New hopes for American ecumenism?
Yesterday marked the official launch of Christian Churches Together in the USA, a new ecumenical organization that will certainly compete for attention and funds with the long-established network that is the National Council of Churches USA. The NCC has had its critics over the years, whether they have theological concerns about the general direction of its ecumenical project or political concerns over its purported left-wing tendencies. The member churches of the NCC largely represent three basic groupings of churches: the old mainline churches that have lost about a third of their members over the years and are now significantly "gray" in population, certain historically African-American denominations, and many of the regional jurisdictions of the Eastern Christian churches. While various non-member churches have participated in the "program commissions" put on by the NCC, support has significantly been tepid or nonexistent from Catholics, Pentecostals and evangelicals. According to this news release, when the National Association of Evangelicals was formed it was seen as a counterweight to the NCC, and a qualification for membership in the former was disavowal of membership in the latter. However, the new CCT has enrolled in its ranks both the US Conference of Catholic Bishops as well as evangelical groups such as Free Methodists, the Evangelical Covenant Church, and the Church of God of Prophecy. Meanwhile, old NCC stalwarts such as the Episcopal Church and the Orthodox jurisdictions have jumped on board as well. The CCT promoters emphasize a desire to bring together five Christian "families" - Catholic, Mainline Protestant, Evangelical/Pentecostal, Orthodox, and Racial/Ethnic churches - for witness, worship, and social action. The organizers are particularly concerned with new initiatives for addressing poverty, which we all know (partly thanks to Bono!) is the most frequently-cited social issue in Scripture.
The most significant aspect of CCT, however, may be its intent to operate on the local level. I have expressed this concern several times in conversation with friends that ecumenism typically is seen as this macro event in which national leaders and well-read theologians get together on commissions for dialogue but then their work has no impact whatsoever on churches doing ministry in their communities. True ecumenism, if it is to take any root, must catch fire in the pews and on the streets where people worship and live. The Christian Churches Together invitation calls for establishing a network of spaces where churches and community organizations can come together in their local contexts. While I don't want ecumenists to give up their Faith and Order commissions, I do hope that the future of ecumenism can be shaped by the growing realization that just as all politics is local, so, in a sense, is all Christian living.
The most significant aspect of CCT, however, may be its intent to operate on the local level. I have expressed this concern several times in conversation with friends that ecumenism typically is seen as this macro event in which national leaders and well-read theologians get together on commissions for dialogue but then their work has no impact whatsoever on churches doing ministry in their communities. True ecumenism, if it is to take any root, must catch fire in the pews and on the streets where people worship and live. The Christian Churches Together invitation calls for establishing a network of spaces where churches and community organizations can come together in their local contexts. While I don't want ecumenists to give up their Faith and Order commissions, I do hope that the future of ecumenism can be shaped by the growing realization that just as all politics is local, so, in a sense, is all Christian living.
Labels: Ecumenism
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