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Full Communion is not organic union between church bodies. It is an acknowledgement that there is enough agreement on matters of faith and life between denominations to commit to joint ministry, witness, and service, as well as mutual accountability in making decisions about church life.

Official conversations between representatives of the Reformed and Lutheran churches in the USA began in 1962. Through a series of dialogues, a surprising consensus on issues of Reformation theology was discovered. Theological differences once seen as divisive came to be understood as potentially complementary. The polemical circumstances of the Reformation made it difficult to understand that both Reformed and Lutheran churches were emphasizing different but important aspects of the same theological truth. These differences could now be viewed as a source of deeper insight into the complexities of the mysteries of God and salvation. To put it more simply, we can learn from the theological insights of each other. We can affirm our agreement and admonish each other where there is disagreement, but the disagreements should not separate us in our proclamation of the Gospel to our communities.

In 1993 the dialogue team issued A Common Calling: The Witness of Our Reformation Church in North America Today. This document challenged the churches involved in the dialogue to adopt an agreement of "Full Communion." In 1997 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Reformed Church in America, and the United Church of Christ adopted A Formula of Agreement establishing that relationship.

Specifically this means that these churches:

• Recognize each other as churches in which the Gospel is rightly preached and the sacraments rightly administered according to the Word of God;
• Withdraw any historic condemnation by one side or the other as inappropriate for the life and faith of our churches today;
• Continue to recognize each other's baptism, and authorize and encourage the sharing of the Lord's Supper among their members.
• Recognize each other's various ministries and make provision for the orderly exchange of ordained ministers of Word and Sacrament;
• Establish appropriate channels of consultation and decision-making within the existing structures of the churches;
• Commit themselves to an ongoing process of theological dialogue in order to clarify further the common understanding of the faith and foster its common expression in evangelism, witness, and service;
• Pledge themselves to living together under the Gospel in such a way that the principle of mutual affirmation and admonition becomes the basis of a trusting relationship in which respect and love for the other will have a chance to grow.

Soon thereafter a Lutheran-Reformed Coordinating Committee was formed, which designed a liturgy for a formal celebration of the agreement and established a process for the orderly exchange of ordained ministers of Word and Sacrament. It regularly receives reports of the impact of the agreement in the lives of the churches.

On a national level, the impact has been significant. Global missionaries are mutually trained. There is talk of the possibility of joint planning and even funding of missions within the United States. Exciting work is being done together in renewing worship, developing evangelism strategies, utilizing modern communication methods, fighting racism, and providing relief in the aftermath of disasters. Much has happened in five short years.

Questions for discussion and reflection:

1. What were some of the ways your congregations cooperated before the Formula of Agreement was adopted?
2. What new things have happened since the adoption of the Formula…?
3. How have your congregations disagreed with each other?
4. What does your congregation do well that you can share with the other(s)? What can you learn from the other congregation(s)? What questions do you have about each other?
5. What elements of "Full Communion" are most significant for your local situation? How might the agreement make a difference?

Other resources:

• A Formula of Agreement
• A Common Calling: The Witness of Our Reformation Churches in North America Today
• Marburg Revisited
• An Invitation to Action
• Toward Church Fellowship (A document of the Lutheran World Federation and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches)

For next time:

• Be prepared to discuss your worship service - what you do and why.
• Bring your hymnals.
• Visit each other's worship spaces.
• If possible, attend worship in your full communion partner's church.

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