The Shoulder to Shoulder campaign and its partners are calling out the behavior of Congresswoman Lauren Boebert and others for what has become a pattern of dangerous anti-Muslim bigotry.

In a press release on December 3rd, Shoulder to Shoulder’s Executive Director, Nina Fernando, stated that, “Islamophobia and anti-Muslim discrimination is not a joke; it is dangerous and it can be deadly. Fueling fear and spreading hate and misinformation about Islam and Muslims can and must be condemned by our nation’s leadership as a bipartisan effort. Disagreeing politically does not give us license to dehumanize one another.”

This press release was followed by an op-ed authored by the campaign’s co-chairs, Kathryn Mary Lohre and Rabbi Esther Lederman, on December 8,  which is shared in its entirety with permission below. The original article can be found here.

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Boebert’s anti-Muslim bigotry betrays our Christian and Jewish values

by Kathryn Mary Lohre and Rabbi Esther Lederman

As Jewish and Christian faith leaders, we condemn Congresswoman Lauren Boebert’s recent anti-Muslim remarks and her ongoing pattern of religious bigotry. Not only is this kind of behavior dangerous, it can be deadly. We are particularly alarmed that this rhetoric is coming from one of our elected leaders, whose job it is to serve the American people. We find it incompatible with her Christian convictions, and the calling we share as people of faith.

Anti-Muslim bigotry, hate crimes, and incitement to violence are widespread issues in our nation. According to a 2020 report from the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, American Muslims are the most likely group to experience any religious discrimination. In addition, half of American Muslim families with children in public schools reported that a child of theirs had been bullied for their faith in the past year. Even more egregious, one-third of those bullied were at the hands of a teacher or school official.

More than a decade ago, American Jews and Christians came together with American Muslims to work to end anti-Muslim bigotry through the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign. Sadly, the urgency of the campaign has only increased since our organization was formed. What is promising is that the campaign has grown in stride, along with the resolve of faith leaders at local, regional, and national levels. Shoulder to Shoulder connects, equips, and mobilizes American people of all faiths and backgrounds to more effectively address, counter, and prevent anti-Muslim discrimination. We encourage and support relationship building across differences, we resource and train people of faith on these issues, and we amplify faith voices in the public sphere. As the co-chairs of the campaign, we urge you to join us in this urgent work of equipping yourselves to lead with “faith over fear” in your own community.

A Pew Research Center poll released earlier this year indicated that 78% of Americans know that Muslims face “a lot” of discrimination, second only to Black Americans. (Though of course, many Black Americans are Muslim!) The research further indicates that this is a bi-partisan concern. So why be silent? Why allow this discrimination to fester and grow only to embolden those who are filled with hate, like the man who left a voicemail for Rep. Ilhan Omar with a chilling racist death threat after Rep. Lauren Boebert’s refusal to apologize for her bigoted remarks? Why not work to counteract this dangerous — if not deadly — narrative by uplifting American Muslim contributions to everyday society, to medicine and science, public policy and law, community service, and bridge-building? We will not stand by while anti-Muslim tropes are used to diminish and destroy who Muslims are, and have always been, in our shared American society.

There is a beautiful confluence in our faith traditions this week that gives us hope for a better way. In recent days, Jews lit the final candles during Channukah, remembering their peoples’ struggle for religious freedom. Christians are also lighting candles to mark this time of Advent — of anticipation — when the angels declared “peace on earth” at the birth of the Christ child. Here in the United States, we are experiencing, yet again, the capacity for light to disperse the darkness of these days. When we join together, the glowing light of our traditions will guide us together in prayerful action for peace and religious freedom in the present.

We encourage you to join us in speaking up alongside our Muslim neighbors against religious bigotry of any form, and especially against anti-Muslim hate: Call and hold our elected leaders accountable to our shared American ideals. Encourage house leaders to hold Rep. Boebert to a higher standard of leadership. Engage in ongoing work of Shoulder to Shoulder with other faith partners in your local context to end anti-Muslim discrimination and violence. Anti-Muslim bigotry betrays our Jewish and Christian values and it betrays our American ideals.

