Mennonite-Lutheran Dialogue
| The Lutheran Church | |
|---|---|
 | |
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Founder |
Martin Luther |
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Membership |
Millions worldwide |
ELCA - MCUSA Conversations, 2002-2004
Representatives of the Mennonite Church USA (MCUSA) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met in Goshen, Indiana February 21-24, 2002, beginning the first in a series of dialogues between the two denominations. Included in this round of conversation were reflections upon the Protestant Reformation, the experience of each church in the North American context, and the role and authority of confessional writings. A key element in the dialogue was an examination of the persecution of Anabaptists by Lutherans and others, and the healing of those painful memories. In the course of this first round, the dialogue explored each church’s hermeneutic for interpreting Scripture, the role and authority of Church structures, and the relationship between Church and state.
From February of 2002 until March of 2004, topics included baptism, the Lord’s Supper, nonresistance and non-violence, pacifism and the Gospel of peace, anthropology and free will, and others. Throughout the dialogue, members of congregations were given opportunities to meet with and discuss these issues as the group sought to deepen levels of trust and cooperation between our two church bodies. Their continued hope is that our deepening fellowship will strengthen both faith communities for mission in the world.[1]
At the conclusion of the dialogues in 2004, the ELCA-MCUSA Liason Committee issued a summary report titled Right Remembering in Anabaptist-Lutheran Relations (.pdf), which included recommendations for future relations between the two denominations. In November 2006, the ELCA Church Council followed up on these recommendations by adopting the Declaration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American on the Condemnation of the Anabaptists (.pdf).
Stuttgart 2010
"STUTTGART, Germany (RNS/ENInews) A global Lutheran assembly in Germany has asked for forgiveness for the 16th-century persecution of Anabaptists, the religious reformers whose modern-day descendants include Mennonites. “We remember how Anabaptist Christians knew suffering and persecution, and we remember how some of our most honored Reformation leaders defended this persecution in the name of faithfulness,” said Bishop Mark Hanson, president of the Lutheran World Federation, at a joint service of repentance with Mennonites on July 22." Excerpt taken from The Christian Index, accessed here.
