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A
Lutheran Proposal for a Revision of the Concordat of Agreement
As
Amended by the 1999 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America
(August 19, 1999)
A. Agreements
B. Actions of The Episcopal Church
C. Actions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
D. Actions of Both Churches
E. Conclusion
1. The Lutheran-Episcopal Agreement of 1982 identified as its goal the
establishment of "full communion (communio in sacris/altar and pulpit
fellowship)" between The Episcopal Church and the churches that united
to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. As the meaning of
full communion for purposes of this Concordat of Agreement, both
churches endorse in principle the definitions agreed to by the
(international) Anglican-Lutheran Joint Working Group at Cold Ash,
Berkshire, England, in 1983, which they deem to be in full accord with
their own definitions given in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America's policy statement "Ecumenism: The Vision of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America" (1991), and in the "Declaration on Unity" of
The Episcopal Church (1979). This agreement describes the relationship
between our two church bodies. It does not define the church, which is a
gift of God's grace.
2. We therefore understand full communion to be a relation between
distinct churches in which each recognizes the other as a catholic and
apostolic church holding the essentials of the Christian faith. Within
this new relation, churches become interdependent while remaining
autonomous. Full communion includes the establishment locally and
nationally of recognized organs of regular consultation and
communication, including episcopal collegiality, to express and
strengthen the fellowship and enable common witness, life, and service.
Diversity is preserved, but this diversity is not static. Neither church
seeks to remake the other in its own image, but each is open to the
gifts of the other as it seeks to be faithful to Christ and his mission.
They are together committed to a visible unity in the church's mission
to proclaim the Word and administer the Sacraments.
3. The Episcopal Church agrees that in its General Convention, and the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America agrees that in its Churchwide
Assembly, there shall be one vote to accept or reject, as a matter of
verbal content as well as in principle, the full set of agreements to
follow. If they are adopted by both churches, each church agrees to make
those legislative, canonical, constitutional, and liturgical changes
that are needed and appropriate for the full communion between the
churches. In adopting this document, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America and The Episcopal Church specifically acknowledge and declare
that it has been correctly interpreted by the resolution of the
Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
adopted at Tucson, Arizona, March 8, 1999.
A. Agreements
Agreement in the Doctrine of the Faith
4. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Episcopal Church
recognize in each other the essentials of the one catholic and apostolic
faith as it is witnessed in the unaltered Augsburg Confession, the Small
Catechism, and The Book of Common Prayer of 1979 (including "Ordination
Rites" and "An Outline of the Faith"), and also as it is summarized in
part in Implications of the Gospel and "Toward Full Communion" and
"Concordat of Agreement," (containing the reports of Lutheran-Episcopal
Dialogue III), the papers and official conversations of
Lutheran-Episcopal Dialogue III, and the statements formulated by
Lutheran-Episcopal Dialogues I and II. Each church also promises to
encourage its people to study each other's basic documents.
5. We endorse the international Anglican-Lutheran doctrinal consensus
which was summarized in The Niagara Report (1989) as follows: "We accept
the authority of the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.
We read the Scriptures liturgically in the course of the church's year.
"We accept the Niceno-Constantinopolitan and Apostles' Creeds and
confess the basic Trinitarian and Christological Dogmas to which these
creeds testify. That is, we believe that Jesus of Nazareth is true God
and true Man, and that God is authentically identified as Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit.
Anglicans and Lutherans use very similar orders of service for the
Eucharist, for the Prayer Offices, for the administration of Baptism,
for the rites of Marriage, Burial, and Confession and Absolution. We
acknowledge in the liturgy both a celebration of salvation through
Christ and a significant factor in forming the consensus fidelium [the
consensus of the faithful]. We have many hymns, canticles, and collects
in common.
"We believe that baptism with water in the name of the Triune God unites
the one baptized with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,
initiates into the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church, and confers
the gracious gift of new life.
"We believe that the Body and Blood of Christ are truly present,
distributed, and received under the forms of bread and wine in the
Lord's Supper. We also believe that the grace of divine forgiveness
offered in the sacrament is received with the thankful offering of
ourselves for God's service.
"We believe and Proclaim the gospel, that in Jesus Christ God loves and
redeems the world. We share a common understanding of God's justifying
grace, i.e. that we are accounted righteous and are made righteous
before God only by grace through faith because of the merits of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ, and not on account of our works or merit. Both
our traditions affirm that justification leads and must lead to 'good
works'; authentic faith issues in love.
