DALLAS -- The Conference of Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) advised its church to commit to "interim Eucharistic sharing" with the United Methodist Church, in a meeting here, March 3-7. According to an ELCA news release, it is a step that may lead to a full-communion agreement between the two churches sometime in the future.

The proposal will be considered by the UMC and the ELCA Church Council in April, for possible transmission to the ELCA Churchwide Assembly, set for Aug. 8-14 in Orlando, Fla.

"What we're proposing … allows congregations to come together to share worship, to do joint study and exploration and to get to know each other a lot better," said the Rev. Allan C. Bjornberg, bishop of the ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod, Denver, and co-chair of the current dialogue between the two churches.

Previous discussions about baptism and leadership with the United Methodist Church date back to the 1970s, according to Bjornberg. Concerning Holy Communion, Bjornberg said the two denominations are "on parallel tracks in terms of our theological understandings.

"We're both churches that came out of reforming movements, separated by a couple of centuries," Bjornberg said. "There are just so many parallel tracks and so many convergences that seem apparent."

A possible next step for the two churches would be to enter into a relationship of full communion, which would allow ordained ministers from one church to serve in the other, and such an agreement promotes sharing of resources and ministries throughout the churches.

"That's been the stated objective," Bjornberg said. "We have not put any kind of timeline on it. When we were in interim Eucharistic sharing with the Episcopal Church U.S.A., that went on for two-and-one-half decades -- a long time. So, what comes next is that period of exploration and sharing [with the United Methodist Church]."