U.S. Lutheran-Orthodox Dialogue Backs Common Date for Easter

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- As Christians begin observances of Lent -- the period of penitence and fasting leading up to Easter or Pascha -- there is a renewed effort for all Christians to use the same calculations to determine the date of Easter each year. The U.S. Lutheran-Orthodox dialogue endorsed an international call for a year of study.
The dialogue, established by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas, studied "Toward a Common Date for Easter." The document is also known as the Aleppo Statement because it is the result of a consultation held in Aleppo, Syria, in March 1997 by the Middle East Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.
"We strongly affirm the basic principles of the Aleppo Statement and urge its careful and pastorally sensitive study," said a seven-paragraph "common response" from the dialogue. "Our Lutheran-Orthodox Ecumenical Dialogue in the United States endorses the Statement's call to study during the period leading to Easter/Pascha 2001."
This year the Western Christian churches observe Easter on April 23 and Orthodox Churches celebrate Easter/Pascha April 30. In 2001 all Christian traditions will mark Easter/Pascha on April 15.
Basically, Western and Orthodox Christians calculate the date of Easter/Pascha according to a decree of the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is commemorated the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox -- the moment the Earth's Northern Hemisphere enters spring.
The traditions calculate the equinox and full moon differently, using different points of reference from the Earth, and often arrive at different dates for Easter and Pascha. The Aleppo Statement suggested using precise modern astronomical determinations from the meridian of Jerusalem -- the place of Christ's death and resurrection -- so neither tradition will have to change its policies.
Members of the Lutheran-Orthodox dialogue agreed "the Aleppo Statement is faithful to the Nicene norms." They cited such principles as celebrating Easter/Pascha on the same day to give "a common witness to the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the central mystery of the Christian faith."
The statement rejects the idea of celebrating Easter on a fixed day of the year and adheres to calculations involving the sun and moon as "a salutary reminder of the cosmic dimensions of Christ's victory over sin and death."
To ensure that new calculations adhere to Scriptures, the U.S. dialogue called for consideration of the Orthodox understanding that the common date for Easter/Pascha must follow the Jewish observance of Passover (Pesach). According to the Christian Bible, Jesus was crucified and buried on Friday, the day before Passover, and rose from the dead early Sunday morning -- the day after Passover.
"We pledge to one another, and to our other ecumenical partners, that we will continue to seek reconciliation between all Christians in this matter," said the Lutheran-Orthodox response. "Our dialogue therefore urges our churches to give the Aleppo Statement serious attention."
Members of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation have endorsed the 1997 Aleppo Statement also, urging all Christian churches to start celebrating Easter on a common date.
The Lutheran-Orthodox dialogue is in "Round III" of talks that began in the 1960s. Round II, from 1983 to 1989, resulted in the 1992 publication of "Salvation in Christ." Round III on "Faith in the Holy Trinity" began in 1994. Its next meeting will be Oct. 15-18 at the Lutheran Center, Chicago.
His Eminence Metropolitan Maximos of Ainou, Bishop of Pittsburgh, is Orthodox co-chair of the dialogue. The Rev. Donald J. McCoid, bishop of the ELCA's Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod, is Lutheran co-chair of the dialogue.
Lutheran members of the dialogue include Bishop McCoid; the Rev. Jan O. Flaaten, Trinity Lutheran Church, Phoenix; the Rev. Victor C. Langford III, St. Mark Lutheran Church, Seattle; the Rev. Thomas R. Lee, associate to the bishop of the ELCA Montana Synod, Great Falls, Mont.; Dr. Lynne Lorenzen, Augsburg College, Minneapolis; Dr. Bruce Marshall, St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn.; the Rev. Mark N. Swanson, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.; and Dr. David S. Yeago, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C.
Orthodox members of the talks are Metropolitan Maximos; His Eminence Metropolitan Christopher, Serbian Orthodox Church in the U.S.A. & Canada, Libertyville, Ill.; the Rev. James Jorgenson, Livonia, Mich.; the Very Reverend John Morris, Shreveport, La.; Dr. Bradley Nassif, Fuller Seminary, Southern California Extension, Irvine, Calif.; the Rev. Robert G. Stephanopoulos, Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, New York; and the Rev. Gregory C. Wingenbach, Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh.

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