"Anglicans and Lutherans believe that the church is not the creation of
individual believers, but that it is constituted and sustained by the
Triune God through God's saving action in Word and Sacraments. We
believe that the church is sent into the world as sign, instrument, and
foretaste of the kingdom of God. But we also recognize that the church
stands in constant need of reform and renewal.
"We believe that all members of the church are called to participate in
its apostolic mission. They are therefore given various ministries by
the Holy Spirit. Within the community of the church the ordained
ministry exists to serve the ministry of the whole people of God. We
hold the ordained ministry of Word and Sacrament to be a gift of God to
his church and therefore an office of divine institution.
"We believe that a ministry of pastoral oversight (episkope), exercised
in personal, collegial, and communal ways, is necessary to witness to
and safeguard the unity and apostolicity of the church.
"We share a common hope in the final consummation of the kingdom of God
and believe that we are compelled to work for the establishment of
justice and peace. The obligations of the kingdom are to govern our life
in the church and our concern for the world. The Christian faith is that
God has made peace through Jesus 'by the blood of his cross' (Colossians
1:20) so establishing the one valid center for the unity of the whole
human family."
Agreement in Ministry
6. The ministry of the whole people of God forms the context for what is
said here about all forms of ministry. We together affirm that all
members of Christ's church are commissioned for ministry through
baptism. All are called to represent Christ and his church; to bear
witness to him wherever they may be; to carry on Christ's work of
reconciliation in the world; and to participate in the life, worship,
and governance of the church. We give thanks for a renewed discovery of
the centrality of the ministry of all the baptized in both our churches.
Our witness to the gospel and pursuit of peace, justice, and
reconciliation in the world have been immeasurably strengthened. Because
both our churches affirm this ministry which has already been treated in
our previous dialogues, it is not here extensively addressed. Both
churches need more adequately to realize the ministry of the baptized
through discernment of gifts, education, equipping the saints for
ministry, and seeking and serving Christ in all persons.
7. We acknowledge that one another's ordained ministries are and have
been given by God to be instruments of God's grace in the service of
God's people, and possess not only the inward call of the Spirit, but
also Christ's commission through his body, the church. We acknowledge
that personal, collegial, and communal oversight is embodied and
exercised in both our churches in a diversity of forms, in fidelity to
the teaching and mission of the apostles. We agree that ordained
ministers are called and set apart for the one ministry of Word and
Sacrament, and that they do not cease thereby to share in the priesthood
of all believers. They fulfill their particular ministries within the
community of the faithful and not apart from it. The concept of the
priesthood of all believers affirms the need for ordained ministry,
while at the same time setting ministry in proper relationship to the
laity. The Anglican tradition uses the terms "presbyter" and "priest"
and the Lutheran tradition in America characteristically uses the term
"pastor" for the same ordained ministry.
8. In order to give witness to the faith we share (see paragraphs 4 and
5 above), we agree that the one ordained ministry will be shared between
the two churches in a common pattern for the sake of common mission. In
the past, each church has sought and found ways to exercise the ordained
ministry in faithfulness to the apostolic message and mission. Each has
developed structures of oversight that serve the continuity of this
ministry under God's Word. Within the future common pattern, the
ministry of pastors/priests will be shared from the outset (see
paragraph 16 below). Some functions of ordained deacons in The Episcopal
Church and consecrated diaconal ministers and deaconesses in the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America can be shared insofar as they are
called to be agents of the church in meeting needs, hopes, and concerns
within church and society. The churches will over time come to share in
the ministry of bishops in an evangelical, historic succession (see
paragraph 19 below). This succession also is manifest in the churches'
use of the apostolic scriptures, the confession of the ancient creeds,
and the celebration of the sacraments instituted by our Lord. As our
churches live in full communion, our ordained ministries will still be
regulated by the constitutional framework of each church.
9. Important expectations of each church for a shared ordained ministry
will be realized at the beginning of our new relation: an immediate
recognition by The Episcopal Church of presently existing ordained
ministers within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and a
commitment by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to receive and
adapt an episcopate that will be shared. Both churches acknowledge that
the diaconate, including its place within the threefold ministerial
office and its relationship with all other ministries, is in need of
continuing exploration, renewal, and reform, which they pledge
themselves to undertake in consultation with one another. The ordination
of deacons, deaconesses, or diaconal ministers by the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America is not required by this Concordat.
