Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee Begins Work

WASHINGTON, D.C. (ELCA) -- In its first meeting, the 14-member Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee discussed how to communicate its work, listed a variety of mission-related areas in which the churches may work together and adopted a charter for its work that emphasizes trust, cooperation and mission.
The committee is to "assist in joint planning for mission" and is authorized through "Called to Common Mission" (CCM), a full- communion agreement between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The presiding bishops of the ELCA and Episcopal Church appointed seven members each to the coordinating committee.
The ELCA, based in Chicago, has 5.15 million members in about 11,000 congregations across the United States and Caribbean. It is organized into 65 synods, each headed by a bishop. The Episcopal Church, based in New York, has 2.4 million members in some 7,400 congregations. The church has 107 dioceses, each headed by a bishop.
The committee met here Jan. 8-9, following the Celebration of Full Communion at the National Cathedral Jan. 6. That special service marked the Jan. 1 implementation of full communion.
When their top legislative bodies adopted CCM in 1999 and 2000, the ELCA and Episcopal Church agreed to work more closely together in a variety of ministries. They also agreed to exchange clergy under certain circumstances. Full communion is not a merger of the churches.
Committee members discussed a wide variety of issues related to CCM. Members agreed their purpose is advisory and to help foster cooperative ministries. In a statement issued after the meeting, members said at their next meeting they want to concentrate on local and global mission; exchange of clergy including ordination of pastors and lay ministry; communication regarding new ordinations and installations; and worship resources.
"This committee knows it will work with complex matters," the statement continued. "We are committed to exploring how we can and will live through complexities into full communion with full appreciation of all voices." The committee invited members of both churches "to pray with us as we work to implement full communion."

Co-chairs were pleased with ideas expressed
"This was a wonderful, impressive coalescence of great gifts and great voices committed to our new life together," said the Rev. Duane H. Larson, Lutheran co-chair, in an interview following the meeting. Larson is president of Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, one of eight ELCA seminaries.
"I was very impressed with the passion expressed by committee members," said the Very Rev. Donald G. Brown, Episcopal co-chair. Brown is dean of Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento, Calif.
"They expressed care and concern for moving into full communion with pastoral sensitivity to all concerns and opportunities for mission and ministry in both churches," he said. Though the committee is charged with the responsibility of helping to implement full communion members expressed the need for assistance and cooperation from members of both churches to achieve success, he said. The coordinating committee also recognized that its role is not to supplant the role of constitutionally authorized legislative bodies in both churches, he added.
"We are seeking to be faithful catalysts," Larson said, adding that the committee invites feedback on "practical implementation" of full communion. Larson also said he was "deeply impressed" that committee members see their work as spiritual, rooted in prayer.
Other possible joint ministry opportunities discussed by the committee included multiculturalism, seminary education, youth ministry, common witness and service such as hunger programs and disaster response, camps and conference centers, world mission, congregational development, working with synods and dioceses in other countries and supporting the ministry of lay members.
Committee members formally asked staff to write to other staff in both churches, requesting the committee be informed of ongoing or new joint ministry opportunities or resources. The request grew out of a discussion regarding a document on the possible exchange of clergy which was distributed to Episcopal Church leaders before it was sent to ELCA leaders.
Members also agreed to work to establish committee-related Web pages housed on the official Web sites of the ELCA and the Episcopal Church. The pages -- expected to be established soon -- will list the committee's charter, summaries of meetings and will invite feedback from people interested in the committee's work.
Toward the meeting's end, members discussed the possibility of exceptions to the ordination standards required by CCM, an ongoing point of discussion in the ELCA. Committee members debated -- and declined to state -- any public position on the issue, saying only that they would discuss "interchangeability of clergy including ordination of pastors and lay ministry" at their next meeting.
For some ELCA members, ordination requirements in CCM are not acceptable. Specifically, they object to the requirement that bishops perform all ordinations; before Jan. 1 in the ELCA, a bishop could designate another pastor to perform an ordination. In November 2000 the ELCA Church Council asked the ELCA presiding bishop to consult with the church's ecumenical partners about the possibility of allowing someone other than a bishop to perform an ordination. The council plans to discuss the issue further when it meets April 6- 9 in Chicago.

Future meetings set
Committee members agreed to meet in areas of the United States where joint ministry is already in progress or where mission possibilities exist. They tentatively set meeting dates and places for the next two years. They are: June 4-5, 2001, Salt Lake City; Feb. 4-5, 2002, Miami; June 3-4, 2002, site to be announced.
Committee members from the ELCA are Terry L. Bowes, Longmont, Colo.; the Rev. Nancy M. Curtis, Kane, Pa.; Larson; the Rev. Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl, bishop of the South Dakota Synod, Sioux Falls; the Rev. Gregory J. Villalon, Division for Ministry, Chicago; the Rev. Norman W. Wahl, Rochester, Minn.; and the Rev. Ronald B. Warren, bishop of the Southeastern Synod, Atlanta. ELCA staff assigned to the committee are the Rev. Daniel F. Martensen, director of the Department for Ecumenical Affairs and assistant to the bishop, and the Rev. Randall R. Lee, executive assistant to the ELCA secretary and associate for bilateral dialogues.
Committee members from the Episcopal Church are the Rev. Grant H. Abbott, St. Paul, Minn.; Brown; the Rt. Rev. Leopold Frade, bishop of the Diocese of Southeast Florida; the Rev. Alfred A. Moss Jr., Arlington, Va.; Emily Perow, Hartford, Conn.; Midge Roof, Danville, Ind.; and the Rt. Rev. Carolyn Tanner-Irish, bishop of the Diocese of Utah. Staff assistance was provided by the Rev. Canon David W. Perry, deputy for ecumenical and interfaith relations, the Episcopal Church, New York.
Coordinating committee members applauded Perry, who announced he will soon retire from his position. He will be succeeded by the Rt. Rev. C. Christopher Epting, presently serving as bishop of the Diocese of Iowa.

EDEO, LERN boards meet
The boards of the Episcopal Diocesan Ecumenical Officers (EDEO) of the Episcopal Church and the Lutheran Ecumenical Representatives Network (LERN) of the ELCA met separately and together Jan. 6-7 at the College of Preachers on the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral.
EDEO and LERN have met before in conjunction with the annual National Workshop on Christian Unity. Parts of the boards' meetings were devoted to planning for that workshop April 30-May 3 in San Diego.
Board members discussed steps they could take to implement the new relationship of full communion. "We are on the threshold of a<