Ecumenical partners discuss implications of full communion of Lutherans and Episcopalians
Episcopal News Service. March 7, 1996 [96-1410]
James Solbeim
(ENS) As the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) move toward a historic decision in 1997 on full communion, they invited ecumenical partners to discuss the implications for all churches seeking unity.
The Concordat of Agreement between the two churches would open the way to broad cooperation in ministry, interchangeability of clergy, collegiality among bishops -- including joint consecrations that would, over time, lead to sharing of the historic episcopate.
Lutheran, Anglican/Episcopal, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Reformed and Methodist theologians and church leaders from Europe and North America gathered at an Episcopal retreat center in Florida, January 27-29, for presentation of papers and open conversation.
Bishop Stephen Sykes, a leading ecumenist from the Church of England argued that "the Concordat actually embodies a future of great hopefulness for the churches, and not just of North America."
"It is a kairos in ecumenism when two sister traditions, standing in continuity with the church of the patristic and medieval periods both directly and through the insights of the Reformation period, are offered the opportunity of embracing wider unity," he said.
Other participants shared the bishop's enthusiasm, although a few raised difficult questions.
Prof. George Dragos, dean of the Greek Orthodox Seminary in Massachusetts, said that the Concordat could be "beneficial and positive" for the whole ecumenical movement, despite some of the risks. And the prospect of "recovery of sacred ministry" through the historic episcopate is "enormous and exciting." Orthodox recognize many Anglican orders and he said that the Concordat opens the possibility that such recognition could be extended to Lutherans.
Prof. Paul Meyendorf of St. Vladimir's Seminary in New York said that ecumenical partners needed more discussion on what the episcopate would look like if the Concordat is passed.
The practical implications of a shared episcopacy were also a concern for Prof. Henry Chadwick of Oxford, England. He argued that some kind of structure would be needed, "shared organs of decision-making" based on a need to "take counsel." Sykes added that "parallel jurisdictions," where Lutheran and Episcopal bishops share the same territory, may turn out to be "a hindrance to unity, an obstacle."
The proposed integration of Lutherans into the historic episcopate will make it difficult to sell the Concordat, warned several participants. Prof. Carl Braaten of the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology in Minnesota said that only about 10 percent of Midwestern Lutherans "are positive about accepting the historic episcopate." While he is in favor of the proposals for full communion, he said that he is convinced that they have not penetrated to the grassroots yet. "Lutherans need to be persuaded" about the episcopate and the merging of ministries, he said.
Braaten identified a resistance based on the requirement that Lutherans accept Episcopal orders, while Episcopalians are not required to accept the fundamentals of Lutheran faith. "The Episcopal Church is not required to bind itself to anything it doesn't already accept," he said. And Lutherans shouldn't accept the episcopate as "part of a deal, a compromise, until we are convinced that it is good and useful."
Yet Lutherans are free to accept that which they don't already have, in order to "nourish unity," said Prof. Bruce Marshall of St.Olaf College in Minnesota. He added that agreement in word and sacrament are all that's necessary for unity, according to the Lutheran confessions.
In its final report, the consultation said that the Concordat presupposes "a comprehensive consensus in the Gospel" and that the proposals about ministry and episcopacy "are only rightly understood when seen in the light of its understanding of the church and its larger intent to unite the churches into a truly common life of worship and mission." And it said that the emphasis on episcopate "must not be isolated from this more comprehensive life together."
Roman Catholic participants expressed a cautious enthusiasm, acknowledging the great significance for the ecumenical movement at large, but asking questions about how the cooperation would work.
"We have been too satisfied with our divisions to know what we are missing," said Prof. Jon Nilson of Loyola University in Chicago. He said that the Concordat was "a body blow against complacency." He welcomed the Concordat as "a major step towards Christian unity." Roman Catholics recognize the "fullness of faith" in the Orthodox, he pointed out, suggesting that the same might be true of the partners in the Concordat.
Maybe, seemed to be the answer of Roman Catholic Bishop Karl Lehmann of Mainz, Germany. He said that, since the Concordat is without precedent, it is difficult for Roman Catholics to evaluate its effect and a full evaluation would be "premature." Yet he thinks that Catholics will adopt an open, if somewhat ambivalent, attitude toward the Concordat.
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