The Church Council of the Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession, Czech Republic, wrote to the bishop of the ELCA Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod to report it will propose ending its companion synod relationship with the synod because of the assembly decision. Next month, the church’s assembly will consider the proposal, said the Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director, ELCA Global Mission.
“We are still in conversation with that church to see if this means severing the relationship with the ELCA or the companion synod,” Malpica Padilla told the ELCA Conference of Bishops, which met here Oct. 1-6. The ELCA’s 65 synods maintain more than 120 companion synod relationships, through which the synod and its international partner pledge to support each other, share resources and engage in mission.
One international congregation, the Lutheran Church of Guam, intends to end its ELCA relationship because of the assembly decision, Malpica Padilla said.
Why are these ECLA people surprised? What else would they have expected? It must be a ruse of some sort because no one could actually be that numb.
Intercessor
Intercessor, there are none so blind as those who will not see.
“It’ll all blow over in 3, … 4 months, tops.”
“Of course, the ECUSA/TEC/GCC/EO-PAC version is still running 6+ years, but this time, it’ll be DIFFERENT.”
[blockquote] ELCA synod bishops were asked to maintain contact with leaders of ELCA full communion and ecumenical partners. “We really need you to interpret information about the churchwide assembly, to clarify and explain information,” said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop. [/blockquote]
Interpret, clarify, and explain an assembly’s decision. It seems like I recently heard that elsewhere.
It ain’t working (the interpret, clarify, and explain). There is a lot of anger in the ELCA these days. I’m sure there will be severe financial consequences.
This is rather strange: nearly all the large Lutheran churches in Europe publicly bless same-sex relationships – Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark being foremost amongst them.
Re: #6,
And so? Even if you had added “most of the Union of Utrecht Old Catholic churches of central Europe,” you would still be talking about bodies that are theologically apostate and rapidly emptying of people.
Responding to #6 (Fr Mark)
I think one of the differences is that the percentage of worshippers at these “very large” Lutheran Churches in Europe is very, very small.
In North America, South America, Africa, and Asia, we still try to following Holy Scripture and the Book of Concord.
As an ELCA pastor I can tell you that the proverbial manure has hit the fan among many people.
No, the membership of the German Lutheran Church (30% of 80 million people), the Churches of Sweden, Norway and Denmark (in each case c. 80% of their respective populations totalling c. 21 million) is huge compared to Lutheran churches elsewhere. Plus, oddly enough, Germany is, after all where Luther actually started the whole thing off.
You cannot extrapolate from North American views of numbers of worshippers to the situation in ANY European church. All major denominations across Europe are experiencing massive decline in worshippers, the chief decline being in that ultra-conservative body, the Roman Catholic Church, in fact. It is the US which has been different until recently, though the signs are that the US is also now entering the same phase of decline in its major denominations too.
… and when I say membership, I mean that all these people in Germany and Scandinvavia are members enough to be happy to pay a fairly hefty amount of tax to the Church annually, hardly a sign of lack of commitment to it!