Sometimes people ask “What are you?” meaning what church do you attend in which denomination or what is your religious background. Sometimes I don’t know exactly how to answer this question because I have such a varied church background.
I first attend, or at least I thought so at the time, a very old Congregational church in my home town of Wethersfield, Connecticut, founded in 1634. Then I worked for IBM in the Fishkill/Poughkeepsie, New York area where neighbors invited me to join their Dutch Reformed church. A work-related transfer took me to Montgomery County, Maryland where I drifted, so to speak from a church perspective, and later joined a United Methodist church. My wife and I now are ELCA Lutherans.
Back to the beginning of my church life, I will digress with a short story. Nearly twenty years ago, soon after my mother passed away in 1999, I enquired as to what church my parents were married in. The answer was “the stone church at the top of the hill on Farmington Avenue” in West Hartford Center. I wasn’t surprised because both of my parents grew up in West Hartford. I vaguely remembered that they had an apartment near the center before buying their first “starter” house in Wethersfield.
I found the church office and asked if there was any documentation they might find related to Charles Lambert and Virginia Landegren. They said they would look into it and get back to me. I returned home to Potomac, Maryland and a week later I received a phone call; they had found my parent’s Marriage Certificate! They continued saying there were two more “Lamberts” in their files, Charles and David. I replied, yes, Charles was my father and I’m Dave but what am I doing in your church records? The surprising answer was “You were both Baptized on the same day.” Therefore, add Episcopalian as the absolute first of my church affiliations.
A mongrel dog is a dog that is not definable by type or breed. In informal settings, I sometimes say I am a “Mongrel Christian.” In more formal situations I say I am a “follower of Jesus” and let the enquirer take that as a good enough answer or an opportunity to open the door to ask more specific questions.
The meaning of “full communion” between two churches is described in the United Methodist Book of Discipline, paragraph 2401: Full communion describes the relationship between two or more Christian churches that (1) recognize in each other the one, holy, catholic and apostolic faith as expressed in the Holy Scriptures and confessed in the church’s historic creeds; 2) recognize the authenticity of each other’s baptism and eucharist and extend sacramental hospitality to each other’s members; 3) recognize the validity of their respective ministries; 4) recognize the full interchangeability and reciprocity of all ordained ministers in each of the churches. That relationship commits the churches to working together as partners in mission toward fuller visible unity. A relationship of full communion does not mean there are no differences or distinctions between the churches but does mean that these differences are not church dividing.
The ELCA has a similar definition on their Full Communion Partners web page:
- common confessing of the Christian faith
- mutual recognition of Baptism and a sharing of the Lord’s Supper, allowing for joint worship and an exchangeability of members
- mutual recognition and availability of ordained ministers to the service of all, subject to the disciplinary regulations of other denominations
- common commitment to evangelism, witness and service
- means of common decision-making on critical common issues of faith and life
- mutual lifting of any condemnations that exist between denominations.
The UMC is the ELCA’s sixth and most recent full communion partner. The following scripture passage is located at the bottom of this web page:
“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens,
but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.“
Ephesians 2:19
Timothy Whitaker said in 2009: “As Lutherans and United Methodists begin to come closer together, we Methodists should tell the story of how our church fathers, Charles and John Wesley, experienced assurance of their justification by grace through faith. Both Charles and John encountered the writings of Martin Luther at the time they had their life-changing experiences. Charles was moved by Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to the Galatians, and John was moved by Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to the Romans.”
Leaders of The United Methodist Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America are discussing ways the two denominations can work together as they further explore what it means to be in full communion with each other.
“We share a lot of issues in common that are very, very important to us,” said Doug Ruffle, Associate Executive Director of Path 1, host of a day-long meeting in 2015 with ELCA representatives. “They include … ways to better equip leaders for leadership in the 21st century …” The Rev. Dr. Stephen Bouman, Executive Director of Congregational and Synodical Missions said: “Both denominations have gifts to give and to receive.”
“Unity is a gift that we’ve already received in Christ,” said Kathryn Lohre, ELCA assistant to the presiding bishop in North Carolina and executive for ecumenical and inter-religious relations. “Our task as churches is to make that visible and to work toward reconciliation where people have sought to divide what Christ has already united.”
The UMC Ministry of the Laity is the work of mission or ministry to which each believer is called. As Christians, we are all called to this ministry or priesthood – not just clergy. Each of us has a responsibility to proclaim the Good News and reach out to others in love. I once heard that 99% of people are laity and 1% are clergy.
As a Certified Lay Speaker in the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the UMC (2001-2007), I am aware of the excellent training resources that are available. In recent years, the UMC has broadened the program and rebranded it Lay Servant Ministries. There are now three categories: Certified Lay Servant, Certified Lay Speaker and Certified Lay Minister.
United Methodist Lay Servants are to serve the local church or charge in any way in which their witness or leadership and service inspires the laity to a deeper commitment to Christ and more effective discipleship. This includes the interpretation of scriptures, doctrine, organization, and ministries of the church. Of course, some material is of a denominational nature but many courses and resources are generic Christian in nature and can be used by another denomination with little or no tailoring.
Because Jesus came to serve, not to be served, it is our duty to learn as much as we can about the Christian faith so we can serve God and our neighbor to the best of our ability. Cooperation between denominations, especially those in full communion, should be emphasized. One such way would be for full communion partners to recognize programs and resources for laity as they now do for the mutual recognition of clergy.
REFERENCES
Full Communion Between Lutherans and United Methodists (UMC, Timothy Whitaker, 9/18/2009, accessed 6/26/2019)
https://www.flumc.org/blogdetail/653124
Note: On the UMC Council of Bishops website (accessed 6/26/2019) I was unable to find the article Building a Relationship UMC-ELCA that was cited in the blog referenced above.
http://www.gccuic-umc.org
Full Communion Partners (ELCA website, accessed 6/26/2019)
https://www.elca.org/Faith/Ecumenical-and-Inter-Religious-Relations/Full-Communion
United Methodists and Lutherans Look for Ways to Work Together (UMC Discipleship Ministries 7/28/2015, accessed 6/26/2019)
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/united-methodists-and-lutherans-look-for-ways-to-work-together
Stronger together — ELCA congregations find vitality through full-communion partnerships (Living Lutheran, Robert C. Blezard, 8/10/2018, accessed 6/26/2019)
https://www.livinglutheran.org/2018/08/stronger-together/
Ministry of the Laity (UMC website accessed 6/26/2019)
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/leadership-resources/ministry-of-the-laity
Lay Servant Ministries (UMC website accessed 6/26/2019)
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/leadership-resources/lay-servant-ministries
Lay Servant Ministries Catalog (UMC 2017, updated January 2019, accessed 6/26/2019)
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/lay-servant-ministries-catalog
Lay Servant Ministries Course Descriptions and Equipping Resources (UMC 2019, accessed 6/26/2019)
https://gbod-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/legacy/kintera-files/laity/LayServant2019_NOCROPS_LORES_bookstore.FINAL.pdf
ELCA-UMC Frequently Asked Questions (ELCA website, accessed 6/26/2019)
http://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/ELCA_UMC_Frequently_Asked_Questions.pdf
David Robert Lambert 