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Kathryn Mary Lohre is the Executive for Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations in the Office of the Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Rabbi Esther Lederman is the Director of Congregational Innovation for the Union for Reform Judaism. Lohre and Rabbi Lederman are also the Co-Chairs of the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign.

By Kathryn M. Lohre

On November 11, the ELCA Church Council approved revisions to “A Declaration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) to the Jewish Community”* as an expression of this church’s continual opposition to rising antisemitism. The revisions specifically named the anti-Jewish “incitement to violence” that is far-too-often realized. We  think of Pittsburgh and Poway, but also the daily acts of violence experienced by our Jewish neighbors that go unnoticed, underreported, or ignored. The point is that antisemitism is not simply a harmful, derogatory idea about Judaism, but a disastrous and sometimes deadly force in the world against our Jewish neighbors that we need to guard against — in ourselves, in our church, and in the world around us. For this reason, the action taken by the Council included not only the revisions but a call for the church to enter into a time of study and reflection using the Declaration and other Lutheran-Jewish resources available from the Office of the Presiding Bishop.

By design, the Declaration provides a measure of accountability within the ELCA, and to this church’s Jewish partners. (One of our dear Jewish partners has a framed copy of the Declaration on her office wall!)  As Lutherans – through the Lutheran World Federation, our predecessor bodies, and the ELCA, we repudiate the troubling legacy of Luther and our complicity in the unique horrors of the Holocaust, and the ongoing scourge of anti-Jewish bias, bigotry, hatred, and violence. To be clear: this requires more than just declaring our intentions, but acts of daily repentance and renewal lived out in community, and through intentional relationships with our Jewish neighbors.

At the same time, the ELCA is living out its accountability with others. In September of this year, the Church Council adopted “A Declaration of the ELCA to American Indian and Alaska Native People” as a step in the implementation of the church’s 2016 Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery. The newest ELCA Declaration concludes with the acknowledgement that, “we understand that no document, no matter how carefully crafted, will accomplish the actions of truth and the work of justice as it relates to our American Indian and Alaska Native siblings. We also understand that what has developed over hundreds of years will take enduring commitment to address.” The church’s history – and its ongoing witness – cannot be made right simply by declaring it was wrong.

This brings me to the second part of the revisions recently adopted to “A Declaration of the ELCA to the Jewish Community.” The text adopted in 1994 began, “In the long history of Christianity there exists no more tragic development than the treatment accorded the Jewish people on the part of Christian believers.” The superlative in this original sentence unintentionally invites false comparisons – between the Holocaust perpetrated against the Jewish people and the genocide perpetrated against Indigenous People, between rising antisemitism and anti-Indigenous racism to name two examples. Instead, what we should be looking for are the deadly connections: the complicity of the church, the political and theological justification of sinful ideologies, the ongoing perpetration of bigotry, violence, and even death against those deemed inferior, unworthy, expendable, or less than human by the dominant (and dominating) culture. To this end it now reads, “In the long history of the church, the treatment accorded the Jewish people by Christians has been among our most grievous and shameful legacies.” These connections will help us see more clearly the truths we need to tell in order to heal, and the work we need to do to guard God’s vision of life abundant for all people and creation.

I give thanks to God for the courageous people, including the late Rev. Dr. Franklin Sherman, who was instrumental in the development of “A Declaration of the ELCA to the Jewish Community” in the 1990s, and to the late Rev. Dr. Gordon Straw, who challenged the church in 2018 to take seriously the church’s repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery, including in the context of our Jewish relations. Even in blessed memory, they have helped us to see that sometimes even correctives need correcting.

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*Written by the ELCA Consultative Panel on Lutheran-Jewish Relations and adopted by the ELCA Church Council in 1994 “A Declaration of the ELCA to the Jewish Community” repudiates Luther’s anti-Judaic writings, opposes anti-Semitism, and expresses the ELCA’s desire to build right relationships with the Jewish community.

