LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 78

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78 SYNODICAL REPORTS

the Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa, serves as ed-
itor of ILC News.

The ILC meets in conference every two years. It met most re-
cently in August of 2003, in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil under the theme
“Ministering to the Pastor’s Family.” On March 31—April 4, 2004,
the ILC, under the direction of its “Seminary” Relations Commit-
tee, is sponsoring a world conference of representatives from ILC
churches responsible for training pastors in Erfurt, Germany. The
theme of this conference is “Luther and the Work of the Pastor.”

The next Conference of the ILC will be held in Berlin, Germany
August 27—September 3, 2005, under the theme “What Does It
Mean to be Confessional?”

2. Christian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bolivia

In March 2003, Brother Mario Delgado, President of the Chris-
tian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bolivia (CELCB), wrote a let-
ter to LCMS President Kieschnick, expressing the desire of his
church body to enter into church fellowship with The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod. In response to this request, President
Kieschnick and Dr. Nafzger met with representatives from the
CELCB in Cochabamba, Bolivia, August 31-September 2, 2003. A
second meeting scheduled for March 2-4 had to be cancelled
because of the inability of the representatives from the CELCB to
obtain visas to enter the U.S.A.

The CELCB came into being as a result of the work of the
Lutheran Mission of Norway. It became a legally recognized orga-
nization in 1997. Today it is a church body of about 1,500 baptized
members in 30 congregations. It has 10 pastors and 20 workers
(evangelists and deacons). The CELCB was received as a member
of the International Lutheran Council in 2001 and shortly thereafter
entered into altar and pulpit fellowship with the IELB in Brazil, a
sister church of the LCMS.

3. Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK) traces its
origin to 1948 when a representative of a Swedish Mission Society
came to Kenya. Three other mission societies were also involved in
the early history and formation of the ELCK, together with the
World Mission Prayer League from the U.S.A.

The most recent statistics show that the ELCK has a member-
ship of approximately 70,000 members. It has 110 pastors and 185
evangelists who serve a non-sacramental ministry under the super-
vision of pastors in 440 congregations.

Initial contacts between representatives of the LCMS and the
ELCK took place in April 2000. These contacts were renewed in
January 2003. In July 2003, Bishop Walter Obare, Bishop of the
ELCK, wrote a letter to LCMS President Kieschnick indicating the
desire of the ELCK to enter into church fellowship with the LCMS.

Doctrinal discussions between the ELCK and the LCMS have
taken place in two meetings. The first meeting was held in Nairobi,
Kenya on November 26, 2003. Representing the LCMS in this
meeting were Rev. Daniel Preus, First Vice President of the LCMS,
Rev. Ken Greinke, Acting Africa Area Director, and Vicar Scott
Yakimow. A second meeting was held in St. Louis on January
27-28, 2004. Representing the LCMS in this second round of dis-
cussions were President Gerald Kieschnick, Vice President Daniel
Preus, Dr. Samuel Nafzger, CTCR, Drs. Robert Roegner and
Daniel Mattson, Board for Mission Services, and Dr. David Scaer,
Professor of Theology at Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft.
Wayne, Indiana.

The President of the Synod, Dr. Kieschnick, forwarded to the
Commission the report from these discussions which concluded
that doctrinal agreement exists between the LCMS and the ELCK,
together with his recommendation that the Synod enter into church
fellowship with the ELCK. The Commission on Theology at its
February 2004 meeting unanimously recommended that the LCMS

2004 Convention Workbook

declare itself to be in altar and pulpit fellowship with the Evangel-
ical Lutheran Church in Kenya. Overture 3-01 from the Commis-
sion recommends that the Synod at its 2004 convention formally
declare altar and pulpit fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Kenya.

4. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

When the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America came into
existence on January 1, 1988,-as the result of a merger of the Amer-
ican Lutheran Church, the Association of Evangelical Lutheran
Churches, and the Lutheran Church in America, the Committee for
Lutheran Cooperation (CLC) was organized. Composed of six rep-
resentatives from each church body, the CLC meets twice each
year. In keeping with the purpose established for it, the CLC dis-
cusses relationships between the ELCA and the LCMS, and it re-
views and monitors cooperative endeavors carried out by the two
church bodies. Such cooperative endeavors include separately in-
corporated inter-Lutheran agencies.such as Lutheran World Relief,
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, Lutheran Resources
Commission, Lutheran Education Conference of North America,
and Lutheran Film Associates.

Presently serving as representatives to the CLC are the following:
LCMS—Dr. Gerald Kieschnick, Rev. Daniel Preus, Dr. William
Hoesman, Dr. Raymond Hartwig, Dr. Thomas Kuchta, and Dr.
Samuel Nafzger,; ELCA—Bishop Mark Hanson, Dr. Lowell Almen,
Mr. Carlos Pefia, Dr. Charles Miller, Dr. Randall Lee, and the chair of
the ELCA Conference of Bishops, Dr. E. Roy Riley.

In 2001 the LCMS adopted Resolution 3-21A which, affirming
that “we cannot consider them [the ELCA] to be an orthodox
Lutheran Church body,” asked that “current cooperative pastoral
working arrangements with the ELCA be evaluated by the [LCMS]
Praesidium with results and recommendations [to be] reported to
the next Synodical convention.”

In order to discuss relationships between the LCMS and the
ELCA, a discussion panel was set up by President Kieschnick and
Bishop Hanson. The first in a series of two dialogues was held on
November 11, 2003, in Baltimore and the second will be in St.
Louis on April 15, 2004. (See Report of the President of the Synod.)

In view of recent developments in the Episcopal Church USA
(with which the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America [ELCA]
is in full communion), the Commission adopted at its September
2003 meeting a resolution supporting the witness of the President
of the Synod regarding this matter.

Resolved, That the following statement be adopted by the Com-
mission:

Wuereas, The Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) has authorized the

consecration of an openly homosexual clergyman as Bishop of the Dio-
cese of New Hampshire; and

Wuerzas, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
and the ECUSA are in full communion with each other and their bish-
ops participate in the consecration of each other’s bishops; and

WHEREAS, The Bishop of the New England Synod of the ELCA has
expressed her intention to participate in the consecration of the Bishop
of the Diocese of New Hampshire; and

WuereEas, The ECUSA has approved the blessing of same-sex
unions and the ELCA has established a timeline in which to make a de-
cision regarding the same; and

WHEREAS, Theologians, clergy and laypersons of the ELCA and the
Anglican communion have themselves expressed vigorous dissent from
these decisions (e.g., a statement altributed to Peter Akinola of Nigeria,
Archbishop of the world’s largest Anglican church body, declaring this
bishop’s election to be a “Satanic attack on God’s church”); therefore be it

Resolved, That the CTCR commend the President of The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod for addressing this issue in his remarks to the
ELCA Assembly on August 13, 2003, noting that the ECUSA decision
regarding same-sex relationships “constitutes a momentous break from the
Christian Church’s 2000 year long understanding of what the Holy Scrip-
tures teach about homosexual behavior as contrary to God’s will and the
biblical qualifications for holding the pastoral office”; and be it further