International Level
Lutheran - Reformed Joint Working Group |
After a decade of conversations between representatives of the LWF and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), action was taken in 1982 to establish an international theological dialogue commission for the two partners. The Joint Commission of the LWF and WARC published its report "Toward Church Fellowship" in 1989. It contains a series of recommendations for closer Lutheran-Reformed relations.
In 1999, a Lutheran-Reformed Joint Working Group commenced work for a three-year period. Its mandate was to analyze current relations between Lutheran and Reformed churches in different regions, and give advice on the continued development of global relations between the two partners.
The Working Group completed its work in 2001. Its report, "Called to Communion and Common Witness," was published in 2002 and presented to the LWF Council in Wittenberg, Germany. The Council approved the recommendation of the Working Group to create a Joint Lutheran-Reformed Commission which would, among other things, be responsible for a study project on structures of church communion, reflecting on the diversity and complementarity of ecclesiological approaches within the two confessional families as they move toward new forms of communion.
The respective secretariats of the LWF and WARC have held Joint Staff Meetings at intervals for some time, by which cooperation is monitored and promoted. The two organizations participate in several of each other's study programs.
Regional Level
The 25th anniversary of the Leuenberg Agreement between Lutheran and Reformed churches in Europe was celebrated in 1998. This pioneering bilateral agreement of church fellowship is developing further and remains an expression of a living ecumenical process.
Also in 1998, the celebration took place in the USA of the "Formula of Agreement" establishing full communion between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, on the one hand, and the Presbyterian Church in the USA, the Reformed Church in America, and the United Church of Christ, on the other.
In 2000, the Church of Norway signed the Leuenberg Agreement. In 2001, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark also joined the Leuenberg Church Fellowship.
