August 11, 2003

MILWAUKEE - Decisions of the recent General Convention of the Episcopal Church - a full communion partner of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) - must be kept in their proper context, said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop. Legislative actions of full communion partners "ultimately do not determine" how the ELCA proceeds on similar issues.

Hanson made the comments Aug. 10 in a joint meeting here of the ELCA Conference of Bishops and ELCA Church Council, preceding the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Aug. 11-17.

The churchwide assembly is the ELCA's chief legislative authority and meets every two years. The Church Council is the interim legislative authority between assemblies; the Conference of Bishops advises the church and consists of the ELCA's 65 synod bishops, presiding bishop and secretary.

Last week the Episcopal Church general convention, meeting in Minneapolis, confirmed the election of a bishop who is in a committed homosexual relationship. That decision has resulted in numerous questions for many churches, including the ELCA.

"My responsibility and challenge is to put the events of the Episcopal Church general convention into an appropriate context," Hanson said. He stated further that his caution is not an attempt to stifle debate within the ELCA on similar issues.

Each of the ELCA's five full communion partners has addressed homosexuality issues differently, he said. Among them is the United Church of Christ (UCC), which already ordains gay and lesbian people in committed relationships, a practice in place when the ELCA entered into full communion with the UCC in 1997. Some people had forgotten about that or were not aware, Hanson suggested.

The Episcopal Church "orders its life" differently from the ELCA, said the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary. It tends to make significant decisions and then "assimilate those decisions into its internal life," he said. Lutherans make decisions that give the church authority to move in certain directions, following extensive and thorough study, Almen said.

"This is the way they [the Episcopal Church] do business together," Almen said, adding that the Episcopal Church approach should not be seen as wrong.

"We do need to respect the deliberative processes of the Episcopal Church as we do for our other full communion partners," Almen said.

During the assembly, the ELCA voting members will engage in significant discussions, decisions and elections, Hanson said.

"My hope literally for this week ... is that our shared leadership be a calming presence, a clarifying presence and an encouraging presence, and that we engage in respectful listening and prayerful pondering," Hanson said. "We must trust that the Holy Spirit is at work in all of our deliberations."

Hanson asked all council members, bishops and churchwide staff leaders to share in the task of reassuring voting members.

Assemblies find "meaning and direction" when people gather together around Word and Sacrament, Hanson added.

Information about the ELCA Churchwide Assembly can be found at http://www.elca.org/assembly/03 on the Web.

ELCA News Service