CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The United Methodist Church (UMC) are preparing for a new round of talks aimed at a relationship of full communion. The Rev. Allan C. Bjornberg, bishop of the ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod, and Bishop Melvin G. Talbert, ecumenical officer for the UMC Council of Bishops, met here Dec. 8-9 to lay the foundation for the dialogue to begin in 2001.
The ELCA and UMC have each appointed a chair and four other members to the dialogue. As co-chairs, Bjornberg and Talbert discussed the date, location and content of the full group's first meeting, tentatively set for Sept. 6-9, 2001, at The Iliff School of Theology, Denver.
In preparation for that meeting members of the dialogue will be asked to explore the status of scripture or the status of doctrine in their respective church bodies. Other meeting topics will include relationships each church has with other Christian denominations and the history of Lutheran-United Methodist dialogues.
"As we begin our conversation, we expect to explore further and discover our partnership in the gospel, and we hope to discern a clearer vision of our common discipleship," Bjornberg and Talbert said in a letter they drafted for the other dialogue members. "In committing ourselves to the next round of dialogue, we express our hope for full communion between our churches," they wrote.
U.S. Lutherans and United Methodists held their first dialogue from 1977 to 1979. Those talks produced a common statement on the Christian sacrament of Baptism in 1981. A second series of talks, from 1985 to 1987, published a common statement on episcopacy -- the office of bishop -- in 1988.
Earlier talks involved the UMC and the five member churches of the former Lutheran Council in the U.S.A. Three of those Lutheran church bodies merged to form the ELCA in 1988. The other two churches were the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran=20 Church-Missouri Synod.
Lutherans in the dialogue are Bjornberg, Denver; Dr. Kathryn Johnson, Louisville, Ky.; Dr. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, Seattle; the Rev. H. Frederick Reisz Jr., Columbia, S.C.; and the Rev. Timothy J. Wengert, Philadelphia.
United Methodists in the dialogue are Judy Crain, Green Bay, Wis.; the Rev. Amy L. Hall, Durham, N.C.; the Rev. Lars-Erik Nordby, Moss, Norway; Dr. Jean Miller Schmidt, Denver; and Talbert, Nashville, Tenn. Talbert recently retired as bishop of the UMC San Francisco Area.
The ELCA has 5.15 million members in 10,851 congregations organized in 65 synods, each headed by a bishop, across the United States and Caribbean.
The UMC has 8.5 million members in 36,361 congregations in 50 episcopal areas across the United States and Puerto Rico. It includes another 1.4 million members in about 5,150 congregations in 18 episcopal areas in Europe, Africa and the Philippines.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
