We’ve been waiting several months now for this new “reconfiguration of Lutheranism in North America” promised us by Lutheran CORE, which is overseeing the formation of an alternative to members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The ELCA, as you may remember from last August, voted back then to allow gay clergy and opened the doors to same-sex unions further down the road.
Today, on the anniversary of Martin Luther’s death (in 1546), CORE has announced the denomination-to-be will be called the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). More concrete deliberations will happen during Lutheran CORE’s 2010 convocation Aug. 26-27 in Columbus, Ohio, so for now the proposal is on the table for discussion.
I’m certainly glad for this update, but I wish Julia Duin had given us more information. Even the little she has provided isn’t fully consistent. At one point, she cites an ELCA official’s report that 220 congregations had so far voted (as of Feb. 3rd) to leave the denomination, and later she says 229. But as she notes, in the ELCA it takes two separate congregational votes, at least 90 days apart, and by a hefty 2/3 super majority each time, in order to disaffiliate. So it’s safe to say that it’s too early to know just how many parishes may be part of the initial launch of the NALC.
But regardless of how few congregations it may start out with, I think the future is indeed bright for this new movement. I certainly wish them the best in the daunting but exciting adventure of launching a whole new denomination. It’s certainly interesting that the new NALC, like the Anglican ACNA, will be intentionally international from the start, spanning at least the border between the Canada and the US (I don’t know about Mexico yet).
Great news to go out on the feast day of Martin Luther yesterday, who entered into glory on Feb. 18th, 1546. May his feisty, faithful, magnanimous spirit live on in this new movement that bears his name. But may it bear even more of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
David Handy+
Would that they had gone ahead and named their incipient church what many who formed ELCA back in the 1980s wanted to name that new church: the Evangelical Catholic Church.
My prayers are with them. I hope that ACNA and NALC can work closely together, and that we (Anglicans) can perhaps help them to establish an episcopate in historic succession. (Yes, I know the objections that may raise, at least from the Lutheran side.)