MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Ecumenical partners of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) gave messages of thankfulness and prayer to attendees of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly during
"Please know of our gratitude of you and prayers for you as you meet this week," said the Rev. John Thomas, general minister and president of the United Church in Christ, one of six of the ELCA's full communion partners.
Thomas was one of three ecumenical partners to speak to the assembly.
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 17-23 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. About 2,000 people are participating, including 1,045 ELCA voting members.
Thomas said that despite the difficult decisions the ELCA is making this week, the church will always be united by Christ.
"Unity is not based in full agreement, but in the body of Christ," he said.
The Most Rev. Wilton Gregory, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged the ELCA to continue to work to "heal the wounds of division."
"God has blessed our local communities with interchurch marriages that enrich family and congregation life," Gregory said.
He asked the assembly to profess the biblical truth in love so that the world might believe, regarding the issues before them.
"Remain open to the holy spirit who binds our conscience to truth, biblical truth," he said.
The Rev. Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the National Counsel of Christian Churches, USA, (NCCC) and a pastor of the Disciples of Christ denomination, told the assembly that in God there is the power to "transcend the barriers of a fragmented culture."
The NCC is an ecumenical organization between Christian churches in the United States. There are 35 churches who are members of the NCCC.
"The NCCC is a community of Christian communities," Kinnamon said to the assembly. "The NCCC is not so much an organization which you have joined, as it is a covenant which you have made with the 34 other churches."
Kinnamon said that God holds the church together during difficult times.
"God has acted in acted in Christ to accomplish a reconciliation which binds us together," he said. "Apart from one another, we are all desperately impoverished."
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More information on the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly can be found at http://www.elca.org/assembly on the ELCA Web site.
More information on the National Council of Christian Churches, USA, can be found online at http://www.nccc.org on the Web.
* Carrie L. Draeger is a senior communication major with a concentration in journalism at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash. This summer she is an intern with the ELCA News Service.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
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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
