Following Our Shephard to Full Communion - IV. The Journey to Full Communion: C. Mutual Complementarities

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Following Our Shepherd to Full Communion

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Preface

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep who do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
John 10:14-16 (NRSV)

The themes of the Good Shepherd, following Jesus, and fellowship through discipleship were at the forefront from the very start of the Lutheran-Moravian Dialogue. Also present was the realization that this dialogue is unique for both churches.1 It is unique for the Northern and Southern Provinces of the Moravian Church in America (Unitas Fratrum) because it is the first such dialogue in which those provinces have engaged.2 It is also unique for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (hereinafter ELCA) because Lutheran churches and Moravian Provinces world-wide have been in virtual full communion, including the interchangeability of ordained clergy and eucharistic hospitality for decades. In this sense, then, the Lutheran - Moravian Dialogue in the United States is catching up with where other Lutherans and Moravians are already. Moravians and Lutherans are regarding themselves as members of one flock who are following their Shepherd in mission and ministry. Participants in the Dialogue realized from the outset that we had much in common, yet our churches were not identical. Over time, we became convinced that this Dialogue, its Report, and its recommendations would take a shape that was both familiar to and different from other dialogue reports and recommendations.

The Recommendations will be familiar to those acquainted with the Concordat of Agreement between The Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. and the ELCA.3 The Report would be unfamiliar on at least four counts. First, the Dialogue papers were not published and distributed to clergy and others prior to this Report, with the exception of a number of Moravian and ELCA congregations which used them in a guided study process. The key reason for that procedure is the severe limits based on funding the Dialogue; neither church could afford the expenses involved in editing, printing and distributing the materials. A grant from the Elfrid L. and Marie F. Hine Fund of Augsburg Lutheran Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina made the first four meetings possible. We acknowledge with gratitude the generosity of the congregation in making the funds available.

Second, our respective church leaders and the dialoguers felt that the salient positions which emerged could be covered appropriately in the body of the Report. Persons interested in particular papers may request them through our respective denominational offices.

Third, the Report contains more explanatory and background material than others because American Moravians and Lutherans know less about each other than we know about other Christian bodies. Relative size and geographical distribution in the United States account for some of our mutual non-communication. Other contributing factors are denominational agendas, theological styles, and inertia. The Report, therefore, also serves to introduce Moravians to Lutherans and Lutherans to Moravians.
Fourth, the Report's structure departs from that of others. We present the Recommendations to our churches following the Preface rather than at the conclusion of the whole. Through this arrangement we alert readers to areas, issues and implications for the future of Moravian - Lutheran relations, to highlight matters which will be presented for decisions at our respective assemblies, and to prompt readers to consider the opportunities for ecumenical developments offered by this dialogue as they join us in attempting to follow our Shepherd.

Geographical and fiscal factors influenced the location and membership of the dialoguers meetings and personnel. Given the size and concentration of the Moravian Church in North America and relevant historical as well as institutional resources of both churches, it was appropriate to hold the sessions in the Allentown - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania area.4 We used the facilities of the Moravian Theological Seminary (Bethlehem), Muhlenberg College and Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church (both in Allentown) for our meetings. It was natural for the Moravian dialoguers to be drawn from the Bethlehem and North Carolina areas. The Lutheran members included two from Bethlehem-Allentown and others from beyond. Because of schedules, Dr. Sarah Henrich, a member of the Lutheran team, served as a consultant for the first four meetings before joining personally at the final meeting. Another Lutheran participant, Dr. David Yeago, was not able to attend the first two meetings but was present for the balance of the dialogue. The Moravian dialoguers experienced a change in personnel when Dr. D. Wayne Burkette had to withdraw after three meetings due to other responsibilities. His place was taken by Dr. Robert Helm.

The themes of the Good Shepherd, following Jesus, and fellowship through discipleship grew from the dialoguers' frequent reflections on the Christian life and our dialogue as a journey to communion with God and humanity.
We invite our churches and readers to listen with us to the Saviors call and to follow him as we seek to become more faithfully and fully one flock.

1 The word Church (with the initial letter capitalized) refers to the one, holy, Christian Church except when it is used as part of the title of a particular denomination. The word church (with the initial letter in lower case) refers to a general denominational entity, e.g., the Lutheran church.

2 The formal name of the international Moravian church is the "Unitas Fratrum (Moravian Church)." It consists of provinces located in various countries in Africa, Europe, Great Britain, Central America, South America, North America, the Caribbean, and related organizations in India, China, and Israel. The two Provinces of the Moravian Church in North America (North and South) presently consist of congregations in the lower forty-eight states of the United States and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Ontario. The ELCA has congregations in the fifty states of the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas. When Moravians refer to the Ancient Church, they mean that expression of their ecclesial existence which traces its origins to the martyred Bohemian reformer, Jan Hus (ca. 1371-1415) and the establishment of the Unitas Fratrum at Kunvald, Bohemia in 1457. The term "Renewed Moravian Church" or "Renewed Unitas Fratrum" refers to the eighteenth century re-emergence of the Unity from persecution and dispersion. That renewal was focused in Saxony at the estate of the Lutheran noble and ordained minister, Nicholas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf.

3 See "Toward Full Communion" And "Concordat Of Agreement". Lutheran - Episcopal Dialogue Series III, edited by William A. Norgren and William G. Rusch, Minneapolis and Cincinnati: Augsburg Press and Forward Movement Publications, 1991, pgs. 98-106.

4 The Moravian Church in North America is concentrated in Northeastern Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Clusters of congregations are also in Wisconsin, Minnesota and on the West Coast. The Unity's only seminary and one of its four year colleges are located in Bethlehem, a city which was settled by Moravians in 1741. The Northern Province's offices and the Moravian Archives are located on the Bethlehem campus. The Winston-Salem, North Carolina area also is a historical Moravian center and the site of its Salem College. The Southern Province's headquarters and Archives also are in Winston-Salem. Lutheran and Moravian pastors and congregants have long been associated with each other in these areas and cooperated in local discussions and study groups, using materials derived from the Dialogue's papers. The library resources of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia were readily available and utilized in research.