Kathryn Mary Lohre serves as Assistant to the Presiding Bishop and Executive for Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations & Theological Discernment for the ELCA

By Adam Renner

September is National Suicide Prevention Month, a month where the fight to end suicide is recognized on a national platform. Here at the Suicide Prevention Ministry, an Independent Lutheran Organization, suicide prevention is the driving force of our daily work and the focus of our call to love our neighbor, care for the sick, and carry each other’s burdens.

Research shows that individuals who belong to a faith community will often turn to that community and its leaders when facing a mental health crisis. Yet faith communities have a mixed track record when it comes to helping those in crisis. Thankfully, the ELCA has long embraced the view that no one is beyond God’s love. The ELCA Social message on suicide prevention, originally passed by the Church Council in 1999, offers a lot of helpful teachings.

However, the problem isn’t limited to resolving religious views on suicide. Real and tangible obstacles are perhaps more prevalent. Because engagement tends to happen more on the local level, congregations need access to resources that are readily available.

The Suicide Prevention Ministry offers a number of ways to get started. Our core program, Breaking the Silence, is a 4-part no-cost/low-cost ministry model for congregations to adopt:

1. Preach: Leaders preach and teach on suicide and mental health. Scripture considerations and sample sermons are available in our resource kit.
2. Learn: Members learn how to identify and help a suicidal person. SPM provides 1-hour suicide prevention training workshops.
3. Ask: Members ask their healthcare providers to screen for depression. This is a critical component to early intervention.
4. Nurture: Faith communities then build on their effort, gather local resources for additional trainings and referrals, and get involved in organizations like the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (afsp.org)

The full resource kit is available on our website at suicidepreventionministry.org.

Many people of faith and faith-based organizations are doing similar work and our desire is for SPM to broaden networking possibilities and grow partnerships with others, with the help of the ELCA churchwide office and organizations like Religions for Peace, USA. This Thursday, September 16th, from 2 to 3 pm EST, we will participate in a public webinar presentation and discussion with other individuals representing dozens of religious organizations across the United States. Our long-term goal is to grow SPM and make it an interreligious nonprofit that provides support and resources on the local, regional, and national levels. For more information and to register, visit the RFPUSA event registration page.

Finally, I’d like to share with you those things that we wish everyone knew about suicide prevention:

1. Suicide can happen to anyone. Although some people groups are more vulnerable, simply put, suicide happens when hopelessness and despair overwhelm our coping skills. Moreover, research tells us that underneath all of the exterior factors, suicidality develops from the presence of two psychological constructs: Feeling all alone, and thinking you are a burden. When an individual feels they do not belong and that others would be better off without them, the desire for suicide emerges. This, combined with acquiring the capability to inflict painful self-injury, a serious suicide attempt is likely.
2. Suicidal thoughts are imbued with uncertainty. When someone is having thoughts of suicide, they are in a state of ambivalence. The desire to live or die fluctuates constantly. Numerous accounts of individuals who survive attempting suicide attest to this. For instance, individuals who survived jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge have reported feeling “instant regret” as soon as they jumped. The ambivalence is present even during an active attempt. Knowing how to address this uncertainty is key in preventing deaths by suicide.
3. Asking someone directly if they are having thoughts of suicide can help save their life. One of the biggest myths out there is that asking about suicide will put the idea in their head. This is false. Asking a person directly does not encourage suicidal behavior. Understandably, it can be nerve-wracking to ask someone the question. Sometimes we might have a feeling something is up, but we’re too afraid to ask. Yet the only way to know is to ask directly. It does not make things worse, in fact, research shows that asking directly may help save a person’s life and reduce thoughts of suicide.
4. Listening goes a long way. Being able to listen with someone who is having thoughts of suicide is a lifesaving act. It’s helpful to think about suicide in the context of understanding pain. When a person is experiencing excruciating pain, the natural course is to do everything you can to get that pain to stop. The same goes for emotional pain. Being able to listen to someone’s pain can go a long way in providing relief. Simply by listening to someone without invalidating their feelings, you are demonstrating to them that they are not a burden at all.
5. Don’t wait. Do not wait until you are personally affected by suicide before engaging in prevention efforts. Make that phone call right now to that person who is lonely. Invest in education and training. Gather resources and have them ready, like the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255). Fight the stigma. Stigma is a combination of fear and ignorance. Being able to move past fear, shame, or discomfort and make conversation about suicide more common is the first step in building a safer world. The more we talk about it, the more we can fight the stigma.

