LCC’s Ecumenical Dialogues

CANADA – Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) is currently involved in three inter-denominational dialogues: with the Roman Catholic Church in Canada, with the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), and with the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). Each of these dialogues meets once or twice a year. 

Roman Catholic Dialogue

The Roman Catholic dialogue team meets in the Niagara Peninsula, Ontario as most members of this dialogue live in a two-hour radius of that area. The most recent meeting took place in December 2022, and discussed the topic of synodality—that is, what does it mean to be Synod, walking together, clergy and laity together. Rome tends to be a very top-down organization with a well-defined ecclesiastical structure, but they do not have a strong voice for laity in that structure. LCC participants in the dialogue note that it was interesting to hear from Roman Catholics the struggles they are experiencing as they explore what the inclusion of more lay voices will mean in their church structure. The next meeting of this dialogue is scheduled for June 2023.

Dialogue with the Anglican Church in North America

LCC’s dialogue with the Anglican Church in North America is undertaken in partnership with our sister synod, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). Meetings generally take place in the United States. Over the years, this dialogue has taken on quite a number of topics to see how close theologically LCC and LCMS are to ACNA, and what things still separate us. These discussions are quite frank and honest, but always uplifting as the desire of every participant is to seek theological truth from Holy Scripture. In 2016, LCC, LCMS, and ACNA published a document entitled “On Closer Acquaintance” which outlines how the early years of the dialogue progressed. Participants are now endeavouring to produce a new document on how things have transpired since. The next meeting of this dialogue will take place in May 2023 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Dialogue with the North American Lutheran Church

LCC’s dialogue with the North American Lutheran Church (NALC) is also done in partnership with the LCMS. NALC is a relatively new church body in North America and is primarily made up of congregations that left the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC). The congregations that formed NALC left their previous church bodies over concerns that their church was drifting into non-biblical teaching and practice. This dialogue group has discussed many theological topics, rejoicing where there is agreement and noting where differences remain. Recently the group has discussed how each understands the nature of Holy Scripture, as this is fundamental to any discussion of theology. In 2016, the dialogue group released a joint statement expressing much agreement on the character and proper use of the Scriptures. Recently the group has sought to meet twice a year, with one meeting online and one in person. The next meeting is scheduled for April 2023 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

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Read more on the topic in Ecumenical Dialogue—Why Bother? written by Rev. Michael Keith, a member of Lutheran Church–Canada’s Commission on Theology and Church Relations.

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