This book - Centro de Estudos Anglicanos

CHANGING TIMES 153were prepared to decide (Episcopalians at their General Convention in July, Lutheransat their Churchwide Assembly in August) whether to accept the Concordatof Agreement. Before votes were taken, however, strong voices of opposition tothe concordat were heard, especially among Lutherans. The main Lutheran objectionechoed what Presbyterians had said during their discussions with the EpiscopalChurch in the 1940s: the concordat required Lutherans to recognize andaccept the historic episcopate. 84 Episcopalians who opposed the concordat (mainlyAnglo-Catholics) also objected to the way it dealt with the episcopate. Theyfocused, however, on a provision temporarily eliminating the requirement thatclergy had to be ordained by a “duly qualified” bishop in the historic succession.This provision, Episcopal critics argued, eliminated a fundamental principle ofAnglican faith and practice. 85Despite such objections, most observers thought the Concordat of Agreementrepresented a remarkably balanced and effective compromise with numerousbenefits. For instance, rather than competing against one another in sparsely populatedrural areas or in inner-city neighborhoods, Lutherans and Episcopalianscould coordinate their pastoral and evangelistic efforts and perhaps even formunited parishes. Such joint endeavors would not only boost the morale of smallcongregations but also provide demonstrable evidence of the importance of Christianunity. 86 As one Lutheran pastor observed, in the future there would be “noexcuse for building a Lutheran church on one corner of the street and an Episcopalchurch on the other.” 87Although Episcopalians voted overwhelmingly in favor of the concordat at theGeneral Convention in July 1997, the ELCA defeated the proposal at its ChurchwideAssembly in August. The majority of Lutheran representatives at the assemblysupported the concordat, but a two-thirds majority was required for passage,and the measure fell short by just a handful of votes. As the debates prior to thevote suggested, the major stumbling block had been the historic episcopate. Themain opposition to the concordat came from congregations that were steeped inthe confessional pietism prevalent in Lutheranism in the upper Midwest. 88Despite the defeat of the Concordat of Agreement in 1997, ecumenists fromthe two denominations recommitted themselves to achieving full communion. Inthe spring of 1998, the Lutherans released a document (“Called to CommonMission: A Lutheran Proposal for a Revision of the Concordat of Agreement”)in which the issue of the episcopate was again discussed, but in terms moreacceptable to traditional Lutheran views about ordained ministry. 89 After furtherdiscussion and revision of the document, “Called to Common Mission” was officiallyadopted by the ELCA in August 1999. Although Anglo-Catholics againobjected strenuously to provisions that downplayed distinctive Anglican teachingson the episcopate, the agreement was also ratified by Episcopalians at the GeneralConvention of 2000. 90 Having at last achieved consensus on full communion, theEpiscopal Church and the ELCA made plans to celebrate this achievement in ajoint service at the Washington National Cathedral in January 2001.