Statement by Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko, General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, on the occasion of "Celebrating Full Communion" between The Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Washington, DC
6 January 2001
One of the most loved church hymns has the following line:
"The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight".
It is a historical fact that Anglicans and Lutherans have no mutual doctrinal anathemae between them. Yet they have acted over the years as if they were separated by mutual condemnations.
Over the years Anglicans and Lutherans worldwide have had fears and reservations verging on theological suspicion, but they also had hopes and love for each other, occasionally recorded as footnotes in ecumenical reporting. Tonight, Lutherans and Episcopalians in the United States of America can sing that hymn with much feeling that their hopes and fears of all the years about each other's traditions meet in Christ, the Lord of the Church.
As the two churches now celebrate and seal a fellowship of full communion, the full meaning of this event is a deeply spiritual one. Christian communion in its genuine sense is always communion with Christ. Unlike partnerships between airline companies, and/or commercial banks, communion agreements between churches have their basis and their purpose beyond themselves.
Theologically speaking, unity in Christ is not a result of negotiations. Rather, church negotiations are themselves a result of the gift of unity given to us by God in Christ, challenging us daily to find appropriate and visible expression of unity in worship and mission.
Most of you gathered here will recall that following the Second Vatican Council, the Roman Catholic Church reached out ecumenically in many directions establishing bilateral dialogues with a number of partners. Similarly, other Christian world communions have established dialogue relations with several partners simultaneously. This has resulted in a complex network of dialogues, on various levels, representing, in my view, a very significant contribution to the one ecumenical movement.
The ELCA has made it part of its ecumenical vision and goal to "boldly reach out simultaneously in several directions". I wish to commend the ELCA for actively pursuing this approach, which is representative of the way the LWF, as a communion, has sought, and seeks, to develop its ecumenical agenda on the global level, fully committed to the belief that the ecumenical movement is indeed one.
The results of dialogues in the form of binding forms of church fellowship are being reaped primarily on the national and regional levels. Other agreements of full communion, such as the Formula of Agreement, have also been reached during the last few years on the North American continent. Next year we hope to celebrate the Waterloo Agreement between the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. All these agreements come as a rich harvest from planting, pruning and fertilisation in the large garden of the universal Christian church, where the Lord himself is the chief gardener.
But no harvest comes easily. As in all farming and gardening, there are many obstacles and surprises throughout the seasons. Impediments often appear as reasons for us to stop and not continue. So we hesitate, because the building of unity always has a reverse side to it, which is the threat of disunity. Therefore, to not give up is an integral part of faithfulness and commitment to the prayer of our Lord "that there may be one as you and I are one".
You will recall that one of the much debated aspects of "Called to Common Mission" has been the way it understands the office of bishops in apostolic succession. How do we relate to this issue in the LWF? To put it very simply, we recognize that - primarily as a result of missionary history - many Lutheran churches have not maintained bishops in succession, and some do not formally have a bishop's office at all, but a president. This is the reality in the Lutheran communion, and the LWF does not on this ground question the legitimacy of the church leadership in member churches.
We recognize, at the same time, that the office of bishop is an important expression of the pastoral dimension of church leadership, which is undoubtedly as important to uphold in the present-day world as was the case in earlier times. The episcopate in historic succession is not for Lutherans a condition for church unity. However, we recognize that the Lutheran reformers never denied this tradition, nor did they distance themselves from it, but rather, they preferred to keep the episcopal structures. Today, we may see in this tradition a valuable expression of the continuity through history of the pastoral ministry of word and sacrament in the life of the church, and a focus for unity of the people of God.
The episcopal ministry is not instituted separately from the pastoral ministry of the congregations, but as a specific function of this ministry on the regional level.
As a specific form of pastoral leadership, bishops are not consecrated to exercise church administration in its bureaucratic meaning, but to oversee that the preaching and the sacramental practices are in keeping with the gospel. The spiritual substance of the life of the church is indeed the element "by which the church stands or falls", and must therefore be carefully and conscientiously overseen.
We live at a time where there are innumerable self-appointed spiritual leaders and media based religious constellations, we may also see in the personal and collegial exercise of the regional episcopal ministry a way by which the church accepts its communal accountability toward others regarding the essentials of its teaching and practices.
Concerning church governance, Lutherans have traditionally insisted on a role for the laity. The belief that every baptized person shares in the priesthood of all believers is important for the way Lutherans in most cases have built their church order. Synodal structures of governance, with a numerically dominant number of lay persons in synod assemblies, are a general characteristic of Lutheran churches around the world. In this way, the fullness of the church as the people of God, with its human diversity and richness of human experience, is also brought into function in the churches' decision-making bodies.
There are many issues ahead of us that require further exploration as we continue to develop our relations on the regional and also on the global level. I sincerely believe that Anglicans and Lutherans have reached a point in their life together where these remaining issues can be more fruitfully addressed in communion than as separated church families. As far as our relations as communions are concerned, I am pleased to mention that the Secretariats of the Anglican Consultative Council and of the Lutheran World Federation have agreed to initiate joint staff meetings once or twice a year from now on to discuss relevant issues pertaining to our global relations. We do this as we search together for appropriate ways for the church to fulfill its mission, according to the principle "ecclesia semper reformanda".
In conclusion, I would like to remind you all, that the unity of the Church cannot be seen apart from the unity of all humankind. Therefore, the unity between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Episcopal Church in the USA is a positive contribution towards the search for peace and unity among God's people for the sake of the world. May God guide you on this pilgrimage.
I thank you.