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November 16, 2005 Dear Friends in the Quest for Christian Unity,
Warmest greetings from our Director, Randall
Lee, and from all members of the ELCA office for Ecumenical and
Inter-Religious Relations (formerly the Department for Ecumenical
Affairs). In a snapshot of 2005 -- Our office witnessed renewed
staffing transition; our full
communion relationships continued to bear new fruit in areas such as clergy exchange,
outdoor ministry, and coordinated efforts in disaster response or vocations in advocacy;
the three
committees that coordinate our full communion relationships
continued to mature, as these committees actively meet twice a year with full
communion endeavors in more localized contexts.
Our
bilateral dialogues continue in a mutual faithfulness between
churches: The 11th round of
discussion between the ELCA and the Catholic church ended in the
culmination of a thought-provoking text titled
The Church as Koinonia of Salvation. This document became
available in hard-copy in the spring of 2005. I would encourage
you to read the text and assess how the term "koinonia" is
clarified in the document as a
"fellowship-sharing" that escaped partisan usage during specific
divisions in the history of the church. Round three of the
ELCA-United Methodist Church dialogue concluded and both churches
have entered into a period of Interim Eucharistic Sharing. A
premier ELCA-UMC joint congregational study and discussion guide toward
a deeper understanding of the way to full communion is available today.
This guide can also be used in a seminary or other ministry/education
context. The link for this document is located on the first page
of this issue of Ecumenical Life. You are warmly invited to visit
our website for a fuller understanding of our ecumenical bilateral
dialogues and full communion relationships with other churches.
Conciliar relationships continue to redefine
their places as ecumenical bodies in our current geopolitical and
georeligious contexts.
Members of the
Lutheran
World Federation Council met in Bethlehem and Jerusalem in early
September. These witnessed and were moved by the plight and safety
of the Palestinian people and the citizens of Israel. Read more at
the above link. Next, a new and dynamic conciliar presence,
Christian
Churches Together in the U.S.A., (CCT) retains promise for
inter-Christian discourse and action in the United States. The
next CCT meeting will be in Atlanta in late March.
Because we are now an office of "Ecumenical and
Inter-Religious Relations," we will spend some time in the coming months
in consideration of the inter-religious dimensionality of our work.
As Lutherans and Christians our sense of who we are in the contemporary
world can be refined
by the religious "other" in our midst. To love and do unto our
neighbors, we must first know who they are. We enter this exciting
phase in cooperation with our fine colleagues in the ELCA Unit for
Global Mission and with our ecumenical partners in the experiences they
bring to this important task.
Young adult participation at all
levels of ecumenical activity (from conciliar to grass-roots) have
gained momentum this year. I've personally witnessed this growth
across the spectrum of ecumenical activity. This gain happens as we focus on young
adult ecumenical formation in our church. Seminarian interns in our office,
an annual seminary essay contest, young adult formation events, and a
January-Term of study in Geneva represent a handful of activities we are
facilitating at this time. In the coming years we will continue to
work with our ecumenical partners to increase young adult participation.
Finally, this bi-monthly E-Newsletter, appropriately
called Ecumenical Life, is an entry-way or portal, a window, into the
life of everyday ecumenical activity in the world. Ecumenical Life is
not a comprehensive picture that dictates a story for you. Instead, you
are encouraged to follow the links and learn about the narrative that is
already transpiring around you. Give Ecumenical Life a chance to open
before you a world of Christian unity. And share this newsletter
with your friends and colleagues!
With every good wish,
Michael Reid Trice, Ph.D.
Associate Director ELCA Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
8765 West Higgins Road
Chicago, Illinois 60631
1-800-638-3522 ext. 2613
or 773-380-2613
Michael.Trice@elca.org
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