The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia (ELCL) is a member of the Lutheran World Federation (Lutheran World Federation). The ELCL describes its membership in the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in the “Ecumenism” section of its website, noting that the LWF “brings together almost all Lutheran churches in the world. The ecumenical movement has involved efforts not only to unite different churches, but also to find a common denominator among the members of one church (for example, the Lutherans).”
However, according to the information reported on the website of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, on 31 August 2018 a meeting of the bishops of conservative Lutheran churches is said to have taken place in Saldus. This conference is said to have been organised by the European region of the International Lutheran Council (International Lutheran Council) in cooperation with the ELCL. As reported on the website, “the ELCL is not yet a full member of the International Lutheran Council (ILC), but at the Synod in 2020 it will decide the question of full membership in this organisation”[1]. The choice of words seems interesting in this case – not “will deliberate” or “will discuss”, but “will decide” on membership in this organisation. It appears that everything is already clear to the authors of the news item, before the synod members have even been informed about the inclusion of such a question on the agenda.
Since 1963 the ELCL has been a member of the LWF; now it plans to become a member of the ILC. What do these two international organisations have in common, and what – sets them apart?
The Lutheran World Federation
The LWF was founded in 1947 in the Swedish city of Lund with the aim of coordinating the activities of various Lutheran churches in the challenging and difficult post-war conditions. Since 1984 the member churches of the LWF have been in mutual pulpit and altar fellowship. At present the LWF brings together nearly 80 million Lutherans in 148 churches in 99 countries. In its Lutheran identity, the LWF emphasises the evangelical, sacramental and diaconal, as well as the confessional and ecumenical, aspect.[2]
The core values of the organisation are stated to be dignity and justice, compassion and commitment, respect for diversity, inclusion and participation, transparency and accountability.[3]
Over many years the LWF has been involved in ecumenical dialogue with Roman Catholics, Anglicans, the Orthodox, Mennonites and others, but in recent years the LWF has also been discussing the creation of a closer communion among its member churches. As early as 2003 the LWF decided to expand its name, thereby marking its further intentions – “The Lutheran World Federation – a Communion of Churches” (The Lutheran World Federation – a Communion of Churches). In June 2018, addressing the LWF Council, General Secretary M. Junge did recall that the LWF is a global and polycentric communion in which there is no single centre that determines what it means to be a Lutheran. Member churches are invited to discuss and share their experience within the context in which they find themselves. Mutual dialogue and the promotion of theological education are what strengthen Lutheran identity.[4]
Among other things, in the past years the LWF has also been involved in dialogue with the International Lutheran Council, but this summer it announced a unilateral suspension of the talks until the second half of 2019, citing as the reasons hostile, aggressive and divisive conduct by the ILC outside official communication. Although the LWF regards the talks with the ILC as important, such conduct by the ILC is unacceptable to it.[5] The ILC, for its part, rejects such accusations.[6]
The matter most likely concerns the ILC Bylaws, the latest version of which (2017)[7] provides for conservative churches, organisations and individuals to participate in the ILC with a special status, while at the same time allowing them to continue being LWF member churches. Provided that interested parties agree with the doctrinal basis described in Article II, paragraph 1 of the Bylaws, it is possible to obtain the status of a voting member church, the status of an associate member church, the status of an observer church, the status of a recognised organisation, or the status of an individual person for participation in the International Lutheran Council. The ILC, for its part, considers that churches with dual membership in both the LWF and the ILC are a valuable bridge between the two world organisations. But the LWF evidently regards this simply as attempts by the ILC to lure those who think differently over to its side.
The International Lutheran Council
The origins of the ILC can be traced back to 1952, when conservatively minded churches that were dissatisfied with the LWF’s position on various theological issues first came together for an informal theological conference. The theme of the first meeting was “The relationship of our churches with the LWF”.[8] In this fellowship of conservative churches the leading one has always been the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, which remains the largest church within the ILC.[9] The second largest is the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (which, however, is nearly half the size of the ELCL[10]). As a council of member churches, the ILC was officially established in 1993, and at present it represents about 3.5 million Lutherans in 38 churches around the world.
In 1995 the ILC conference was also attended for the first time by the ELCL archbishop J. Vanags. One of the official documents of the conference at that time was a Letter of Recognition to the Lutheran Church in Latvia. Until 2005 J. Vanags was a regular participant in the ILC conferences.[11]
As the purpose of its existence the ILC sees the encouragement, strengthening and promotion of confessional Lutheran theology and practice among its member churches and throughout the world.[12] The ILC sees itself as a worldwide association formed by Lutheran churches which, in their proclamation of Jesus Christ, are grounded in unconditional commitment to the Holy Scriptures as the inspired and inerrant Word of God and to the Lutheran Confessions contained in the “Book of Concord” as a true and faithful exposition of the Word of God.[13]
As part of its ecumenical efforts, the ILC tries to build an informal dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church.[14] At the same time, for doctrinal reasons it has not accepted the “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification” (1999), which was jointly developed by representatives of the LWF and the Roman Catholic Church, and it has also expressed criticism in an official statement of the document “From Conflict to Communion” (2013).[15]
One of the most visible differences between the LWF and the ILC is the attitude towards women’s ordination. The ILC emphasises that “the historic Christian and apostolic teaching on this matter represents the truth revealed by God Himself”[16]. In 2015, in an encouraging letter to the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA), the ILC linked the non-ordination of women with the confession of Christ in these difficult times and expressed the hope that, by deciding not to ordain women, the Lutheran Church of Australia would thereby remain “in the unity of the one holy and catholic church”[17]. Among other things, the LCA pastors’ conference in July 2018 rejected, by a narrow majority of votes (119/96), the proposal to admit women to ordination. Since, in the LCA (similarly to the ELCL), the decisions of the pastors’ conference on doctrinal matters serve as guidelines for the church, this may influence the outcome on this issue at the upcoming LCA synod in October 2018. History repeats itself. It appears that the LWF, as in the case of Latvia, will once again be able to express its regret that yet another of its member churches has enshrined in its statutes a prohibition on women’s ordination.[18]
Related article: The issue of women’s ordination in Australia does not reach the 2/3 support of the General Synod.
[1]http://www.lelb.lv/lv/?ct=lelb_zinjas&fu=read&id=2358[2]https://www.lutheranworld.org/content/our-lutheran-identity[3]https://www.lutheranworld.org/content/our-core-values[4]https://www.lutheranworld.org/sites/default/files/2018/documents/council_2018_-_report_of_the_general_secretary.pdf[5] Ibid.[6]https://ilc-online.org/2018/08/01/lwf-unilaterally-suspends-regular-meetings-with-the-ilc/[7]https://ilc-online.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ILC-Bylaws-Final.11-7-17.pdf[8]http://ilc-online.org/files/2012/01/Summary-ILC-Conferencess.pdf[9]https://ilc-online.org/members/north-america/usa_lcms/[10]https://ilc-online.org/members/europe/germany/[11]http://ilc-online.org/files/2012/01/Summary-ILC-Conferencess.pdf[12]https://ilc-online.org/about-us/[13] Ibid.[14]https://ilc-online.org/news/[15] See more http://ilc-online.org/files/2015/12/Journal-of-Lutheran-Mission-December-2015.pdf[16]https://ilc-online.org/2015/09/08/lutheran-church-of-australia-grapples-with-womens-ordination-ilc-pledges-prayers-encourages-unity/[17] Ibid.