Being able to identify someone who may be at risk, asking them directly about suicide, and listening to their distress are ways to support a person’s life when they are experiencing crisis. Supporting life can happen before you intervene too. Access to mental health resources, hotlines, training, and awareness efforts are all critical. Access to housing, food, healthcare, community, and education are also important. It all starts with one conversation. Breaking the silence can mean the difference between life and death. Life will prevail when it is nurtured.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, reach out to a professional now at 1-800-273-TALK. If you need immediate help, call 911.

Adam Renner is Program Director for the Suicide Prevention Ministry, and Manager of the Interreligious Summit on Suicide Prevention. He is a CIT (Counselor in Training), a candidate for diaconal ministry in the ELCA, and a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Atlanta.

By Rev. Kristen Glass Perez

Introduction:

This year will mark the 20^th anniversary of September 11, 2001.  That day holds great significance for people in different ways including the families of those who died in the attacks and in rescue efforts; those killed because of the resulting military conflicts; and those who are/were subsequently targeted because of their religious or cultural identity.

As we prepare for a fall that still seems uncertain, we recall September 2001 and perhaps find an eerie similarity to that time. The events of the last year and a half have upended life and our normal ways of functioning as a global community. The Covid 19 pandemic includes a profound loss of human life, economic hardship and social isolation. Embedded within the pandemic are the omnipresent pandemics of racism, white supremacy and loss of human life due to violence and social and economic inequities. In recent days, we are witnessing tragedy in Afghanistan and the crisis in Haiti in real time. These factors, along with a deep political divide, an increased attention to racial injustice, and a deepening environmental crisis, have rekindled a new sense of urgency.

And yet–this experience also contains moments of hope that are held in tandem with reality: the incredible work of scientists and researchers to create new vaccines and treatments for an emerging disease, the massive efforts of front-line healthcare workers and emergency responders to care for the sick and dying, of activists to give productive voice to profound frustration over justice delayed and denied, of all of us, in ways big and small, to re-invent our lives and our work in the face of deep challenges while also creating new ways of being community.

As we approach the 20^th anniversary of 9/11 many of our ELCA congregations, rostered leaders, and others may be thinking about ways to mark and observe this date or may be asked to participate in local 9/11 remembrance gatherings including civic or interfaith gatherings. In the context of uncertainty, this type of gathering may be another way that we hold hope in tandem with reality. As our communities and congregations prepare for this commemoration, there are some resources to help guide this planning with a particular lens towards inter-religious gatherings.

Background:

In 2019, the ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted “A Declaration of Inter-Religious Commitment: A policy statement of the ELCA” (English & Spanish).  We are now actively engaging in the important work of supporting its interpretation and implementation across the church.  A major area of implementation is in local ministry settings, where people experience the day-to-day realities of inter-religious encounter. In these settings, there are a number of “pastoral considerations.”

To aid in this implementation work, Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations in the Office of the Presiding Bishop, convened an ad-hoc committee to develop Pastoral Guidelines for Ministry in a Multi-religious world. The committee includes ministry partners from various expressions and networks of the ELCA and ecumenical partners and is advised by the ELCA Consultative Panels on Lutheran-Jewish and Lutheran-Muslim Relations. I am one of the folks to serve on this committee.  While the guidelines are not yet published, I would like to share some excerpts in draft form that can be useful as we prepare for the 20^th anniversary observance of 9/11. These are by no means comprehensive of the draft guidelines but touch briefly on a few overarching themes that have emerged as the committee engages its task. I will share excerpts from the guidelines around multi-religious gatherings for Prayer Services and Community Tragedy.

