Participative Ecumenism

A few posts ago , I mentioned the use of participative methods as one of the distinctive features of the Global Christian Forum .  The intention has been to distance the Forum from formal talks about Faith and Order.

I have noticed a few other straws in the wind:

1. The World Council of Churches  has recently started to make decisions by consensus.  The reason for this is fairness to the Orthodox members, one person one vote was unfair as every time a Protestant Church splits it adds an extra Protestant vote at WCC meetings.  Of course, consensus is not necessarily the same as participation.  Nevertheless, it is at least a step away from traditional decision making processes and may open up other possibilities in the future.
2. It is through new mission initiatives, developing in Britain over recent years, that participative methods have found a role in British Christian communities.  This is true especially amongst the groups which describe themselves as 'fresh expressions of church'.  The workshop we held about a year ago, 'Participation in Church'  was inspired by this movement.
3. The Methodist Church of Great Britain has recently launched a youth participation strategy , probably inspired by the fresh expressions movement.

I would be grateful for other examples of use of participative methods in ecumenism and mission.

Whilst these examples are perhaps a little thin, I think they are evidence of a growing expectation, particularly amongst younger people , that decision making will be inclusive and participative.  This resonates with the GCF and suggests churches are finding locally what has also been rediscovered by global ecumenical groups.

If the mainstream churches wish to bring younger people with them, they must acknowledge their commitment to open decision making.  As the people involved in fresh expressions and other similar movements grow older, the likelihood is formal ecumenism will need to become a more open activity, where church leaders are in open dialogue with local churches.

This will have implications for ecumenical reception  and I will explore these in my next post.