Lutherans to Vote on Full Communion with Moravians

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- When the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) meets in assembly Aug. 16-22 in Denver, its 1,039 voting members will consider a proposal, "Following Our Shepherd to Full Communion," which would affirm full communion with the Moravian Church in America. The Northern and Southern Provinces of the Moravian Church approved full communion with the ELCA in separate votes in 1998.
"Full communion" is a common confessing of the Christian faith; a mutual recognition of Baptism and a sharing of the Lord's Supper, allowing for joint worship and an exchangeability of members; a mutual recognition and availability of ordained ministers to the service of all members of churches in full communion, subject only but always to the disciplinary regulations of the other churches; a common commitment to evangelism, witness and service; a means of common decision making on critical common issues of faith and life; and a mutual lifting of any condemnations that exist between churches.
When the Moravian provinces accepted full communion with the ELCA, the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, said, "This action affirms the Lutheran church's long-standing relationship with the Unitas Fratrum -- our interwoven histories and theological traditions, our common commitments to mission and service to those in need, and our shared Christian faith."
The Unitas Fratrum, or Unity of Brethren, was organized in 1457 by followers of the Czech reformer John Hus. Among other ideas, the Roman Catholic priest and professor at the University of Prague taught that the gospel should be available in the common language rather than in Latin. He was declared a heretic and burned at the stake in 1415.
Almost 100 years after the martyrdom of Hus, a German monk named Martin Luther introduced his 95 theses or points of contention against the pope. Luther denounced the sale of indulgences -- letters replacing punishment for the sins of repentant Christians. In 1530 Luther's followers drafted the church's organizing Augsburg Confession.
Friendly ties between the two Christian traditions are noted in many parts of the world. The Moravian Church in Southern Africa joined the Lutheran World Federation -- to which the ELCA belongs -- in 1975. Moravians and Lutherans also have close working relationships in Germany and Tanzania.
A commission of the ELCA and Moravian Church in America first met at the ELCA's Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa., in December 1992. It recommended in its 1996 report, "Following Our Shepherd to Full Communion," that the two church bodies establish full communion by 2000.
"Representatives of our two traditions sat down together and discovered that, despite the passage of time, we had retained many similarities, although Lutherans were inclined to put their teachings into prose and the Moravians were more likely to use hymns," Anderson said in January 1999.
In April the student body of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C., adopted a statement supporting full communion with the Moravians.
The seminarians challenged ELCA members to read the proposal and study the historical and theological issues surrounding the proposal. "There are always at least two sides to every issue, and it is incumbent upon everyone involved to faithfully investigate every aspect of this historic opportunity given to us to enrich the life of the Church catholic," they said.
The faculty of Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, issued a largely supportive statement about "Following Our Shepherd to Full Communion."
"The document does a very good job of laying out the differences between the Lutheran and Moravian confessions, differences which apparently have less to do with basic doctrinal commitments than with 'style' and preferences regarding matters of piety," wrote Trinity's faculty.
"The study also presents good historical notes that suggest why these differences have emerged and how conditioned they are by political and social realities that shaped the two faith communities over the period of several centuries," they wrote.
"The success of the conversation and the fullness of its labor will depend largely upon the willingness of both churches to continue to examine the issues undertaken by the committee ... our need to examine our pietist tradition, our understandings of personal faith, roles of the Holy Spirit, unity of the Church; and the Moravian need to strive for greater doctrinal, hermeneutical and historical clarity," said Trinity's faculty.
The Rev. Otto Dreydoppel Jr., director of Moravian studies and assistant professor of church history, Moravian Theological Seminary, Bethlehem, Pa., addressed the annual meeting of the Lutheran Ecumenical Representatives Network in May. He was a member of the dialogue that drafted the full communion proposal.
Dreydoppel outlined the document and its recommendations. It listed "mutual affirmations" or similarities, such as the churches' emphases on the gospel, justification and the sacraments. The document also listed "mutual complements" or differences of emphasis, but it did not list any conflicts.
"Lutherans and Moravians are really members of the same sheepfold," said Dreydoppel. "In the Lutheran-Moravian dialogue, we strove hard but could not find anything on which to admonish one another," he said.
In 1997 the ELCA entered into full communion with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Reformed Church in America and United Church of Christ. The Denver assembly will also consider a proposal for full communion with The Episcopal Church.

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The proposal, "Following Our Shepherd to Full Communion," is located on
the World Wide Web at <http://www.elca.org/ea/fostoc.html>.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html