Prayer Services: Building Relationships and Planning as an Act of Love

“Those who have experience in multi-religious gatherings tell us again and again: building relationships with people from other faith communities is a priority. This relationship-building is an ongoing task (and privilege), and it cannot be left to the last minute before trying to do something together. In our ELCA congregations, are we familiar with other religious communities in the places we find ourselves? Do pastors and deacons know the leaders of these communities? Have efforts been made to bring different religious communities together for fellowship, solidarity, and common projects? Have friendships developed across religious lines?

Events that work well are events planned by people who know and trust one another. In the work of planning together, these relationships are deepened”[i]

–Excerpt from DRAFT Pastoral Guidelines for Ministry in a Multi-Religious World

To begin, this work is grounded in relationship. That should not  be read as an admonition-but as an invitation. In your own community, what does it mean to know your neighbors? How might your congregation or community begin to partner on community initiatives? As I think about this, I recall some pieces of my own career and ministry.  In 2001 my personal and professional relationships looked very different than now. Among my own colleagues, I had few relationships outside of ELCA networks and few outside of Christian communities. In the ensuing years, my work on  college and university campuses has led me deeply into inter-religious engagement. The lens of interfaith and multi-religious engagement is so integral to this work, that it is a part of everything we do. It is characterized primarily by relationships and from relationships come programming. Today, I serve with a multi-religious team of chaplains and much of our shared work as religious leaders is with non-religious constituents. At each level of the work, we are invited into deeper thinking, deeper partnership, deeper advocacy and deeper collaboration with our communities.

Community Tragedy: Guarding Against Cultural Appropriation and Christian Supremacy

“One appropriate response to a community tragedy is to gather to share the sorrow, to lament in a public setting, and to benefit from each other’s support.  When there are diverse religious communities within a city or a neighborhood, this can take the form of an inter-religious service.”[ii]

–Excerpt from DRAFT Pastoral Guidelines for Ministry in a Multi-Religious World

To be certain, we may not have perfect relationships in place before we need to gather. There is great value in public gathering for acknowledgement, lament, support and advocacy. As a College & University Chaplain, I have always had different levels of commemoration for 9/11. In many ways, these gatherings served as a road map for other gatherings during times of tragedy which seem to occur more and more frequently.

As we think about a commemorative event from a tragedy or a multi-religious prayer service, the draft guidelines offer some other considerations. Special care should be given to the ways in which what is unfolding in Afghanistan impacts the Afghan people, especially women and children, but also Americans and others who are in Afghanistan. We also need to give special care to American Muslim communities, with regard to any possible spike in anti-Muslim bigotry and violence.

”In multi-religious events, we come alongside neighbors from different faith communities with confidence and humility: confident that we have something to share with others, but with humility and respect with regard to what others have to share. We will be on guard against cultural and religious appropriation, avoiding speaking for others and insisting that the participating religious communities represent themselves and their traditions and practices. And we will be on guard against prioritizing one tradition over another, speaking with wisdom, sensitivity, and gentleness (and rejecting the polemics that are too common in our day).

As for individual contributions to the event, it is important that one represent one’s own self (or self-in-community), so that a Christian speaks as a Christian, a Jew as a Jew, and so on. One should not attempt to “fill in” for absent faith traditions (by “Googling a few prayers,” for example). In readings and recitations, chants and hymns and songs, spiritual exercises or prayers, one hopes to experience authentic words and actions that are shared from the heart of the participating traditions…Good relationships enable good planning; and the work of planning and execution leads to the deepening of relationship.”

