Bishop Dyer To Aid Lutheran Synod
Episcopal News Service. March 27, 1986 [86071]
NEW YORK (DPS, April 3) -- An Episcopal bishop has been named chaplain for the convention of the Lutheran Church in America's Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod. Bishop Mark Dyer of the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem (Pa.) accepted an invitation from LCA Bishop Harold Weis to serve as chaplain for the 19th annual convention of the LCA synod, scheduled for June 6-8 in Allentown, Pa.
The invitation reflects a developing relationship between the LCA synod and the Episcopal diocese. The two regional church units are planning to make a formal "covenant" with each other, committing themselves to common study, prayer and work. The Rev. Eric Schafer, a spokesman for the LCA synod, said that it is particularly appropriate to have Dyer as chaplain because through his work on national Lutheran-Anglican dialogue, he gave encouragement to the northeastern Pennsylvania relationship.
The covenant, which was approved by a diocesan convention in December and will be voted on by the LCA synod in June, commits the two groups to cooperation in eight areas. It calls for mutual prayer and for the encouragement and support of common worship.
The covenant identifies possible Lutheran-Episcopalian ministries in the Reading-Bethlehem area, in which a pastor from one of the two denominations would serve members of both church bodies. Two possibilities presently under consideration are a ministry to Hispanics and a ministry to the terminally ill.
Also included in the covenant is an agreement for each of the churches to have voting members on appropriate committees of the other. The two bodies already send official observers to meetings such as synod and diocesan conventions. A joint ecumenical committee will be formed to review progress each year.
The Rev. Walter H. Wagner, chaplain of LCA-related Muhlenberg College in Allentown, will assist Dyer with convention worship.