Exploring Ecumenism

Metropolitan Ecumenism

Yesterday , I referred to a post by Peter Phillips, Reflecting on metropolitan ecumenism and grassroots mission .  The idea of metropolitan ecumenism intrigues me.  Phillips implies he found the term elsewhere but I have found no other references to it following a Google search.  This is Phillips' definition:

So what is meant by metropolitan ecumenism?  Basically, to me it means ecumenism that is handled in London and by central office - hierarchical ecumenism - top down ecumenism.  My own first reaction to the speech was a good example - I went back to statements which had been issued by high-ranking meetings and agencies.  I went to the central tenets of Methodism and agreed wholeheartedly with what David Gamble said.  I argued it was fully in accord with what Methodists say about the Covenant and fits in well with that Covenant (and see the others who say the same within the same metropolitan media-style ecumenical perspective above).  I'd stick with that and I don't think there is anything wrong with such a viewpoint.  But the very danger is that we do stick there.  Sometimes we get set into a kind of networked mindset - where academics involved in a network end up in an ivory tower which is really helpful for their own research but misses the point of what is actually happening on the ground.  Metropolitan ecumenism is only as good as ecumenism on the ground.  We cannot and will not see unity within the Church through the dictat of any Synod or Committee.  Unity comes from the grassroots but can be enabled and empowered by metropolitan enthusiasm.  

On a practical level, metropolitan ecumenism might be a useful phrase to describe what I have tended to call 'central' or 'national' ecumenism.  I think the distinction between metropolitan and local is an important one and I have addressed it several times on this blog under the name of ecumenical reception .

Will Methodism Go Out of Existence?

On Thursday 11 February, Revd David Gamble, President of Methodist Conference, addressed the General Synod of the Church of England.  The impact of his speech certainly brought the Methodist Church to the attention of the media, even to the extent of an interview with John Humphreys on BBC Radio 4's Today programme!

The passage in his speech which sparked the controversy was this one:

Methodists approach the Covenant with the Church of England in the spirituality of that [Wesleyan] Covenant prayer. So when we say to God “let me have all things let me have nothing”, we say it by extension to our partners in the Church of England as well. We are prepared to go out of existence not because we are declining or failing in mission, but for the sake of mission. In other words we are prepared to be changed and even to cease having a separate existence as a Church if that will serve the needs of the Kingdom.

To get some measure of the media response, I recommend a post by Peter Phillips, Reflecting on metropolitan ecumenism and grassroots mission .  Follow the links from this post and others around it, and you will find a number of blogs about the speech. 

The Marigold Book

'Churches Together in Pilgrimage' is better known as the Marigold Book , which alludes to the colour of its cover, or rather it used to, as the book has been out of print for a long time.  It was issued after the 1987 Swanwick Conference, towards the end of the Not Strangers but Pilgrims Interchurch Process , and detailed the new arrangements for ecumenism in the British Isles.

The link is to part of the Marigold Book, which can be found on Churches Together in England's website  (09.10).  This extract covers England only and it will do for now, as my context is England and this will help readers understand something of it.

The first thing that strikes me is, twenty years after it was introduced, the proposed structures seem to have stood up rather well.  Some aspects are being reviewed, eg intermediate bodies and the enabling group, but overall it seems to have served England's churches rather well.

Reflections and Observations of the Interchurch Process

Today I will make a few more comments on the paper by Colin Davey and Martin Reardon . 

Views from the Pews

The Not Strangers but Pilgrims Inter-Church Process  started from an understanding that nothing would work without support from 'local, national and International levels'.  This was achieved in part by a massive consultation process over Lent 1986.

Fifty seven BBC and independent local radio stations produced programmes.  Local churches met once a week over Lent and listened to the programmes and used a book prepared for study: What on Earth is the Church For?

Not Strangers but Pilgrims

Staying with the theme of history , this new sequence will explore the recent history of ecumenism in Britain (mainly England).  My posts usually explore theological approaches to ecumenism.  This sequence will focus on the contemporary context in England, applying these approaches.

How Conversations Can Heal Our Divisions

It is something deep in the way human beings structure their organisations, that things do not always turn out the way they were expected to turn out.  This is the problem we face when we contemplate the history of the Franciscans and Dominicans (see my last post ). 

People do not set out to be evil.  We tend to have a Dr Evil view of evil.  The villain in the Austin Powers series, is evil because he enjoys being evil.  Usually, we set up our organisations for the good of humanity.  Something goes wrong and this particular group of people, with the best of intentions, sets off down the wrong road.