Entry points to Relationship

Finally, a question I’m often asked is’ “Where do we begin this relational work?” Again, this is a space where the draft pastoral guidelines are helpful. 62% of ELCA rostered leader respondents answered “yes” to a survey question that asked “In your role as a rostered minister, have you been involved in any social ministry work with inter-religious partners?” [iii] Social ministry work is a starting point for many shared inter-religious experiences. At Northwestern University, we recently partnered with the Khalil Center to launch the Muslim Mental Health Initiative to better serve students. As a member of the ad hoc committee  working on the guidelines and pastor of the ELCA,  I would be remiss if I did not include in this blog that In March of 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Council received a report that stated “widespread negative representations of Islam, fear of Muslims generally and security and counterterrorism poli­cies have served to perpetuate, validate and normalize discrimination, hostility and violence towards Muslim individuals and communities.”[iv] We can contribute to healthier communities by actively engaging in relational work that dissolves fear and diminishes bigotry and violence perpetrated against our Muslim neighbors. The second report of the 2020 Mosque Survey published last week indicates that 78% of mosques are involved in at least one interfaith activity. This should be an encouragement to us to build even more bridges as we look toward the next 20 years.

As we prepare in our communities and congregations for fall, may we take a moment to observe the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and in doing so actively work to build a future where love and caring holds space for grief and commit to paths of healing for ourselves and others and our world. In doing so, we will continue to hold hope in tandem with reality as we live and serve together with people of all identities.

The ELCA Pastoral Guidelines for Ministry in a Multi-Religious World referenced in this blog in draft form likely will be publicly available in final form in spring 2022.

Additional Resources:

9/11 Memorial & Museum

ELCA Consultative Panel on Lutheran-Jewish Relations

ELCA Consultative Panel on Lutheran-Muslim Relations

Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign

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[i] Pastoral Guidelines in Multi-Religious World DRAFT

[ii] ibid

[iii] Pastoral Guidelines in Multi-Religious World ELCA survey—Sept 12-Oct. 13, 2020

[iv] https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26841&LangID=E

The Rev. Kristen Glass Perez is University Chaplain and Executive Director of Religious & Spiritual Life at Northwestern University.  Kristen is a pastor of the ELCA and previously served as College Chaplain at Muhlenberg College and as Chaplain and Director of Vocational Exploration at Augustana College.  She was also the inaugural Director for Young Adult Ministry for the ELCA Churchwide Organization. She is a member of the Ad Hoc Committee appointed by the Office of the Presiding Bishop to develop pastoral guidelines for ministry in a multi-religious world.

July 16, 2021, marks the bicentennial of Christian Science founder, Mary Baker Eddy’s birth. Ms. Baker Eddy was an American religious leader and author, who in addition to founding the Church of Christ, Scientist, in 1879,  founded the Pulitzer Prize-winning secular newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor in 1908, along with three religious magazines: the Christian Science Sentinel, The Christian Science Journal, and The Herald of Christian Science.

By Shirley Paulson, PhD.

People often wonder if all their ecumenical and interreligious efforts are worth it. I want to tell you why I think you have done good work.

In 2013 I gave a presentation for the North American Academy of Ecumenists,[1] describing the then-current relationship of Christian Science with the ecumenical movement as a butterfly perched on the fingers of an outreached human hand. In many ways, I said, Christian Science had emerged from a long spell in a cocoon and found a welcoming hand. We were beginning to appreciate a delicate relationship with a much bigger world. Both the hands of experienced ecumenists and the tentative steps of a relatively inexperienced community of Christian Scientists were ready for the mutual benefits of ecumenical engagement.

My first discovery was that real ecumenists cared more about my Christian sincerity than the degree of rightness I held in relation to their own beliefs. These were people I could trust. That is, I could speak honestly without having to brace myself for a verbal confrontation. They were more interested in nurturing a mutual learning relationship than a holier-than-thou relationship.

I’ve often thought of Konrad Raiser (former General Secretary of the World Council of Churches)’s diagnosis of church division among Christian communities: it’s a symptom of broken fellowship, not theology.[2] And, as Raiser continued, broken fellowship and communion “was then confirmed by the fact that you no longer had the language to communicate with one another.”

