Great News!

Many of us have been praying for the LCMS and the SELC (Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church) to enter into altar and pulpit fellowship with one another.  It seems that prayer is very close to being answered.  A delegation from the LCMS, led by Rev. Dr. Albert Collver, Director of Church Relations - Assistant to the President, recently met with leaders of the SELC at Novosibirsk, in Siberia, Russia, for theological discussions.  It was determined that the two Church Bodies are in doctrinal agreement and that steps should be taken immediately to officially declare them to be in full fellowship with one another.  Those steps will hopefully be completed by next month and, thanks to the adoption of Res. 3-04A at the 2010 LCMS National Convention, upon completion of these steps, the LCMS and the SELC will be in fellowship, and that fellowship will be presented to the 2013 LCMS National Convention for ratification.  This is outstanding news, and you can read more about it at Dr. Collver's blog.  As I said above, this will be the answer to the prayers of many of us who have longed for the day when the fellowship we share with our Lutheran brothers and sisters in Russia would be officially recognized and declared.  Thanks be to God!