10. The New Testament describes a laying-on-of-hands to set persons
apart for a variety of ministries. In the history of the church, many
and various terms have been used to describe the rite by which a person
becomes a bishop. In the English language these terms include:
confecting, consecrating, constituting, installing, making, ordaining,
ordering. Both our traditions have used the term "consecration of
bishops" for this same rite at some times. Today the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America uses the term "installation" while The
Episcopal Church uses the word "ordination" for the rite by which a
person becomes a bishop. What is involved in each case is the setting
apart within the one ministry of Word and Sacrament of a person elected
and called for the exercise of oversight (episkope) wider than the local
congregation in the service of the gospel.
11. "Historic succession" refers to a tradition which goes back to the
ancient church, in which bishops already in the succession install newly
elected bishops with prayer and the laying-on-of-hands. At present The
Episcopal Church has bishops in this historic succession, as do all the
churches of the Anglican Communion, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America at present does not, although some member churches of the
Lutheran World Federation do. The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of
1886/1888, the ecumenical policy of The Episcopal Church, refers to this
tradition as "the historic episcopate." In the Lutheran Confessions,
Article 14 of the Apology refers to this episcopal pattern by the
phrase, "the ecclesiastical and canonical polity" which it is "our deep
desire to maintain."
Commitment and Definition
12. As a result of their agreement in faith
and in testimony of their full communion with one another, both churches
now make the following commitment to share an episcopal succession that
is both evangelical and historic. They promise to include regularly one
or more bishops of the other church to participate in the
laying-on-of-hands at the ordinations/installations of their own bishops
as a sign, though not a guarantee, of the unity and apostolic continuity
of the whole church. With the laying-on-of-hands by other bishops, such ordinations/installations will involve prayer for the gift of the Holy
Spirit. Both churches value and maintain a ministry of episkope as one
of the ways, in the context of ordained ministries and of the whole
people of God, in which the apostolic succession of the church is
visibly expressed and personally symbolized in fidelity to the gospel
through the ages. By such a liturgical statement the churches recognize
that the bishop serves the diocese or synod through ties of collegiality
and consultation that strengthen its links with the universal church. It
is also a liturgical expression of the full communion initiated by this
Concordat, calling for mutual planning and common mission in each place.
We agree that when persons duly called and elected are
ordained/installed in this way, they are understood to join bishops
already in this succession and thus to enter the historic episcopate.
13. While our two churches will come to share in the historic
institution of the episcopate in the church (as defined in paragraph 12
above), each remains free to explore its particular interpretations of
the ministry of bishops in evangelical and historic succession. Whenever
possible, this should be done in consultation with one another. The
Episcopal Church is free to maintain that sharing in the historic
catholic episcopate, while not necessary for salvation or for
recognition of another church as a church, is nonetheless necessary when
Anglicans enter the relationship of full communion in order to link the
local churches for mutual responsibility in the communion of the larger
church. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is free to maintain
that this same episcopate, although pastorally desirable when exercised
in personal, collegial, and communal ways, is nonetheless not necessary
for the relationship of full communion. Such freedom is evidenced by its
communion with such non-episcopal churches as the Reformed churches of A
Formula of Agreement and most churches within the Lutheran World
Federation.
14. The two churches will acknowledge immediately the full authenticity
of each other's ordained ministries (bishops, priests, and deacons in
The Episcopal Church and pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America). The creation of a common and fully interchangeable ministry of
bishops in full communion will occur with the incorporation of all
active bishops in the historic episcopal succession and the continuing
process of collegial consultation in matters of Christian faith and
life. For both churches, the relationship of full communion begins when
both churches adopt this Concordat. For the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America, the characteristics of the goal of full communion - defined
in its 1991 policy statement, "Ecumenism: The Vision of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America"-will be realized at this time. For The
Episcopal Church, full communion, although begun at the same time, will
not be fully realized until both churches determine that in the context
of a common life and mission there is a shared ministry of bishops in
the historic episcopate. For both churches, life in full communion
entails more than legislative decisions and shared ministries. The
people of both churches have to receive and share this relationship as
they grow together in full communion.
