[May 30, 2000 - DNS] "Evangelization" was the major focus of a May 18-24 meeting of the 16-member Disciples of Christ-Roman Catholic International Dialogue Commission which gathered at the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The Most Rev. Basil Meeking, emeritus bishop of Christchurch, New Zealand, presented a paper for the Roman Catholic Church which outlined basic understandings of "mission," "evangelization," and "witness" in relation to the church's teaching and its unity. The Rev. Paul A. Crow, Jr., retired ecumenical officer for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and co-chairperson of the Commission, prepared the Disciples paper on "Mission, Evangelism and Ecclesiology among the Disciples of Christ."

Four Bible studies were also offered, related to the theme of the meeting, that informed the commission's discussion and dialogue. The Rev. Eugene Boring, professor of New Testament at Brite Divinity School in Ft. Worth, Texas, explored the importance and impact of Psalm 90. Msgr. John Meier, professor at the University of Notre Dame (Ind.), explored basic understandings of gospel and evangelism in the New Testament as a whole, while giving particular attention to the Gospel of Mark.

Discussion throughout the week sought to identify both common understandings and differences between Disciples and Roman Catholics around the meeting theme, as well as to name issues which challenge both traditions as each engages in witness and evangelism in today's world.

An "agreed account" of the dialogue affirmed that the Church is "by nature a missionary community, a community of those who are sent by God into the world to share in the proclamation of the good news of the sovereign action of God to redeem the world (Matthew 28:18-20)."

In carrying out the task of evangelization, both churches took note of the challenge to the relationship between the gospel and today's culture. In the agreed account it was acknowledged that the gospel "has to be preached to a world in which local and regional cultures are being displaced by a media-constructed consumerist world-view that presents the acquisition of costly things as the key to a full life."

The meeting was enriched by the visit of the full commission to the Wyndholme Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, to participate in its Sunday morning worship service. While there, the Most Rev. Daniel Buechlein, Archbishop of Indianapolis and co-chairperson of the commission, delivered the sermon.

This meeting was the seventh session in this third phase of international dialogue between Disciples of Christ and the Roman Catholic Church (1994-2002) that has explored the overall theme: "The Individual and the Church." It is anticipated that the next two sessions (2001 and 2002) will produce an agreed statement bringing together insights and common affirmations from work of the previous meetings.

The Rev. Robert K. Welsh, president of the Council of Christian Unity, serves as staff to the dialogue team on behalf of the Disciples of Christ. Msgr. John Mutiso-Mbinda, secretary in the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in the Vatican, serves as staff from the Roman Catholic Church.

by The Rt Rev Michael Bourke, Anglican Bishop of Wolverhampton, England
Annual General Meeting of the Anglican - Lutheran Society, London on 18 March 2000

[LWI] For historic reasons, the English churches have always had closer links with the Reformed on the Continent than with the Lutherans. I would say that Anglican encounters with Lutheranism have uncovered a mixture of ignorance, striking similarity and fascinating strangeness.

What Anglicans have discovered is a delightful similarity between our traditions. Our churches, in England and in Germany, are folk churches with a parish system, and a sense of responsibility for public life as well as private piety. There are similar liturgical forms and fine traditions of liturgical music and choral worship.

Anglicans have always envied the way in which Lutherans preserved their monastic buildings and their medieval treasures of church art... In contrast our English churches betray the scars of the Puritan cultural revolution from which very little survived. It was left to Sir Christopher Wren in the 17th century and the Oxford movement in the 19th century to make our churches beautiful again. I have sometimes wondered if England’s loss of so much pre-Reformation church art has contributed to the Anglican insistence on episcopacy as a ‘visible sign’ ― in our case virtually the only visible sign of ecclesiastical continuity.

[Washington - ELCA News] The "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification," signed by representatives of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Vatican on Oct. 31, 1999, in Augsburg, Germany, did more than declare that certain 16th century condemnations between Lutherans and Catholics no longer apply. The formula used to reach that conclusion will influence talks between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

"We've found not only a profound sense of agreement on something at the heart of who we are as Christians, but we've also developed a methodology that seems to have worked," said the Most Rev. Richard J. Sklba, auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Sklba is the Roman Catholic co-chair of the dialogue, which met May 4-7 here at St. Paul's College.

"We've come to feel comfortable with a statement that says when one group affirms this -- whatever the 'this' may be, depending on the topic under discussion -- that's not necessarily to deny what the other group may be saying about a slightly different approach to the same topic," said Sklba.

The Lutheran co-chair of the dialogue, the Rev. Charles H. Maahs, bishop of the ELCA Central States Synod, Shawnee Mission, Kan., said, "There was a methodology in use during previous dialogues that may be an example for us to follow."

Using the Joint Declaration "as a model is very helpful," he said. The current tenth round of ELCA-Roman Catholic talks will probably produce a technical theological statement. "At the same time we want to be able to summarize what we're saying in a statement that can be used and understood by people in the pews," said Maahs.

"The Church as Koinonia of Salvation: Its Structures and Ministries" is the title of the round. "Koinonia" is an anglicized Greek word that appears several times in the Christian Bible and is translated as "fellowship, a close mutual relationship; participation, sharing in; partnership; contribution, gift." The dialogue is taking up issues of koinonia as they relate to "ordained ministry and structures of church unity."

