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Future of ecumenism in the Christian church?
Published: 10/29/2009
I visited a local church on Sunday evening and was approached by a person who shared a concern about how one church protested another's church's presentation of the gospel. I watched the news story on youtube and essentially this is what I learned. One church sponsored a Haunted House presentation for which vivid details of heaven and hell were displayed. Another church whose presentation and emphasis of the gospel focused more on God's love and grace believed the other church used "scare tactics" in presenting the gospel. The latter church protested the use of scare tactics. The other church became offended by the protest and accused the protesting church of "watering down the biblical message." I spent the last week reading a book entitled: "Councils of Churches and the Ecumenical Vision" by Diane Kessler & Michael Kinnamon. In the book, the authors suggest that there is still a need for Christian churches to continue the dialogue of what it means to be Christian and how to breach the growing gap on Christian unity in our communities. Historically, this has been the work of "ecumenism" in the Christian church, defined as, "a call for the one body of Christ to be what it is and to live ever more fully the story it has received from the prophets and apostles." [Kessler & Kinnamon p.6] My questions are these: What is your take on ecumenism in the 21st century? Is this vision and view of Christian unity a thing of the past or is there more work needed to be done? How do you propose bridging the gap between the presentation of the gospel or "good news" of Jesus Christ in North America? Is there common ground and where do we start if there is? What happens when Christians cannot agree and what does this do to the broader understanding of Christian witness?
If you would like to respond or talk about these issues send a message to: bishop@ntcumc.org with "Bishop's Blog" in the subject line. I would love to hear from you.