March 16, 2005

DALLAS – The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) advised its church to commit to "interim Eucharistic sharing" with the United Methodist Church, a step that may lead to a full-communion agreement between the two churches sometime in the future.

The ELCA Conference of Bishops is an advisory body of the church, consisting of the ELCA's 65 synod bishops, presiding bishop and secretary. It met here March 3-7.

The proposal for interim Eucharistic sharing is to be considered by the ELCA Church Council for possible transmission to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly. The council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. The council is to meet April 7-11 in Chicago. Assemblies are held every other year; the next is Aug. 8-14 in Orlando, Fla.

For the United Methodist Church, the proposal could be endorsed when its Council of Bishops meets in April, said the Rev. Allan C. Bjornberg, bishop of the ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod, Denver. Bjornberg is the Lutheran co-chair of the current dialogue between the two churches.

"What we're proposing is interim Eucharistic sharing, which allows congregations to come together to share worship, to do joint study and exploration and to get to know each other a lot better. It allows space for people to learn about one another's traditions," Bjornberg said in an interview with the ELCA News Service.

Discussions with the United Methodist Church date back to the 1970s, Bjornberg said. The first round of dialogues was about baptism, and representatives of the two churches found significant agreement, he said. In the 1980s the dialogue series was about the ministry of bishops and various levels of ministry. There was "convergence" around many of those issues, Bjornberg said.

The current round of discussions began in 2001, and it was about Holy Communion or the Eucharist, Bjornberg said.

The Lutheran co-chair said both the ELCA and the United Methodist Church have been "on parallel tracks in terms of our theological understandings."

"[The] United Methodists are 10 million people, a church that's twice the size of the ELCA, and we've never had historical condemnations," he said. "We're both churches that came out of reforming movements, separated by a couple of centuries. There are just so many parallel tracks and so many convergences that seem apparent."

A possible next step for the two churches would be to enter into a relationship of full communion, which would allow ordained ministers from one church to serve in the other, and such an agreement promotes sharing of resources and ministries throughout the churches.

"That's been the stated objective," Bjornberg said. "We have not put any kind of timeline on it. When we were in interim Eucharistic sharing with the Episcopal Church U.S.A., that went on for two-and-one-half decades – a long time. So, what comes next is that period of exploration and sharing [with the United Methodist Church]."

The ELCA has full-communion agreements with five churches. They are the Episcopal Church, Moravian Church in America, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Reformed Church in America and United Church of Christ.

Future Supply of Pastors a Concern;
Authorized Ministry Policy Recommended

In his report to the ELCA Conference of Bishops, the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary, said he is concerned about the long-term supply of pastors in the ELCA. The ELCA Board of Pensions predicts some 6,000 pastors will retire in the next 15 years, he said. If current trends continue, the church will have one-fourth to one-third fewer pastors than it has now, Almen said. The ELCA needs to step up its "recruitment efforts with young pastors," he said.

In addition, Almen said 25 congregations withdrew from the ELCA in 2004, the largest number to withdraw in a single year since the ELCA was formed in 1988. In 2002, 18 congregations withdrew, he said.

In a separate action, the Conference of Bishops recommended that the board of the ELCA Division for Ministry and the Church Council approve a "Policy and Guidelines Related to Synodically Authorized Ministries of Word and Sacrament." The conference also said that it understands that synodically authorized ministry of Word and Sacrament "is normally intended for a specific congregation or other ministry where appropriate ordained ministry is not available for an extended period of time."

When the bishops considered the policy, they debated one portion regarding weddings. The proposed policy said, in keeping with the historic practice of the Lutheran Church and the ELCA's bylaws, "only ordained ministers are authorized by this church to preside at marriage services." After considerable discussion, the conference voted down a proposal to remove the section on marriage services from the policy.

Finally, the conference encouraged the ELCA Division for Ministry to continue studying future implications for synodically authorized ministry and to consult with the Conference of Bishops, ELCA seminaries and ecumenical partners. It also asked the Division for Ministry to continue to explore development of strategies for responding to "emerging needs and opportunities" within the ELCA, and to bring recommendations to the conference for review.

ELCA News Service