ELCA Bishops Say New Century, Millennium Offers Hope, Not Dread

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "The coming of the third millennium should not fill us with fear or dread at thoughts of the end," wrote the presiding bishop and 65 synodical bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in a four-page pastoral letter on the significance of the year 2000.
Instead, the bishops said, "the beginning of the third millennium is an occasion to mark 2,000 years of the reign of Christ and all the blessings that Christ's reign has meant and will mean for the Church and the world in the years to come."
The ELCA Conference of Bishops adopted the letter, "The Year of Our Lord 2000," in October 1998. At the same time, the bishops issued a two-page reflection, "The Promise of a New Millennium."
"The coming of the end of the second millennium fills some people in our society with fear," the bishops wrote in their letter. "The end of the millennium continues to spawn all kinds of wild prophecies about the end of the world. Many people, Christians included, often imagine 'the end of the world' in terms of the second coming of our Lord."
The Christian Bible refers to a millennium only "where it is said that Satan will be bound for a thousand years and that the saints shall reign with Christ for a millennium. However, the Bible does not connect this period with the second coming of Christ," wrote the bishops.
The bishops said the turn of the century and the new millennium should be viewed with celebration and hope.
"Birthdays celebrate the fact that we are alive, that we have good things to look back on, that we have hope for the future," the bishops wrote. "On a much loftier scale that is exactly what we are doing as Christians as we greet the new century and the new millennium."
Looking back on the past millennium the bishops considered "the great schism" of Christianity between East and West, the Crusades, the Reformation of the Western church and the spread of the gospel to all parts of the world. "In spite of all the shortcomings and wrongdoing of the Church, by God's grace the reign of Christ was extended and millions upon millions were reconciled to God," they wrote.
Looking ahead to the next millennium the bishops brought up such topics as the environment, the world growing more secular,and divisions within the Church and within society.
"As we move into the third millennium, let our church and all its members commit to the blessed work of reconciliation of all that has divided human society in the second millennium," they said.
"Let us seek reconciliation of the races in order to heal the perennial wound in our body politic and the world. Let us also commit ourselves to the reconciliation of nations, especially those with whom we have been at odds. Let us seek the equalization of opportunity for the poorer nations to provide a better life for their people. Let us also seek to expand our ministry with partner churches and among the poor in the United States and the Caribbean," the bishops wrote.
"Blessed are the peacemakers," says our Lord, "for they will be called children of God" (Matthew 5:9)," the bishops wrote.
The bishops added, "our mission in the next millennium must foster justice for the creation, respect for the earth, and bring a halt to unbridled and destructive development."
"Every year is the year of our Lord," the bishops concluded. They recalled two biblical promises of Jesus -- "I am with you always," and "I am coming soon" -- as reasons to live in confidence and in hope.

Editors: The full text of the ELCA bishops' pastoral letter, "The Year
of Our Lord 2000," is available on the World Wide Web at
www.elca.org/ob/millenni.html. The bishops' reflection on the letter,
"Promise of a New Millennium," is available at
www.elca.org/ob/reflect.html.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html