Conference from 20-23 September 2002
Episcopalians, Lutherans and Roman Catholics will discuss the role and power of bishops in the contemporary church at an international conference from September 20-23, 2002 in Waltham, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. Laity and clergy are welcome to this Anglican-Lutheran Society conference at the Espousal Retreat House and Conference Center.
The event has been planned in cooperation with the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts and the New England Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The conference theme, "On the Power of Bishops," comes from Article VII of the Augsburg Confession, a doctrinal statement of the Lutheran Church which was formulated in the 16th century and remains central to Lutheran theology today. Six theologians will speak on the history and development of episcopacy as well as a contemporary understanding of the episcopal office in the church.
The conference speakers will include the Revd Dr Ian T Douglas, professor of world mission and global Christianity, the Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts; The Revd Dr Günther Gassman, former director, Commission on Faith and Order, World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland; Dr Michael Root, professor of systematic theology, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio; The Revd Francis A Sullivan, SJ, adjunct professor of theology, Boston College, and former dean of the faculty, Gregorian University, Rome; Mrs Elizabeth Fisher, co-moderator, Churches in Dialogue Commission, European Conference of Churches, and vice-chair, Council of Christian Unity, Church of England; and Canon Peter Fisher, principal, The Queens Foundation (an Anglican-Methodist-United Reformed Theological College), Birmingham, England.
Speakers will deal with historical and contemporary understandings of bishops as well as the debate in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) about the nature of bishops in "Called to Common Mission", the full communion agreement which began last year between the ELCA and the Episcopal Church in the United States.
The conference "theme statement" notes that "the recent debate over 'Called to Common Mission,' especially among its more vocal Lutheran detractors, often has characterized episcopacy per se as hierarchical and domineering, and has objected to the receiving of the episcopal office in historic succession as a contradiction of the Augsburg Confession and a violation of Christian freedom. How might Lutheran and Anglicans evaluate these criticisms and respond to them?"
The conference will also respond to the suggestion of the Anglican-Lutheran "Niagara Report" of 1987 which calls on the churches to contribute toward an adequate contemporary understanding and exercise of the episcopal office in serving the diverse ministries in the church and the life and witness of the whole people of God.
The conference will begin Friday afternoon, September 20, and end with lunch on Monday, September 23. On Sunday, participants will worship at Lutheran Church of the Newtons in nearby Newton. The Rt Revd Rupert Hoare, Dean of Liverpool Cathedral (Anglican), England, will be the guest preacher.
Both resident and day participants are invited to the conference. For details email dockomd@aol.com.
The Espousal Retreat House and Conference Center, located in Waltham is operated by the Stigmatine Fathers and Brothers of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Anglican-Lutheran Society (ALS) was founded in London in 1984 to promote better understanding between the two traditions and develop opportunities for common worship, study, friendship and witness. The ALS presidents are the Ven John Arnold, Anglican Dean of Durham, England; and the Rt Revd Erik Vikström, Lutheran Bishop of Porvoo, Finland. The ALS Committee in North America is headed by the Revd Dr Scott S. Ickert, pastor of Resurrection Lutheran Church, Arlington, Virginia.
Article from: Anglican-Lutheran Society