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.
