NEWS STORY: Lutherans approve unity pact with Episcopal Church

c. 1999 Religion News Service UNDATED _ Delegates to the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, in a major vote of confidence for the ecumenical movement, Thursday (Aug. 19) agreed to a historic “full communion” proposal with the Episcopal Church. In a 716-317 vote, the voting members, as delegates are known, approved […]

c. 1999 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ Delegates to the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, in a major vote of confidence for the ecumenical movement, Thursday (Aug. 19) agreed to a historic “full communion” proposal with the Episcopal Church.

In a 716-317 vote, the voting members, as delegates are known, approved the Called to Common Mission proposal, slightly more than the two-thirds needed for approval. The vote reversed a decision taken by the 5.2 million-member denomination in 1997.


The vote was a major victory for the denomination’s leadership, which has lobbied hard for the unity plan with the 2.4 million-member Episcopal Church, but still leaves the ELCA sharply divided over the issue.

The full communion plan means that pastors and priests from the two denominations may be called by congregations of the other body. It is also likely to lead to increased sharing of Holy Communion and joint social service and other forms of ministry at all levels of the church.

While the ELCA and Episcopalians generally share the same theology, the Lutherans are sharply divided over the agreement’s requirement that Lutheran bishops gradually be incorporated into the so-called “historic episcopate.”

The historic episcopate, shared by the Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is a part, as well as the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches and some Lutheran bodies outside the United States, is the notion that there has been an unbroken line of bishops back to the earliest days of the church existing as a sign of the Christian church’s unity and faithfulness.

The historic episcopate is the notion that there has been an unbroken line of bishops back to the earliest days of the church existing as a sign of the Christian church’s unity and faithfulness. It is shared by the Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is a part, as well as the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches and some Lutheran bodies outside the United States.

Approval of the pact is certain to aid ELCA ecumenical relations with those denominations.

The issue has been sharply debated since the proposal was first defeated at the 1997 Churchwide Assembly in Philadelphia, just a month after the Episcopal Church approved the plan. That vote _ six short of the two-thirds needed _ was an embarrassment to ELCA leaders and motivated them to mount a fullscale lobbying campaign on behalf of the current plan.

In a statement issued immediately after the vote, the heads of three Lutheran seminaries, not always of the same mind on the issue, committed themselves “to the reception and implementation of the decision in our church and seminaries.”


The statement, which also praised the assembly’s approval of full communion with the Moravian Church, was signed by David Tiede, president of Luther Seminary in St. Paul; James Echols, president of Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago; and Timothy Lull, president of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, Calif.

“These agreements mark an end of long processes of negotiation,” the three theologians said. “More significantly, they signal the beginning of a new era of collaboration and hope for God’s work among us.”

During hearings and debate at the weeklong assembly, which began Monday (Aug. 16) in Denver, opponents argued that acceptance of the historic episcopate was not necessary for Lutheran-Episcopal cooperation. They also argued that Episcopalians should accept Lutherans as they are, and that the notion of the historic episcopate is contrary to the Reformation principles of Martin Luther that brought the Lutheran movement into existence.

Supporters, however, charged the opponents with misrepresenting what the historic episcopate means and said approval of the pact will enhance the denomination’s role in the ecumenical movement.

“The greatest gift we (Lutherans and Episcopalians) can offer each other is the creation of an episcopate that is both evangelical and historic,” said Bishop Steven Ullestad of the ELCA’s Northeastern Iowa Synod.

DEA END RNS

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