Exploring Ecumenism

The Ecumenical Prayer

This summer I am preaching around my circuit about the Lord's Prayer.  There will be three services, it is a rich theme, which could probably support far more than three sermons but sometimes congregations need a break!  My main source is Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels by Kenneth E Bailey.

Bailey has been known to me as a writer for many years.  His analysis of the parable of the prodigal son impressed me during the mid-nineties when I was studying for my Masters in Applied Theology.  His access to Middle Eastern traditions brings rare insight to his writings.

His main focus for the words, Our Father, is upon the second word.  He goes into great detail and there's no point in dwelling on it here, except to observe the word translated in English as Father is universal.  I think we can properly see it as a celebration of oikoumene, understood as the reconciliation of all things, because it affirms God as Father of all people.

I am particularly interested in the first word, Our.  Bailey doesn't have much to say about it but what he does say is very interesting, page 100:

In conclusion the phrase in the prayer is "Our Father" not "My Father".  The Psalms have frequent reference to "my God", and the personal relationship between the God of the Bible and the individual believer must not be ignored.  Yet, as we will see, the Lord's Prayer affirms a family of God that has one Father, and this prayer includes all followers of Jesus in that family.

It may be simplistic to say, whilst God is Father of all, those who pray Our Father are part of God's family.  There are still many Christians who insist their tradition (Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant) is the one true church and that other Christians are lacking authenticity in some way.  But the family is all who say this prayer. 

I do not deny we are united by more than this one prayer.  However, we need to understand it is a statement of who we are and our collective relationship with God. 

These opening words tell us that when we raise the sword against anyone, we deny the image of God.  When we raise the sword against our fellow speakers of the prayer, we cut ourselves off from God's family.

Called to be One 9: Protestantism and Cultural Disorientation

This post relates to the ninth critical issue in Called to be One: What Now?, Protestantism and Cultural Disorientation .

This is another issue that seems misconceived.  So, Protestantism has, unlike Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy, been consumed by markets, management and novelty.

First, this implies unity lies in following the lead of Catholic and Orthodox churches.  But why should we?  Protestantism is widely varied but it seems we are all suffering from cultural disorientation and need a good dose of (very) old time religion to get us back on track.  Whilst I admire the grace and charisms of the great non-Protestant traditions, I also admire the grace and charisms of my own.  It has its debts to these ancient traditions but that is no reason to return to them.

The writers make a number of assumptions.  They imply Protestantism in Europe has sold out.  But Protestantism is all over the world and some of the world's most vibrant churches in Asia, Latin American and Africa cannot in any way be described as suffering cultural disorientation.  This is not to say they are perfect (far from it), but they are authentic.

What is being implied is liberal protestant theology has sold out to markets, management and novelty.  In my view, the churches that have sold out are American fundamentalist churches and the churches around the world that copy them.  Think about prosperity gospel  and what what that says through its uncritical view of markets.  Or the tele-evangelists and their marketing of cheap faith for a high market value.  Or Sarah Palin and her tea party movement.  Or Glen Beck who says the social gospel is not Christian.

Time and again I hear people saying Europe needs missionaries in reverse.  Last weekend hundreds of thousands of Christians attended the second ecumenical Kirchentag  in Munich.  The faith is alive and well in Europe, perhaps its America that needs missionaries in reverse.

So, what about the liberals?  They uphold in the main that branch of Protestantism that argues, debates, values research and evidence.  These are the traditions that have analysed the Bible and the tradition; questioned many things formerly held to be sacred.  All the churches have benefited from this activity, as they have adapted their teaching to the demands of the modern world.

Called to be One 4: Denominationalism and Local Ecumenism

This post relates to the fourth critical issue in Called to be One: What Now?, Denominationalism and Local Ecumenism .

Building on my last post , let me approach consumerism from a different direction. 

Christianity is a faith rooted in history.  Its strength is its ability to adapt to new situations, to be contextualised, or incarnated, in the particular.

Of course, some traditions claim their faith is timeless and must not adapt to context.  But the reality is as faith spreads, it spreads in particular, not generic ways.  The success of many missions was rooted in local people taking on the faith and moulding it to their own culture.  Christianity is good at this, whether or not the missionaries or evangelists approve.

