no ergo or per se
Our shared communion arrangements enable altar/pulpit exchange: a Lutheran (AELC) pastor can take an Episcopal altar/pulpit and an Episcopal priest can take a Lutheran altar/pulpit. And pretty soon perhaps (or at least that has been a goal of the dialogue) a UnitedMethodist (UMC) pastor will be able to take an Episcopal altar/pulpit and an Episcopal priest will be able to take a UMC altar/pulpit. All because we love each other and our differences are not that divisive.
But that does NOT introduce an ergo: it does NOT mean that therefore there is, per se, Lutheran and UMC altar/pulpit exchange - - the adverbs do not come into play, because these are dialogue, bilateral, two-party arrangements. If UMC and AELC want to have altar/pulpit exchange, that's up to them to dialogue, arrange, agree, and set in place.
Why am I saying this? Because it's true in life generally. Let me Digress: You and I are friends, and S/He and I are friends. But that does NOT mean that, ergo, therefore, You and S/He are friends. In fact, You and S/He may hate each other's guts; but that has nothing to do with Me and My friendship with either of y'all. That is, unless You or S/He try to force it and insist that if I am friends with You, I cannot be friends with S/Him; or conversely, that if I am friends with S/Him then I cannot be friends with You. In which case, that will be Your problem, not Mine!
This is very real in life and unfortunately quite a common issue. Let me illustrate. Years ago there was in my family, a situation of bitter antipathy, division, of which I was not a part. For this memory, call them party A and party B, with party A and party B hating each other (longstanding FOO sibling issues) but Me loving them all. One morning, party A to the division, whom because of living distance I'd not seen in years, surprised me by stopping by my home while driving through my town, and we had a delightful visit of several hours, it was wonderful to catch up. The next time I was with party B, whom I saw frequently because of both close distance and closer kinship, I told party B what a surprise it had been that party A had stopped by and what a warm reunion after so many years. To my utter astonishment, party B exploded in fury at me.
This also applies to our political differences. To paraphrase the blessing, Life is short, and there's no time for hatred. At least, speaking personally, at 84 there's no Time in My life or space in my heart for hate. We may have positive or negative experiences with each other, that lead me either to seek out You and/or S/Him, or to avoid S/Him or You; but there's no Time or space for hate. I'm not going there. Again, Life is short, and we haven't much Time. Wait'll you get to be 84, and you'll see.
For adult Sunday school tomorrow morning, we have Luke's blessings & woes and may compare them to Matthew's beatitudes. And further to my Digression above, we may ask why, though sharing a close relationship with hypothetical Q, they are so different from each other.
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