In the intervening years since my discussion of the delicate butterfly supported by the outreached hand of caring ecumenists, I’ve felt the embrace of sincere fellowship from many directions among Christians. Many from other faith traditions are also participating in this sincere expansion of fellowship. I’ve also heard numerous times from scholars of religion that the history of Christian Science is still obscure and difficult to track down, even for those who want to learn it.

So, to do our part, I found some outstanding colleagues willing to create with me an annotated bibliography on Christian Science. The timing was just right, and this 400-page bibliography is now hot off the press in time to celebrate the bicentennial of Christian Science founder, Mary Baker Eddy, born July 16, 1821.

Now, with book in hand, we’re in a position to invite you to participate in this bicentennial celebration by learning just a little more about Mary Baker Eddy and the Church that constitutes her legacy. The new bibliography does include numerous biographies about Eddy, but what is new are the categories of topics that have emerged in the ensuing history since Eddy’s passing. Some of these categories include Feminist Perspectives; Christian Science After 1910 (the year of Eddy’s passing); Focus on Healing; Social and Cultural Studies; and even Polemical Literature. Most of the 400 annotations are each about 200 words, explaining the key points of the most significant books and articles published on these topics. Our proofreaders have found it fascinating reading!

Almost all of my conversations with ecumenical and interreligious leaders used to begin with “I really don’t know very much about Christian Science.” With this easy-to-read and clearly indexed bibliography, we hope to give more people confidence that they can engage in meaningful conversation about Christian Science. And when that happens, of course, Christian Scientists will have the opportunity to learn from others what will continue to enrich our own self-understanding.

For more information, or to purchase the book, click on the following link An Annotated Bibliography of Academic and Other Literature on Christian Science, or email ScholarsOnCs@gmail.com. The authors of this book—Helen Mathis, Linda Bargmann, and I—thank you for being the trustworthy friends who inspired our efforts to produce this book as a contribution to the great ecumenical and interreligious conversation you’ve supported for so many years.

[1] Shirley Paulson, “The Emerging Face of Being One: Discerning the Ecumenical Community from the Christian Science Church,” Journal of Ecumenical Studies. Vol. 49, No. 2, 2014, 285–94.

[2] Konrad Raiser, “A Conversation about ‘a Kind of Conversation,” One World, November, 1983, 16.

Shirley Paulson, PhD., Founder and Principal Producer of Early Christian Texts: The Bible and Beyond

By Rev. Prof. Dr. Dirk G. Lange

On June 24-25, 2021, a delegation of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) visited the Vatican as part of the journey from conflict to communion, that began over 50 years ago. Of course, the journey has moved forward considerably since the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification and the publication of the important study on the Reformation, Martin Luther, and Lutheran-Catholic relations, From Conflict to Communion. These documents made possible the Joint Commemoration of the 500 years of the Reformation held in the Lund Cathedral and the Malmö Stadium in 2016 with His Holiness Pope Francis joining Lutheran leaders in the Common Prayer. In that liturgy, together we gave thanks, we confessed, we prayed and committed ourselves to unity, acknowledging each other as branches of the true vine.

The Joint Commemoration also set a tone for successive commemorations, both big and small. Over the next decade, there will be many significant milestones to be remembered including more difficult memories such as this year, 2021, the 500^th anniversary of the excommunication of Martin Luther. All of these anniversaries will culminate in the 500^th Anniversary of the Augsburg Confession in 2030.

The visit of the LWF delegation in Rome launched the next stage of the journey, looking ahead to the 500^th Anniversary of the Augsburg Confession. During the trip, the delegation had conversations with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), consolidated and strengthened an agreement between Caritas Internationalis, the global confederation of Catholic aid and development agencies, and the LWF World Service, as well as meeting with Pope Francis in a private audience on the anniversary of the Augsburg Confession, 25 June.

