Lutheran, Episcopal Heads Emphasize Reconciliation at Global Mission Event

The partnership between the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) and the Episcopal Church, USA, received “strong affirmation” Thursday as the Global Mission Event (GME) opened at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

ECUSA Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold and ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson, who also heads the Lutheran World Federation, offered keynote addresses at the GME opening ceremony, inviting the more than 1,300 participants "to be engaged in God's mission of reconciliation together as fellow guests, walking in the light of Christ, walking in the way of Christ."

"In the promise of the gospel, you and I are welcomed and sent as God's guests. What a holy calling it is that we share," Hanson said Thursday, according to ELCA News Service.

Earlier in his address, the Lutheran head encouraged participants to ask themselves "what it means to be sent, to participate in God's mission [of reconciliation] for the sake of the world.”

"What if from the moment of our first breath until our last dying gasp, our self-understanding was that we bear the image of God to live in community as God's guests, stewards of the mysteries of God's grace?" he asked.

In Griswold’s address, the Episcopal head reiterated a message of reconciliation to GME participants, stating that the work of the Father is a "massive, undeniable act of reconciliation."

"The mission we share is for the sake of the world," he said, according to ECLA News. "It is important that we always remember that."

Since the Episcopal Church and ELCA entered into a relationship of "full communion" on January 1, 2001 – after thirty years of dialogue with one another – a strong relationship has existed between the two church bodies.

Upholding the importance of the partnership with ELCA, Griswold underscored that full communion is more than just sharing the sacrament.

"Reconciliation is very much the core of God's project, God's work in the world, and we through our baptism are caught up in the work," he said, according to the Episcopal News Service.

The Episcopal head explained that the reconciliation of the world has already taken place when God reconciled the world unto himself. "Reconciliation is our participation in what God has done in Christ and our role is to remove the impediments that exist to enable the world to see that reconciliation has occurred ... and the light of Christ can shine forth," he said.

Under the theme "Sent by God's grace for the sake of the world," some 1,300 participants of all ages from the United States and around the world are meeting at the University of Massachusetts for plenary sessions, a "Global Fest" with food and music from cultures around the world, keynote presenters, more than 50 Global University workshop sessions, global music and worship.

Also, through special programming for children and high school students, young participants will be learning how to live as faithful Christians in a global culture, the Episcopal News Service reported.

On Saturday, Alexander Baumgarten, international policy analyst for the Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations, will join the Rev. Lisandro Orlov of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentina, and others on a panel that will focus on ministry, faith and challenge in the Latin American context and explore how different denominations are working "to establish God's reign on earth."

Other highlights will include general sessions with: He Qi, one of China's most internationally sought-after contemporary Christian artists who is professor at the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary and a tutor for master candidate students in the Philosophy Department of Nanjing University; and the Al-Raja (Hope) Folkloric Dance Troupe, whose members are Palestinian Christian and Muslim students from the Lutheran School of Hope in Ramallah.

The GME will conclude on the morning of Sunday, July 30, with a Eucharist service with Wahu Kaara, Millennium Development Goals campaign program coordinator at the All Africa Council of Churches in Nairobi, Kenya, and a 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, as guest preacher.

The four-day meeting is being co-sponsored by The Episcopal Church and endorsed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.