The promise of our deepening life together offers real hope for the broken world. The test of our full communion will be our faithfulness to the Gospel in mission and witness, in prayer and fellowship at God's altar. We live in hope. And it is not the end. We will continue to press forward.
Healing is a part of our new life together.
He said that the educational task, helping Episcopalians understand the new document and how it differs from the Concordat of 1997, will begin almost immediately. In light of the new relationships, the Lutheran vote could open the way for other churches to consider the historic episcopate. Prof. J. Robert Wright of the General Seminary in New York, an advisor to the ecumenical office and a partner in the writing process, agreed. Well before the Churchwide Assembly convened on August 16 the issue of full communion with the Episcopal Church threatened to dominate the agenda. Marty said that the drafting team had been sensitive to those who had serious reservations about CCM but, after exploring a number of options, it was clear that none would be acceptable to the Episcopalians.