Anglicans and Lutherans
Posted on Saturday 15th March, 2008
An important part of our work as the Anglican church in Denmark is to deepen understanding and friendships bewteen our own tradition and that of other Christian traditions.
The majority of Danish people are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark (Den Danske Folkekirke) – a good website is maintained by their Council for International Relations which oversees the Folkekirke’s relations with other Churches: http://www.interchurch.dk/mkreng/
You may also like to know that there is an Anglican-Lutheran Society which promotes partnership between the Anglican and Lutheran Churches: http://www.anglican-lutheran-society.org/index.htm
See also: http://www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/OEA/Bilateral_Relations/OEA-Anglican-Lutheran.html
You might also like to look at the website of the “Porvoo Churches”: http://www.porvoochurches.org
The Common Statement of those Anglican and Lutheran Churches of Northern Europe and the Baltic that signed over a decade ago, known as the Porvoo Statement, includes the following Declaration:
a i we acknowledge one another’s churches as churches belonging to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ and truly participating in the apostolic mission of the whole people of God; ii we acknowledge that in all our churches the Word of God is authentically preached, and the sacraments of baptism and the eucharist are duly administered; iii we acknowledge that all our churches share in the common confession of the apostolic faith; iv we acknowledge that one another’s ordained ministries are given by God as instruments of his grace and as possessing not only the inward call of the Spirit, but also Christ’s commission through his Body, the Church; v we acknowledge that personal, collegial and communal oversight (episcope) is embodied and exercised in all our churches in a variety of forms, in continuity of apostolic life, mission and ministry; vi we acknowledge that the episcopal office is valued and maintained in all our churches as a visible sign expressing and serving the Church’s unity and continuity in apostolic life, mission and ministry. b We commit ourselves: i to share a common life in mission and service, to pray for and with one another, and to share resources; ii to welcome one another’s members to receive sacramental and other pastoral ministrations; iii to regard baptized members of all our churches as members of our own; iv to welcome diaspora congregations into the life of the indigenous churches, to their mutual enrichment; v to welcome persons episcopally ordained in any of our churches to the office of bishop, priest or deacon to serve, by invitation and in accordance with any regulations which may from time to time be in force, in that ministry in the receiving church without re-ordination; vi to invite one another’s bishops normally to participate in the laying on of hands at the ordination of bishops as a sign of the unity and continuity of the Church; vii to work towards a common understanding of diaconal ministry; viii to establish appropriate forms of collegial and conciliar consultation on significant matters of faith and order, life and work; ix to encourage consultations of representatives of our churches, and to facilitate learning and exchange of ideas and information in theological and pastoral matters; x to establish a contact group to nurture our growth in communion and to co-ordinate the implementation of this agreement.We recommend that this agreement and our new relationship be inaugurated and affirmed by three central celebrations of the eucharist at which all our churches would be represented. These celebrations would be a sign of: our joyful acceptance of one another; our joint commitment in the faith and sacramental life of the Church; our welcome of the ministers and members of the other churches as our own; our commitment to engage in mission together. These celebrations would include: the reading and signing of the Porvoo Declaration; a central prayer of thanksgiving for the past and petition for the future, offered by Lutherans for Anglicans and Anglicans for Lutherans; the exchange of the Peace; a jointly celebrated eucharist; other verbal and ceremonial signs of our common life.
C Wider Ecumenical Commitment
We rejoice in our agreement and the form of visible unity it makes possible. We see in it a step towards the visible unity which all churches committed to the ecumenical movement seek to manifest. We do not regard our move to closer communion as an end in itself, but as part of the pursuit of a wider unity. This pursuit will involve the following:
strengthening the links which each of our churches has with other churches at local, national and international level;
deepening relationships within and between our two world communions and supporting efforts towards closer communion between Anglican and Lutheran churches in other regions, especially in relation to agreements being developed in Africa and North America;
developing further existing links with other world communions, especially those with whom we have ecumenical dialogues and agreements;
supporting together our local, national and regional ecumenical councils, the Conference of European Churches and the World Council of Churches.
The common inheritance and common calling of our churches, spelt out in this agreement, makes us conscious of our obligation to contribute jointly to the ecumenical efforts of others. At the same time we are aware of our own need to be enriched by the insights and experience of churches of other traditions and in other parts of the world. Together with them we are ready to be used by God as instruments of his saving and reconciling purpose for all humanity and creation.
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