The USCCB and the U.S.A. National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation initiated the first round of the "bilateral" dialogue that began in 1965. It has produced a number of common statements on such topics as Scriptures, saints and justification by faith. There was a five-year break between the ninth and tenth rounds while the churches studied the Joint Declaration.

"We have a variety of experiences that come to the table," said Sklba. The Joint Declaration is a new influence on the talks, which involve several "veterans." "We have some folks who have come back again and again for topic after topic over the past 35 years," said Sklba. "They bring a great deal of wisdom and a certain sense of how these dialogues have preceded in the past."

"People who have been involved in dialogue for more than 30 years understand that it does take time," said Maahs. "Some of us who are new may think that we can get to our goal a lot quicker, but it does require a significant amount of study and conversation together," he said. "We have to remember that we've got a broad subject here," said Maahs. "We're talking about koinonia. We're talking about salvation. We're talking about structures of ministries. There is a lot of literature that is available on these subjects, and it is going to require some careful study as we move toward some kind of statement," he said.

Sklba cited two advances made at this particular meeting: "recognition that we experience God's gift of salvation in the context of a community" and "a growing understanding of the parallels between the function of a bishop in the Roman Catholic tradition and that of the Lutheran congregational pastor."

Koinonia means "we share this experience of God's salvation in a community and not as individuals alone. That's remarkable," said Sklba. "To realize that this basic conviction is shared by all the dialogue partners is very helpful," he said.

In the structures of ministry, Roman Catholic bishops and Lutheran pastors are "servants of authentic preaching and servants of the saving presence of Christ in the Eucharist," Sklba said.

The meeting included presentations by Lutherans:
+ the Rev. Scott S. Ickert, Resurrection Lutheran Church, Arlington, Va., on "Adiaphora, 'Ius Divinum' and Ministry: A Lutheran Perspective;" and
+ Dr. Michael Root, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, on "The Local Church and the Paradigmatic Pastor: The Way Beyond the Impasse?"

Roman Catholics made several presentations:
+ the Rev. Patrick Granfield, OSB, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., on "The Universality and Particularity of the Roman Catholic Church;"
+ Dr. Margaret O'Gara, University of St. Michael's College, Toronto, Ontario, on "A Roman Catholic Perspective on 'Ius Divinum;'"
+ Prof. Michael Slusser, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, on "Two Sacred Orders: Diaconate and Presbyterate;"
+ the Rev. Georges Tavard, AA, Brighton, Mass., on "The Tridentine Anathemas concerning Ministry and Ordination;" and
+ Dr. Susan K. Wood, SCL, St. John's University, Collegeville, Minn., on "The Teaching of Vatican II on Bishops and Priests."

"The opportunity to come together in respectful conversation is always a highlight for me," said Sklba. "The opportunity to pray with the different communities is another highlight."
In addition to prayers to open and close each day of the meeting, dialogue members worshiped together at the Roman Catholic Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on May 6 and at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation on May 7.

"Fear not" were first words Jesus uttered to his disciples after his resurrection, the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary and dialogue member, said during a reflection at the basilica. Christ's words are still relevant as Christians tackle issues that almost seem impossible to resolve, he said.

Almen quoted Pope John Paul II, who called the Joint Declaration a milestone. "Many more milestones must be passed along the journey toward ecumenical unity," said Almen.

"One of the those remaining divisions we experience this night," said Almen. He referred to a dialogue practice of celebrating the Lord's Supper in both traditions -- Lutherans receiving a blessing instead of the sacrament during the Roman Catholic mass and Roman Catholics receiving a blessing during the Lutheran service.

Worshiping together "not only lifts up our unity in Jesus Christ, but we can also see that there is still a separation that exists as we are not able to share in receiving the Eucharist," Maahs said later. "That's always a painful experience and may also point out that we still have distance to go in understanding how we structure our ministries. That's going to be an important task in the ongoing time that we are together in dialogue."

Other Lutheran members of the dialogue are: the Rev. Sarah Henrich, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.; the Rev. Winston D. Persaud, Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa; and the Rev. John H.P. Reumann, Philadelphia.

The other Roman Catholic member of the dialogue is the Rev. Joseph A. Fitzmyer, SJ, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. The Rev. Bertram F. Griffin, Mt. Angel Seminary, St. Benedict, Ore., has retired from the dialogue for health reasons.

The Rev. Charles P. Arand, chairman of the department of systematic theology and assistant dean of the faculty, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, serves as an observer to the dialogue for The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

The dialogue is staffed by Bro. Jeffrey Gros, FSC, and the Rev. John F. Hotchkin of the USCCB's Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and by the Rev. Randall R. Lee and the Rev. Darlis J. Swan of the ELCA Department for Ecumenical Affairs. The Rev. Daniel F. Martensen, director of the ELCA Department for Ecumenical Affairs, serves as a consultant to the dialogue.

Participants meet twice each year. The next meeting will be Nov. 29-Dec. 3 in Las Vegas.
"I'm very confident that next time we will be able to shape an outline or some direction that's going to begin to get us into some initial drafting," said Maahs. "That would be significant, because we will have only met five times in less than three years," he said. "The movement is good at this time."