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| The Rev. William Oden, United
Methodist Church, takes communion during Thursday's worship
service at the 2005 Churchwide Assembly. Earlier on Thursday, the
assembly enthusiastically passed Interim Eucharistic Sharing with
the United Methodist church, often a preliminary step to a Full
Communion Relationship. |
U.S. Lutherans and United Methodists first met in 1977 to begin official
dialogue. By 1981, this first round of dialogues had produced a common
statement between our churches on the Christian sacrament of Baptism;
this common statement affirmed the validity of baptism administered in
accord with Scripture in our churches. From 1985-1987, a second round of
dialogues concluded with a common statement on the role of bishops in
each of our church bodies. The conclusions of both Rounds one and two
are printed in the volume edited by Jack M. Tuell titled "Episcopacy."
Following earlier successes, September 2001
saw the beginning of a third round of dialogues between the ELCA and the
United Methodist Church. The current Lutheran-United Methodist
Dialogue first considered the feasibility of recommending a relationship
of full communion between our two church bodies. The dialogue team developed a proposal for Interim Eucharistic Sharing between the
two churches at its meeting in August, 2004. This step has brought the
ELCA and the United Methodist Church closer to a relationship of full
communion. The proposal was delivered to the Department for Ecumenical
Affairs and was sent to all eight ELCA seminaries. The United Methodist
Council of Bishops approved the proposal on May 5, 2005. On August
11, 2005, the ELCA Churchwide Assembly voted by a very wide margin in
favor of the proposal (877-60). Thus, the UMC and the ELCA now
share together an agreement of Interim Eucharistic Sharing. The work
of our churches stands before us, but what a privilege to work toward
Christian unity in the world.
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2005 CHURCHWIDE ASSEMBLY |
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