ELCA Assembly Hears Bishop Address Legacies for the next Millennium

DENVER (ELCA) -- Speaking of gifts that have been inherited and the legacy to be left to the next millennium, the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) asked churchwide assembly voting members, "what spiritual legacies can we bequeath to the future?"
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting Aug. 16-22 here at the Colorado Convention Center. There are more than 2,500 people participating, including 1,039 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is "Making Christ Known: Hope for a New Century."
"We do have something to pass on," said Anderson in his report delivered Aug. 17. "We have discovered how to come together despite differences in the church." He noted mergers of national traditions which came together to the form the ELCA, a variety of races, nationalities and cultures which are one in the church, and now are reaching out to other confessional families.
In this century, Anderson said, Christians in America inherited cooperation and are now bequeathing full communion. In 1960, a most ambitious ecumenical project began to bring eight Protestant denominations together. It has not come to fruition, Anderson said. Instead, a new concept, "full communion," has emerged.
Anderson related how our ecumenical experience has been like "testing the water." Two years ago the ELCA entered into full communion with the Reformed Church in America, the United Church of Christ, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
"This relationship has been qualitatively different from the friendly contacts we had before. It is the difference between being friends and being part of the family," the bishop said.
At this assembly there are also opportunities for new relationships, he said. "By approving full communion with the Moravian and Episcopal churches, we will expand the family circle to recognize more clearly our other historic roots in pre-reformation Christianity, Anderson said. No other church body has ever had that possibility to link together so many branches of Christendom. What a bridge we could be!"
Anderson said there is joy in noting that this century will end with a Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification for Lutherans and Roman Catholics. A formal signing of the Joint Declaration will take place Oct. 31 in Augsburg, Germany.
Viewing the century and its many paradigm shifts, Anderson considered ways in which the Lutheran church has spread the gospel. Missionaries, sister congregations and mission support dollars have all been a part of the church's outreach. Now we listen to churches around the world and ask, "How can we help? We inherited enlightenment, we bequeath accompaniment," he said.
"We can make one other contribution to the spiritual legacy of this century," Anderson said, speaking of economic realities. "This century inherited rugged individualism; we bequeath a global economy." What started with helping needy individuals, and working with orphanages or the elderly, has grown to joint efforts of community agencies, a commitment for social ministry, refugee resettlement and World Hunger efforts, Anderson said.
Sadly, our generosity and concern have not kept up with the globalization of the economy, he said. "How do our consumption patterns contribute to these global problems? What does the Lord require of us in this situation," he asked.
Concluding his remarks, Anderson said, "Now it is time for you to pick up the conversation and decide what we will do with the gifts we have inherited and what legacy we will leave to the next millennium. I believe that the same Spirit we invoke to guide our decisions will also guide the church as it receives those decisions."

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