January 1, 2001

Episcopal resolutions to approve CCM

When the Episcopal Church approved “Called to Common Mission” (CCM) at its General Convention at Denver, CO in July 2000, it did so by passing the four resolutions below. Note especially A041 and B046 which conflict with the ELCA Bishops’ Tucson Resolution which was incorporated by reference in CCM as adopted by the ELCA in 1999.

Resolution A040: Acceptance of "Called to Common Mission"

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, That this 73rd General Convention of the Episcopal Church accepts "Called to Common Mission: A Lutheran Proposal for a Revision of the Concordat of Agreement" as set forth below as the basis for a relationship of full communion to be established between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; and be it further

Resolved, That this 73rd General Convention of the Episcopal Church requests that The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold, Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church, convey this action to Presiding Bishop H. George Anderson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Resolution A041: Enact Temporary Suspension of Ordinal, Second Reading (A019a)

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, That the 72nd General Convention of the Episcopal Church having affirmed in the Concordat of Agreement (as presented to the 73rd General Convention in the document Called to Common Mission: A Lutheran Proposal for a Revision of the Concordat of Agreement) the full authenticity of existing ordained ministries in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, having reached fundamental agreement in faith with the same church, and having agreed that the threefold ministry of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons in historic succession will be the future pattern of the one ordained ministry shared corporately within the two churches in full communion, this 73rd General Convention of the Episcopal Church hereby enacts a temporary suspension, in this case only, of the seventeenth-century restriction that "no persons are allowed to exercise the offices of Bishop, Priest, or Deacon in this Church unless they are so ordained, or have already received such ordination with the laying on of hands by Bishops who are themselves duly qualified to confer Holy Orders," as set forth in the Preface to the Ordination Rites (Book of Common Prayer, p. 510); and be it further

Resolved, That this resolution shall take effect on January 1, 2001.

Resolution A042: Amend Const Article VIII: Requests for Ordination, Second Reading (A020)

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, That this 73rd General Convention of the Episcopal Church adds a paragraph to the Constitution, Article VIII, as follows:

A bishop may permit a minister ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America or its predecessor bodies who has made the promise of conformity required by that Church in place of the foregoing declaration to officiate on a temporary basis as an ordained minister of this church; and be it further

Resolved, That this resolution shall take effect on January 1, 2001.

Resolution B046: Ecumenism: Implementation of "Called to Common Ministry"

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, That this 73rd General Convention, for the sake of implementing full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), specifically acknowledges and declares that Called to Common Mission (CCM) has been correctly interpreted by the "Mind of the House" resolution adopted by the House of Bishops on April 3, 2000.