In that private audience, the Lutheran World Federation President Archbishop Dr. Panti Filibus Musa spoke about the journey from conflict to communion as “irreversible.” We look ahead to the commemoration of the Augsburg Confession in the “hope that we will reconnect with its original ecumenical intention.” The LWF President also presented Pope Francis with the gift of a chalice and paten, crafted for the occasion by the brothers of the ecumenical Community of Taizé. The glaze for the Eucharistic vessels was made with sand taken from the refugee camp in Za’atari, Jordan, where LWF has been working since 2012 to support Syrian refugees, internally displaced people and host communities. This gift, President Musa told the pope, “represents our calling to be one.”

Pope Francis expressed his hope in the ecumenical journey and lifted up the Augsburg Confession as initially a document of “intra-Catholic reconciliation” before it took “on the character of a Lutheran confessional text.” He reminded all those committed to the ecumenical movement that “ecumenism is not an exercise of ecclesial diplomacy but a journey of grace.  It depends not on human negotiations and agreements, but on the grace of God, which purifies memories and hearts, overcomes attitudes of inflexibility and directs towards renewed communion: not towards reductive agreements or forms of irenic syncretism, but towards a reconciled unity amid differences.” And, citing the Rule of Taizé, Pope Francis called for a passionate engagement in this journey from conflict to communion. “Make the unity of the body of Christ your passionate concern.”

Another significant event of this trip happened between Caritas Internationalis and the LWF World Service. The “Common Vision,” jointly presented by World Service director, Maria Immonen, and Caritas Secretary General, Aloysius John, affirms that the two organizations “stand together for the sake of the neighbor – a call which is rooted in faith.” This “Common Vision” expands the agreement reached in the Declaration of Intent, signed between the two organizations in Malmö, Sweden (2016) as part of the Joint Commemoration of the Reformation. By strengthening their humanitarian work for justice, peace and dignity for all people, the commitment of World Service and Caritas also serves as a “catalyst that can shape our doctrinal dialogues.” In listening and acting together in many local contexts, with the involvement and support of local churches, pastoral ecumenism can help shape ecumenical dialogue, listening attentively to the intuition of God’s people to be one.

In the conversation with the PCPCU, both sides re-affirmed their commitment to the journey, even if sometimes it may take unexpected turns. For example, this year marks the 500^th anniversary of the excommunication of Martin Luther. A study group was formed to explore the complexity of this historical moment. Their work continues but was hampered by COVID-19. The results of their research will contribute to a statement on the matter to be presented, not in this year, but in 2023 at the Thirteenth General Assembly of the LWF in Krakow, Poland. Other study groups will be established to research and explore significant upcoming anniversaries (Nicea 2025, the Large and Small Catechisms 2028-2029) leading up to the commemoration of the Augsburg Confession, highlighting its ecumenical potential.

In the meeting with the PCPCU and in a subsequent lecture on synodality at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), General Secretary Martin Junge, spoke about challenges we meet on the journey and reminded us of the central role of justification. “In our ecumenical journey, our communions have also affirmed this criterion. In the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, we have agreed in paragraph 18 that ‘the doctrine of justification, (…) is more than just one part of Christian doctrine. It stands in an essential relation to all truths of faith, which are to be seen as internally related to each other. It is an indispensable criterion which constantly serves to orient all the teaching and practice of our churches to Christ.’ We need not look further than to this simple yet all-encompassing Gospel reality. Justification serves as this touchstone for discernment.”

On this journey from conflict to communion, Lutherans and Catholics continually seek to discern how to live into God’s action that makes us one. With prayer, service, and dialogue, may the Holy Spirit continue guiding us, so that we will gather one day at the table where God, through the gift of Christ, has made us already one.

 Photo: LWF/S. Gallay

Rev. Prof. Dr. Dirk G. Lange,  Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations, The Lutheran World Federation

Fredrik A. Schiotz Chair of Missions and Professor of Worship, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN