Bishop Hanson Presents 'State of the ELCA' Report
Speaking to the thousands gathered for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Churchwide Assembly in Orlando, Fla., the Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson explained the state of the ELCA with an exegesis on its name.
"The state of the ELCA is really inseparable from how all 5 million baptized members would answer these questions," said Hanson, according to ELCA news service. "How is it with your soul? Your walk with Jesus? How do you live out your baptism?"
He started his report by explaining the term “Evangelical” and challenging members to live up to that name by claiming “boldly, humbly and clearly that we are evangelicals” who proclaim "the good news of Jesus Christ."
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"In our culture, everything presses us in a different direction than this good news" of justification by faith through God's grace, Hanson said. "In this culture we are valued for what we accomplish and for what we accumulate."
Therefore, Hanson said, “as long as there is one unchurched or dechurched person who does not know the story of Jesus in our townships or workplaces, our classrooms or car pools or families, we are called to invite that person as the Samaritan woman left the well to invite her friends to come and see Jesus."
Hanson described the next term, “Lutheran,” as being "always evangelical, ecumenical and reforming."
He said the challenge is “to build upon the strong foundational themes of the ongoing Lutheran Reformation and be sure that they, rather than the ethnic identities of European immigrant ancestors, become that which shapes our identity as a reforming movement in the church catholic, a church engaged in God's mission for the life of the world."
The third term in the name, “Church” was seen in light of ecumenism.
“The unity of the church as the Body of Christ is not a goal to be attained, but a fact to be recognized. According to this image, the church is not to achieve unity, but to act as the unified body that we already are … so that the world might believe,” he said, quoting German pastor and author Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Hanson said the ecumenical work of the ELCA surrounded the establishment of five full communion partnerships and the recommendation for an interim Eucharistic Sharing agreement with UMC.
He then suggested that the ELCA "explore the possibility of a joint declaration on the Eucharist" with Roman Catholics "as one way of celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation in 2017,” according to ELCA news.
"Now is the time for Pope Benedict [XVI], the Ecumenical Patriarch in Istanbul, and the Anglican and Lutheran Communions to convene a global, ecumenical council on the Christian interpretation of Scripture" in order to address "a global identity crisis ... due to the dominance today of a fundamentialist-millenialist-apacolypticist reading of Scripture," Hanson said.
Describing the last part of the denomination’s name, Hanson said “America” stands to show “we are a public church.”
"Can we as a church convene and be participants in public conversations of moral deliberation? We must acknowledge the complexity of issues, and call for civility in our discourse. But we must also recognize that categories of morality apply not only to the behavior of individuals, but to the actions of nations or corporations, and, yes, churches as well,” he said.
He then exhorted ordained ministers "to be witnesses to and instruments of God's peace and reconciliation for the world" and "committed to justice in the life of the church and society and in the world."
Hanson closed his report by asking voting members and guests to lay hands upon one another as he prayed that the Holy Spirit "confirm their faith, guide their lives, empower them in their serving, give them patience in suffering, and bring them to everlasting life."
There are 2,300 participating in the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, which is held every two years. There are 1,018 ELCA voting members, and the theme for the biennial assembly is “Marked with the Cross of Christ Forever.”
