CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A Nov. 12 meeting in St. Louis of the Committee on Lutheran Cooperation (CLC), in which leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) met to discuss matters of mutual interest, had a "different tone" and was "positive" compared to other recent meetings, said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, in a report here to the ELCA Church Council.
The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. The council met here Nov. 15-17. Assemblies are held every other year; the next is Aug. 11-17, 2003, in Milwaukee.
In recent years, the relationship between the two churches has been uncertain, Hanson suggested. To illustrate, Hanson pointed to an action of the 2000 LCMS convention, in which the convention declared that it does not "consider them [the ELCA] to be an orthodox Lutheran church body." The same convention also called for a review of cooperative ministries in which both the LCMS and ELCA participate as partners.
Recent meetings between the leaders of the ELCA and LCMS, arranged by the late Rev. A. L. Barry, who was LCMS president, and the Rev. H. George Anderson, former ELCA presiding bishop, "were not particularly productive," Hanson said.
At the CLC meeting, the ELCA sexuality studies and possible outcomes were discussed. LCMS officials expressed concern about the studies and the possibility that the church may change its policies regarding ordination, Hanson said.
The 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, which met in Indianapolis, asked the ELCA Division for Ministry and ELCA Division for Church in Society to lead a comprehensive four-year study on homosexuality. The assembly asked that the study address topics that include the possible ordination of people who are gay and lesbian and living in committed relationships, and the blessings of same-sex relationships.
Current ELCA policy expects ordained ministers to refrain from homosexual sexual relationships. There is no official policy on blessings of same-sex relationships, though the ELCA Conference of Bishops has advised the church that it does not approve of such ceremonies.
Other subjects discussed at the CLC meeting included cooperative ministries of the two churches, such as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, Lutheran Disaster Response, Lutheran World Relief and Lutheran Services in America; updates on activities within each church including their financial situations, and issues related to the current ELCA dialogues with Christians of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions, said the Rev. Randall R. Lee, director, ELCA Department for Ecumenical Affairs.
"At our meeting a table was created to explore our common convictions," Hanson told the council. "We are not ignoring our differences, but we are tending to the relationship." At the request of the LCMS representatives, the meetings will take place every six months instead of annually, Hanson reported.
Hanson also addressed several other matters in his report to the council:
+ He reported on an August meeting in New York which he arranged with five Jewish rabbis in response to Jewish criticisms of his public statements on current tensions in the Middle East. He termed the meeting "very productive," which "deepened understanding." As a result, a more formal dialogue of Lutherans and Jews may be constituted, he said. Hanson has criticized military actions against Palestinians by the State of Israel and has criticized suicide bombings by Palestinian extremists.
+ In response to recent concerns raised by some members of the Division for Church in Society board, Hanson defended his public statements on the situation between the governments of the United States and Iraq. "I take seriously that a pastor is called to speak publicly as a public leader, " he said, adding that his comments are based in the social policy statements of the ELCA. Hanson -- and other church leaders -- criticized talk by U.S. officials about a pre-emptive strike against Iraq, which he said could not be justified under historic principles of "just war." He called for stronger diplomatic efforts to resolve the situation.
+ The presiding bishop said he is "delighted" that the United States worked through the U.N. Security Council to adopt a unanimous binding resolution that requires Iraq to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspections, with a goal of getting rid of weapons of mass destruction. "I trust our government will remain in partnership with the U.N.," he said.
+ Hanson said he is "deeply dismayed" at the decline in giving to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal, which may end the fiscal year as much as $1 million behind its budget of $16.5 million. The church has "great resources and great wealth," he said. "The resources are there but the will is lacking" to give to the World Hunger Appeal, Hanson said. -- -- --
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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.
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