Full Communion
The United Methodist Church has agreed to enter into a relationship of Full Communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
I received much of my theological education (including my divinity degree) from an institution of the UMC. I like Methodism. I like its emphasis on grace and its call to develop a holy life. The Wesley brothers are cool by me as well.
And yet I receive news of this agreement with some ambivalence. Don’t get me wrong, I have equal ambivalence for our other relationships as well. Trust me, this isn’t a “Pick-on-the-Methodists” kind of a post. Of all the other Protestants, you guys rank pretty high with me. I keep reading words like “missional” as a reason for the agreements that now ring hollow because I have seen very little difference on the ground in the more than a decade since we started entering into formal relationships with other church bodies. [Please note: don't send me your exceptions to the rule, I know they exist, as I have seen a *few* exceptions, especially with campus ministries].
Here’s the thing: I don’t see the point. Unless we are re-incorporating ourselves into another a new structure that actually does away with the distinctions of Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, whatever, then there is still division. And maybe division isn’t so bad. I have this gut feeling that the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus wasn’t referring to organizational identity.
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Of course, maybe this is a good thing and I shouldn’t be so skeptical. Maybe this will allow for smaller churches to be yoked together in spite of denominational identity. Maybe there will be a three point parish of three different traditions that can be served by one pastor. Maybe I am not seeing the big picture. Maybe this is the ELCA taking a step to removing its head from its arse in the candidacy process and allowing candidates to receive solid theological educations at seminaries outside the ELCA circle (just a note: you can receive a solid one at ELCA sems too). I would like this to be a good thing…
May 1, 2008 at 10:27 am
Thanks for your thoughts and general appreciation for our tribe. We UM folks like this Luther guy that you guys talk about too.
In any case, I agree with your thoughts on Jesus’ high priestly prayer – missional unity and organizational unity aren’t necessarily the same thing. In the end, I’m pretty sure this announcement will be received by most of the world with a resounding yawn.
May 1, 2008 at 11:23 am
Yo LP,
Your article brings up a point that I’ve been thinking for a while. With all of these mergers between different mainline protestant congregations, are we moving toward a sort of protestant umbrella organization? “Mainline Christian Church” let’s call it…
If so…what would be the negatives and positives of such a move. I can see both. It would, in many ways, revolutionize campus ministry work.
On another note, as a guy who constantly proclaims that “it says ‘Lutheran’ outside our door, not what kind”, I’m actually interested in how this works out for y’all…
May 1, 2008 at 11:32 am
*yawn* Well, there’s one.
I’m with you on this one, LP. I know we don’t agree on some of the theological aspects of some of these agreements, but we are in lockstep when it comes to what Jesus meant in John 17, the basis for much of what’s going on.
My wife works at a Presbyterian church at the moment, so I suppose that’s one of the positives that has come out of this ecumenical fervor, but you’re right – the exceptions don’t seem to leap out as strong reasons to be excited about this stuff.
May 1, 2008 at 12:03 pm
You statement about the theological education makes some sense. My daughter studied under a Luther scholar, did an internship at a Lutheran Church, but because the institution overseeing those classes and internship was Presbyterian, she still had to do a year at a Lutheran Sem and so a real Lutheran internship. That’s a lot of schooling and time and money, and still she hasn’t been given the name of a church for an interview.
May 2, 2008 at 1:43 am
In general I think it’s a good thing. I don’t know how it will pan out in the real world but at least it’s an attempt (as I see it) to say that we are all in this Christianity thing together.
May 2, 2008 at 1:58 pm
What concerns me is if we begin to give up what is distinctive to our own tradition. Lutherans have a high view of the Sacrament of the Altar, for example, and place a great deal of emphasis on God’s initiative. I think that pastors who cross traditions to serve in another have to be mindful of these realities. Lutherans challenge us Anglicans to keep in mind Jesus and Gospel, and God’s ever-prior saving activity. I have a little “holy envy”, to use the late Krister Stendahl’s recommendation.
May 2, 2008 at 2:17 pm
For the last four years I have been studying side by side with several members of the UMC. We have had some great discussions concerning our differences and simialrities. To this end, we have been in communion with one another all along, and now it is official. I for one welcome this agreement and the opportunity to share more of the things we have in common.