For Immediate Release
December 14, 2012
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and North American Lutheran Church Leaders Meet
A consultation was held on 13-14 December 2012 between representatives of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) and North American Lutheran Church (NALC). The meeting was held as a continuation of a conversation begun in December, 2011 at the invitation of the LCMS. NALC had also committed itself in its formal ecumenical statement to meetings with the LCMS. The meeting took place at the LCMS Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne, IN.
The NALC was represented by Bishop John Bradosky and Emeritus Bishop Paull Spring, Dr. James Nestingen (retired seminary professor), Rev. David Wendel (NALC Assistant to the Bishop for Ministry and Ecumenism), and Rev. Mark Chavez (NALC General Secretary). President Matthew Harrison, Dr. Albert Collver (Assistant for Church Relations), Rev. John Pless (CTSFW professor), Dr. Joel Lehenbauer and Rev. Larry Vogel from the Commission on Theology and Church Relations were the LCMS representatives. President Robert Bugbee represented the Lutheran Church—Canada.
Among his comments on the meeting, Bishop Bradosky said, "I am deeply grateful for this developing relationship between the NALC, the LCMS and the Lutheran Church—Canada. Our discussion on the Gospel and Scripture was a significant and timely topic. We are blessed by our common commitment to biblical authority and theological, confessional integrity.”
President Harrison expressed “I am extremely pleased and pleasantly surprised by the high degree of agreement we have on the Word of God.”
Topic for the discussion focused on “The Relationship between the Gospel and the Scriptures.” There was also discussion of theological and ecumenical issues facing each church. Areas of cooperative work between the church bodies were also considered. The meetings between the churches will continue with the next meeting planned for May 2013 in Dallas, TX.
Contact:
Joel Lehenbauer joel.lehenbauer@lcms.org
Albert Collver albert.colver@lcms.org
David Wendel dwendel@thenalc.org
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Let us all pray that one day soon all Confessional Lutherans will be in full fellowship, and maybe, if God's will, they will one day merge to form one Confessional Lutheran Church of America.
ReplyDeleteThere must be potential for fellowship. Otherwise, why bother continuing to talk? I hope the NALC continues to become more confessional as time progresses.
ReplyDelete