B. Actions of The Episcopal Church
15. The Episcopal Church by this Concordat recognizes the ministers
ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America or its
predecessor bodies as fully authentic. The Episcopal Church acknowledges
that the pastors and bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America minister as pastors/priests within the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America and that the bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America are pastors/priests exercising a ministry of oversight
(episkope) within its synods. Further, The Episcopal Church agrees that
all bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who are chosen
after both churches pass this Concordat and installed within the
ministry of the historic episcopate will be understood by The Episcopal
Church as having been ordained into this ministry (see paragraph 18
below).
16. To enable the full communion that is coming into being by means of
this Concordat, The Episcopal Church pledges to continue the process for
enacting a temporary suspension, in this case only, of the
seventeenth-century restriction that "no persons are allowed to exercise
the offices of bishop, priest, or deacon in this Church unless they are
so ordained, or have already received such ordination with the
laying-on-of-hands by bishops who are themselves duly qualified to
confer Holy Orders" ("Preface to the Ordination Rites," The Book of
Common Prayer, p. 510). The purpose of this action, to declare this
restriction inapplicable to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
will be to permit the full interchangeability and reciprocity of all its
pastors as priests or presbyters within The Episcopal Church, without
any further ordination or re-ordination or supplemental ordination
whatsoever, subject always to canonically or constitutionally approved
invitation. The purpose of temporarily suspending this restriction,
which has been a constant requirement in Anglican polity since the
Ordinal of 1662, is precisely in order to secure the future
implementation of the ordinals' same principle in the sharing of
ordained ministries. It is for this reason that The Episcopal Church can
feel confident in taking this unprecedented step with regard to the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
17. The Episcopal Church acknowledges and seeks to receive the gifts of
the Lutheran tradition which has consistently emphasized the primacy of
the Word. The Episcopal Church therefore endorses the Lutheran
affirmation that the historic catholic episcopate under the Word of God
must always serve the gospel, and that the ultimate authority under
which bishops preach and teach is the gospel itself (see Augsburg
Confession 28. 21-23). In testimony and implementation thereof, The
Episcopal Church agrees to establish and welcome, either by itself or
jointly with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, structures for
collegial and periodic review of the ministry exercised by bishops with
a view to evaluation, adaptation, improvement, and continual reform in
the service of the gospel.
C. Actions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
18. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America agrees that all its
bishops chosen after both churches pass this Concordat will be installed
for pastoral service of the gospel with this church's intention to enter
the ministry of the historic episcopate. They will be understood by The
Episcopal Church as having been ordained into this ministry, even though
tenure in office of the Presiding Bishop and synodical bishops may be
terminated by retirement, resignation, disciplinary action, or
conclusion of term. Any subsequent installation of a bishop so installed
includes a prayer for the gift of the Holy Spirit without the
laying-on-of-hands. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America further
agrees to revise its rite for the "installation of a Bishop" to reflect
this understanding. A distinction between episcopal and pastoral
ministries within the one office of Word and Sacrament is neither
commanded nor forbidden by divine law (see Apology of the Augsburg
Confession 14.1 and the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope
63). By thus freely accepting the historic episcopate, the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America does not thereby affirm that it is necessary
for the unity of the church (Augsburg Confession 7.3).
19. In order to receive the historic episcopate, the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America pledges that, following the adoption of this
Concordat and in keeping with the collegiality and continuity of
ordained ministry attested as early as Canon 4 of the First Ecumenical
Council (Nicaea I, a.d. 325), at least three bishops already sharing in
the sign of the episcopal succession will be invited to participate in
the installation of its next Presiding Bishop through prayer for the
gift of the Holy Spirit and with the laying-on-of-hands. These
participating bishops will be invited from churches of the Lutheran
communion which share in the historic episcopate. In addition, a bishop
or bishops will be invited from The Episcopal Church to participate in
the same way as a symbol of the full communion now shared. Synodical
bishops elected and awaiting installation may be similarly installed at
the same service, if they wish. Further, all other installations of
bishops in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will be through
prayer for the gift of the Holy Spirit and with the laying-on-of-hands
by other bishops, at least three of whom are to be in the historic
succession (see paragraph 12 above). Its liturgical rites will reflect
these provisions.
20. In accord with the historic practice whereby the bishop is
representative of the wider church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America agrees to make constitutional and liturgical provision that a
bishops shall regularly preside and participate in the
laying-on-of-hands at the ordination of all clergy. Pastors shall
continue to participate with the bishop in the laying-on-of-hands at all
ordinations of pastors. Such offices are to be exercised as servant
ministry, and not for domination or arbitrary control. All the people of
God have a true equality, dignity, and authority for building up the
body of Christ.
21. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America by this Concordat
recognizes the bishops, priests, and deacons ordained in The Episcopal
Church as fully authentic ministers in their respective orders within
The Episcopal Church and the bishops of The Episcopal Church as chief
pastors in the historic succession exercising a ministry of oversight (episkope)
within its dioceses.
D. Actions of Both Churches
Interchangeability of Clergy: Occasional Ministry, Extended Service,
Transfer
22. In this Concordat, the two churches declare that each believes the
other to hold all the essentials of the Christian faith, although this
does not require from either church acceptance of all doctrinal
formulations of the other. Ordained ministers serving occasionally or
for an extended period in the ministry of the other church will be
expected to undergo the appropriate acceptance procedures of that church
respecting always the internal discipline of each church. For the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, such ministers will be expected
to preach, teach, and administer the sacraments in a manner that is
consistent with its "Confession of Faith" as written in chapter two of
the Constitution, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America. For The Episcopal Church, such ministers
will be expected to teach and act in a manner that is consistent with
the doctrine, discipline, and worship of The Episcopal Church. Ordained
ministers from either church seeking long-term ministry with primary
responsibility in the other will be expected to apply for clergy
transfer and to agree to the installation vow or declaration of
conformity in the church to which she or he is applying to minister
permanently.
Joint Commission
23. To assist in joint planning for mission, both churches authorize the
establishment of a joint commission, fully accountable to the
decision-making bodies of the two churches. Its purpose will be
consultative, to facilitate mutual support and advice as well as common
decision making through appropriate channels in fundamental matters that
the churches may face together in the future. The joint commission will
work with the appropriate boards, committees, commissions, and staff of
the two churches concerning such ecumenical, doctrinal, pastoral, and
liturgical matters as may arise, always subject to approval by the
appropriate decision-making bodies of the two churches.
Wider Contex
24. In thus moving to establish, in geographically overlapping
episcopates in collegial consultation, one ordained ministry open to
women as well as to men, to married persons as well as to single
persons, both churches agree that the historic catholic episcopate can
be locally adapted and reformed in the service of the gospel. In this
spirit they offer this Concordat and growth toward full communion for
serious consideration among the churches of the Reformation as well as
among the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. They pledge widespread
consultation during the process at all stages. Each church promises to
issue no official commentary on this text that has not been accepted by
the joint commission as a legitimate interpretation thereof.
Existing Relationships
25. Each church agrees that the other church will continue to live in
communion with all the churches with whom the latter is now in
communion. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America continues to be in
full communion (pulpit and altar fellowship) with all member churches of
the Lutheran World Federation and with three of the Reformed family of
churches (Presbyterian Church [U.S.A.], Reformed Church in America, and
United Church of Christ). This Concordat does not imply or inaugurate
any automatic communion between The Episcopal Church and those churches
with whom the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is in full
communion. The Episcopal Church continues to be in full communion with
all the Provinces of the Anglican Communion, with the Old Catholic
Churches of Europe, with the united churches of the Indian subcontinent,
with the Mar Thoma Church, and with the Philippine Independent Church.
This Concordat does not imply or inaugurate any automatic communion
between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and those churches
with whom The Episcopal Church is in full communion.
Other Dialogues
26. Both churches agree that each will continue to engage in dialogue
with other churches and traditions. Both churches agree to take each
other and this Concordat into account at every stage in their dialogues
with other churches and traditions. Where appropriate, both churches
will seek to engage in joint dialogues. On the basis of this Concordat,
both churches pledge that they will not enter into formal agreements
with other churches and traditions without prior consultation with each
other. At the same time both churches pledge that they will not impede
the development of relationships and agreements with other churches and
traditions with whom they have been in dialogue.
E. Conclusion
27. Recognizing each other as churches in which the gospel is truly
preached and the holy sacraments duly administered, we receive with
thanksgiving the gift of unity which is already given in Christ.
He is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in
heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers -- all things have
been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things,
and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the
church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he
might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the
fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased
to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by
making peace through the blood of his cross
(Colossians 1:15-20).
28. Repeatedly Christians have echoed the scriptural confession that the
unity of the church is both Christ's own work and his call to us. It is
therefore our task as well as his gift. We must "make every effort to
maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:3).