Called to be One 2: Unity, Diversity and the Goal

This post relates to the second critical issue in Called to be One: What Now?, Unity, Diversity and the Goal . 

A few months ago, I joined a Pentecostal prayer meeting at an ecumenical gathering.  I found it extremely difficult!  I reacted negatively to being told what to pray for and to pray for it aloud myself.  This was a two-fold problem, as I neither agreed with the issue I was told to pray for nor did I like being told to pray to order. 

Called to be One 1: Some Concerns about Power

A few weeks ago I mentioned the document, Called to be One - what now? ; an account of a conference held last November.  Many of the people who attended were involved in the publication of a document, Called to be One, in 1996.  Re-reading this 15 years later, it seems both fresh and dated at the same time.

Much of it is still current today and yet things are very different.  The main difference is a loss of confidence in the ecumenical movement in England.  The people who organised and attended the November 2009 conference can easily be dismissed as an older generation, out of touch with the painful realities of the present day. I think the reality is more complex. 

Must Ecumenism be about Control?

More than a century ago, the sociologist Max Weber wrote at length to argue for a fundamental difference between the two religious groupings [Protestants and Catholics], which resulted in Reformed Protestants becoming identified with self-discipline and a 'spirit of capitalism', and Protestants associated with a highly regulated 'work ethic' rarely possessed by Catholics.  The notion still holds some sway in popular consciousness, but detailed acquaintance with the story of Reformation and Counter-Reformation makes it dissolve into qualifications and contradiction; it is an idea best avoided.  Discipline and the urge to order people's lives were ecumenical qualities.  (From: A History of Christianity , by Diarmaid MacCulloch, page 685)

I'm still reading Diarmaid MacCulloch's book and my eye was caught by this paragraph and particularly the last sentence.  Most likely MaCulloch means ecumenical in the sense that all traditions shared the same urge.  However, I must confess I do feel at times that the aim of full visible unity is discipline and the desire to order people's lives. 

Local and Global Ecumenism

Reading about the Global Christian Forum  has helped me think about local and national ecumenism in Britain.  It appears local ecumenism has more in common with global ecumenism than the national  ecumenical work of the denominations.

It seems local and national ecumenism have had less in common in recent years.  Think back to the English Covenant in the early eighties and then the 'Not Strangers but Pilgrims'  process in the late eighties.  The latter involved many local churches in meeting over Lent 1986 to discuss the future of ecumenism in Britain.  This process led to the Swanwick Agreement  and the new ecumenical instruments.

The Reconciling Mission of Global Christianity

The second of the papers from the plenary sessions at the  Global Christian Forum  meeting in Limuru 2007, by Dr Cheryl Bridges Johns , a Pentecostal scholar, underlies this post.  It is called 'When East Meets West and North Meets South: The Reconciling Mission of Global Christianity' and can be found on page 93 of  Revisioning Christian Unity .

Johns makes two assumptions: that the 'mainstream' ecumenical paradigm is no longer viable to meet the challenges of the 21st century; and that when global Christians are honoured as equal partners, their gifts are adequate for the tasks of unity and mission.

The Goal of Ecumenism 4: Openness versus Effort

This is the fourth in a sequence of posts based upon Chris James' blog post  The Goal of Ecumenism: Why and how to be one , part V.  The first of these posts is  Why Are We Divided?, the second is  The Visibility of the Church and the third is Ecumenism and Ecclesiality .

I must confess to a degree of impatience with the idea that ecumenism is a some sort of eschatological truth.  Of course I understand that the fullness of God's plan for humanity will not be revealed until the end times.  But how practical is it to assert this truth?  It feels like a cop out: we can't do anything about it now because it is an eschatological truth.

The Goal of Ecumenism 1: Why are we Divided?

This is the first of series of posts which will respond to a post placed by Chris James on his blog, The Goal of Ecumenism: Why and How to be One.  This is a helpful article, exploring the distinction between visible unity and reconciled diversity.  My aim is to consider each section of his post in turn and I hope Chris will forgive me for using his subheadings.  I do so in order that all readers have some chance of keeping up!

The purpose of my blog is to explore an approach to ecumenism based upon the practice rather than the content of conversations.  I question both visible unity and reconciled diversity and James' post offers me an opportunity to summarise and develop my ideas.