LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2001, Page 413

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ADDITIONAL THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS AND REPORTS--OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT 413

acteristic differences in practice, and these still tend to make us un-
comfortable at each other’s celebration of the Supper. These dif-
ferences can be discerned in several areas, for example, in liturgical
style and liturgical details, in our verbal interpretations of our prac-
tices, in the emotional patterns involved in our experience of the
Lord’s Supper, and in the implications we find in the Lord’s Supper
for the life and mission of the church and of its individual mem-
bers .... We affirm our conviction, however, that these differences
should be recognized as acceptable diversities within one Chris-
tian faith. Both of our communions, we maintain, need to grow in
appreciation of our diverse eucharistic traditions, finding mutual
enrichment in them. At the same time both need to grow toward a
further deepening of our common experience and expression of the
mystery of our Lord’s Supper (An Invitation to Action, pp. 16-17).

God’s Will to Save:

Lutherans and Reformed claim the saving power of God’s grace
as the center of their faith and life. They believe that salvation de-
pends on God’s grace alone and not on human cooperation. In spite
of this common belief. the doctrine of predestination has been one
of the issues separating the two traditions. Although Lutherans and
Reformed have different emphases in the way they live out their
belief in the sovereignty of God’s love, they agree that “God’s un-
conditional will to save must be preached against all cultural opti-
mism or pessimism” (A Common Calling, p. 54). [t is noted that “a
common language that transcends the polemics of the past and wit-
nesses to the common predestination faith of Lutheran and Re-
formed Churches has emerged already in theological writings and
official or unofficial statements in our churches” (A Common Call-
ing, page 55). Rather than insisting on doctrinal uniformity, the two
traditions are willing to acknowledge that they have been borne out
of controversy, and their present identities, theological and eccle-
sial, have been shaped by those arguments. To demand more than
fundamental doctrinal consensus on those areas that have been
church-dividing would be tantamount to denying the faith of those
Christians with whom we have shared a common journey toward
wholeness in Jesus Christ. An even greater tragedy would occur
were we, through our divisiveness, to deprive the world of a com-
mon witness to the saving grace of Jesus Christ that has been so
freely given to us.

The Binding and Effective Commitment to Full Communion

In the formal adoption at the highest levels of this A Formula of
Agreement, based on A Common Calling, the churches acknowl-
edge that they are undertaking an act of strong mutual commitment.
They are making pledges and promises to each other. The churches
recognize that full commitment to each other involves serious in-
tention, awareness, and dedication. They are binding themselves to
far more than merely a formal action; they are entering into a rela-
tionship with gifts and changes for all.

The churches know these stated intentions will challenge their
self-understandings, their ways of living and acting, their struc-
tures, and even their general ecclesial ethos. The churches commit
themselves to keep this legitimate concern of their capacity to enter
into full communion at the heart of their new relation.

The churches declare, under the guidance of the triune God, that
they are fully committed to A Formula of Agreement, and are ca-
pable of being. and remaining, pledged to the above-described mu-
tual affirmations in faith and doctrine, to joint decision-making.
and to exercising and accepting mutual admonition and correction.
A Formula of Agreement responds to the ecumenical conviction
that “there is no tuning back, either from the goal of visible unity
or from the single ecumenical movement that unites concern for
the unity of the Church and concer for engagement in the strug-
gles of the world” (“On the Way to Fuller Koinonia: The Message
of the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order,” 1993). And.

as St. Paul reminds us all, “The one who calls you is faithful, and
he will do this,” (1 Thess. 5:24, NRSV). |2]

Notes:

{1] For a summary of the history of Lutheran-Reformed Dia-
logue in North America, see A Common Calling, pp. 10-11. The
results of the first round of dialogue, 1962-1966, were published
in Marburg Revisited (Augsburg, 1966). The second round of dia-
logue took place in 1972-1974. Its brief report was published in An
Invitation to Action (Fortress, 1983), pp. 54-60. The third series
began in 1981 and concluded in 1983, and was published in the
book, An Invitation to Action. Following this third dialogue a fourth
round of “Theological Conversations” was held from 1988 to 1992,
resulting in the report. A Common Calling: The Witness of Our Re-

formation Churches in Novth America Today (Augsburg, 1993). In

addition, the North American participants in Lutheran-Reformed
Dialogue have drawn on the theological work found in the Lenen-
berg Agreement, a Statement of Concord between Reformation
churches in Europe in 1973, published in An Invitation to Aetion,
pp. 61-73, as well as the Report of the International Joint Commis-
sion of the Lutheran World Federation and the World Alliance of
Reformed Churches, 1985-1988, Toward Church Fellowship
(LWF and WARC, 1989).

[2] The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: To enter into
full communion with these three churches [Presbyterian Church
(USA), Reformed Church in America, United Church of Christ].
an affirmative two-thirds vote of the 1997 Churchwide Assembly,
the highest legislative authority in thc ELCA, will be required. Sub-
sequently, in the appropriate manner, other changes in the consti-
tution and bylaws would be made to conform with this binding de-
cision by an assembly to enter into full communion.

The constitution and bylaws of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) do not speak specifically of this church
entering into full communion with non-Lutheran churches. The
closest analogy, in view of the seriousness of the matter, would ap-
pear to be an amendment of the ELCA’s constitution or bylaws.
The constitution provides a proccss of such amendment (Chapter
22). In both cases a two-thirds vote of members present and vot-
ing is required.

The Presbyterian Church (USA): Upon an affirmative vote of
the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the dec-
faration of full communion will be etfected throughout the church
in accordance with the Presbyterian Book of Order and this For-
mula of Agreement. This means a majority vote of the General As-
sembly, a majority vote in the presbyteries, and a majority vote of
the presbyteries.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) orders its life as an institution
with a constitution, government, officers, finances, and adminis-
trative rules. These are instruments of mission, not ends in them-
selves. Different orders have served the Gospel, and none can claim
exclusive validity. A presbyterian polity recognizes the responsi-
bility of all members for ministry and maintains the organic rela-
tion of all congregations in the church. It seeks to protect the
church from every exploitation by ecclesiastical or secular power
and ambition. Every church order must be open to such reformation
as may be required to make it a more effective instrument of the
mission of reconciliation. (“Confession of 1967,” Book of Confes-
sions, p. 40).

The Presbyterian Church (USA) shall be governed by represen-
tative bodies composed of presbyters. both elders and ministers of
the Word and Sacrament. These governing bodies shall be called
session, presbytery. synod, and the General Assembly (Book of
Order, G-9.0100).

All governing bodies of the Church are united by nature of the
Church and share with one another responsibilities, rights. and
powers as provided in this Constitution. The governing bodies are

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