We pray that we may rely upon, and willingly receive from one another,
the gifts Christ gives through his Spirit "for building up the body of
Christ" in love (Ephesians 4:16).
29. We do not know to what new, recovered, or continuing tasks of
mission this Concordat will lead our churches, but we give thanks to God
for leading us to this point. We entrust ourselves to that leading in
the future, confident that our full communion will be a witness to the
gift and goal already present in Christ, "so that God may be all in all"
(1 Corinthians 15:28). Entering full communion and thus removing
limitations through mutual recognition of faith, sacraments, and
ministries will bring new opportunities and levels of shared evangelism,
witness, and service. It is the gift of Christ that we are sent as he
has been sent (John 17:17-26), that our unity will be received and
perceived as we participate together in the mission of the Son in
obedience to the Father through the power and presence of the Holy
Spirit.
Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish
abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in
the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.
Amen
(Ephesians 3:20-21).
RESOLVED, that the Conference of Bishops affirm the following
understandings of "Called to Common Mission":
A. The Conference of Bishops understands that "Called to Common Mission"
contains:
1. no requirement that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America must
eventually adopt the three-fold order of ministry. Rather, "Called to
Common Mission" recognizes that the present understanding of one
ordained ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
including both pastors and bishops, may continue in effect;
2. no requirement that ELCA bishops be elected to serve as synodical
bishops for life. Rather, they will continue to be elected and installed
for six-year terms, with eligibility for re-election, subject to term
limits, where applicable;
3. no defined role for the presiding bishop or synodical bishops after
their tenure in office is completed;
4. no requirement that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
establish the office of deacon, nor that they be ordained;
5. no requirement that priests of The Episcopal Church will serve
congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America without the
congregation's consent;
6. no requirement that the Ordinal (rules) of The Episcopal Church will
apply to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America;
7. no commitment to additional constitutional amendments or liturgical
revisions other than those presented to the 1999 ELCA Churchwide
Assembly (ELCA constitutional provisions 8.72.10-16.; 9.21.02.;
9.90.-9.91.02.; 10.31.a.9.; 10.81.01., and parallel provisions in
synodical and congregational constitutions); and further
B. The Conference of Bishops has the expectation that:
1. ordinations of pastors will continue to be held at synodical worship
services and in congregations, as is the present pattern;
2. the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will continue to receive
onto the roster of ordained ministers, without re-ordination, pastors
from other traditions, some of whom will not have been ordained by a
bishop in the historic episcopate;
3. following the adoption of "Called to Common Mission," if someone who
has been received onto the roster of ordained ministers of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who was not ordained into the
pastoral office in the historic episcopate is elected bishop and
installed, he or she will be understood to be a bishop in the historic
episcopate;
4. lay persons may continue to be licensed by the synodical bishop in
unusual circumstances to administer the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy
Communion as is the present practice of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America;
5. "Definitions and Guidelines for Discipline of Ordained Ministers"
will apply to priests of The Episcopal Church and ordained ministers of
the Reformed churches serving ELCA congregations [under continuing
resolution 8.72.15.b., A...to live in a manner consistent with the
ministerial policy of this church."];
6. the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is not in any way changing
its confessional stance that, "For the true unity of the Church it is
enough to agree concerning the teaching of the Gospel and the
administration of the sacraments" (Augsburg Confession, Article VII);
7. The Episcopal Church accepts fully, and without reservation, present
Lutheran pastors and bishops who are not in the historic episcopal
succession;
8. priests of The Episcopal Church and ordained ministers of the
Reformed churches will not be asked to subscribe personally to the
Confession of Faith of the Lutheran Church as their personal faith. They
will be expected to recognize the agreement in faith of the churches and
to preach and teach in a manner consistent with the Lutheran
Confessions;
9. the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America receives the historic
episcopal succession as a sign of and service to the continuity and
unity of the Church and in no way as a guarantee of the faithful
transmission of the faith;
10. future decisions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on
matters of common concern will be made in consultation with churches
with whom a relationship of full communion has been declared, but these
decisions will not require their concurrence or approval;
11. future Churchwide Assemblies of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America will be free to make whatever decisions they deem necessary
after mutual consultation on matters related to full communion;
12. the joint commission [to which reference is made in "Called to
Common Mission"] will have no authority over the appropriate
decision-making bodies of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America or
The Episcopal Church; and
13. pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will continue
to preside at confirmations.
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