Local Ecumenical Partnership Ecclesiology

Throughout their history, Local Ecumenical Partnerships have been seen as mainstream churches working together.  This made sense pre-1982, when the English covenant was a live possibility and LEPs were believed to be the way forward for the main Protestant denominations.

Today, the context has changed and questions therefore need to be asked about the future of LEPs.  Here are some examples of context change:

• The emphasis is upon mission rather than liturgy.  The debates about sacraments, ministry and ecclesiology seem less relevant to local churches.  The regulations attendant upon these debates are often found to be burdensome.  The question is asked whether structural unity is worth it.
• The ecumenical scene is far more diverse than it was.  Many smaller churches have a local presence but do not have the capacity for or interest in the large scale.
• Many new congregations do not see themselves as denominations and have no interest in the formal ecumenical scene.

In theory, LEPs are supposed to enrich worship and mission by bringing together the best of several traditions to make, not a new tradition, but a space where the traditions can collaborate. 

In practice, this does not always work out.  Ecclesiologies are radically incompatible.  People with very different theological outlooks can get along quite easily but incompatible ecclesiologies are a different matter.  Why is this?  Primarily, the issue is over decision making and authority.  So, for example, each denomination is jealous of its way of appointing ministers.  So, when a vacancy comes up at a LEP, it is at the mercy of the appointing body of one of the participating traditions.  Whilst minor accommodations have been made, there are still many horror stories about how these decisions are taken.  Bishops appoint a non-ecumenically minded priest to a LEP.  The Methodists appoint a fraction of a circuit minister to cover where a full time Anglican preceded them.  The URC require a long interregnum because they are short of ministers.

A recent survey of LEPs with Anglican involvement showed how easily these LEPs revert to parish churches.  As the other participating denominations' original members leave or die, the LEP naturally reverts.  This is often encouraged by the presence of a full time Anglican priest, as very often the Church of England is the only church with resources to staff the LEP properly.

It is difficult to say whether single congregation LEPs have a future.  if they do it is as tools to assist churches with mission. 

Churches in Covenanted Partnership, are a type of LEP where local churches covenant to collaborate over mission and maybe this will be a more attractive approach in the future.  Certainly the Roman Catholics have not problem joining this type of LEP.