Lutheran and Anglican bishops brainstorm solutions to common problems

By Harvey Shepherd Montreal
October 26, 2010

Canadian Lutheran churches appear to be faced with many of the same problems known to Canadian Anglicans.

These include shrinking congregations and an increased interest in weekly eucharist.

According to Susan Johnson, national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), this is leading Lutherans to look at such measures as the use of ordained pastors as “circuit riders” bringing the eucharist to a number of parishes. Speaking here at the Oct. 22-25 joint meeting of the Anglican House of Bishops and Lutheran Conference of Bishops, she added there has also been pressure to revive a practice of permitting lay people to preside at the sacrament, as some Lutheran churches did at one time.

Bishop Johnson also spoke about joint partnerships between large urban and small rural parishes as well as “locally called” pastors ordained to serve their own parishes with less stringent educational requirements than exist for other pastors. the rest