen to be on opposite sides of a very intense issue."

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