Ecumenical plan goes to churches

Christian Century, Feb 22, 2003 by John Dart

BUOYED BY growing evangelical and Pentecostal input, the broadest-ever U.S. ecumenical alliance--seeking closer relations and "a more credible Christian witness"--will submit an organizational plan this year and next to denominations and Christian organizations for their approval.

The fledgling Christian Churches Together (CCT) in the U.S.A., at its third and most decisive steering committee meeting January 27-29 in Pasadena, California, decided on a consensus approach to decision-making but stressed that it expects "committed participation" by denominations and organizations from five Christian traditions.

The five "families" are evangelical/Pentecostal, "historic" Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, "racial/ethnic" and Roman Catholic. A maximum of 20 percent of the representatives may be drawn from para-church ministries or Christian organizations "to make room for their dynamism," said Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, who chaired the steering committee that met at Fuller Theological Seminary.

"This is a brand new thing for all of us," said Granberg-Michaelson, chief executive of the Reformed Church in America. The country's largest ecumenical body, the National Council of Churches, does not include Catholics or a significant number of evangelicals. Ecumenical leaders in various traditions lately have looked overseas and taken hope from Christian councils uniting Catholic, historic Protestant, Pentecostal and evangelical bodies.

Following the first two CCT meetings, in Baltimore in September 2001 and Chicago in April 2002, this third meeting on the campus of evangelical Fuller Seminary was "a breakthrough," said Granberg-Michaelson. The more than 50 official participants included people from the International Church of Foursquare Gospel, the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), the Evangelical Covenant Church, the Free Methodist Church, the Church of the Nazarene, the Pentecostal Holiness Church, the Pentecostal Churches of North America and the Christian Reformed Church.

Even the Pasadena-based Worldwide Church of God, whose core group shifted from sectarian beliefs to mainstream evangelicalism in the 1990s, was represented by Joseph Tkach, its pastor general.

"Many who came are taking a risk, stepping forward into territory we've not been to before," Granberg-Michaelson said. The 16-million-member Southern Baptist Convention--which belongs neither to the NCC nor to the National Association of Evangelicals--sent an observer, Barrett Duke, of the SBC's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. Duke was active in the discussions, participants said.

Two evangelical figures long comfortable in ecumenism, Jim Wallis of Sojourners and Ron Sider of Evangelicals for Social Action, took part. "I'm enthusiastic," said Sider as he left the closed-door meeting. "There's a fabulous spirit here." Equally upbeat were ecumenist Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore and Bishop Tod Brown of the nearby Catholic Diocese of Orange.

"The U.S. Catholic Conference is very seriously engaged," confirmed Granberg-Michaelson. "This is a kairos moment. When 25 denominations and organizations respond yes and that represents the diversity of church `families' and expressions of Christianity, we will be at the point of formation."

Though one purpose of Christian Churches Together is "speaking to society with a common voice whenever possible," including on social concerns, the starting point will be on fellowship and understanding, he said. Eventually, actions developed from CCT-organized forums on topics from evangelism to public policy would carry the names only of participating denominations, organizations and individuals agreeing with the decisions.

Last year's World Council of Churches' Central Committee meeting, sensitive to Orthodox churches that had often been outvoted, decided in the future to work by consensus rather than by yes-no voting. The CCT, which includes at least seven Orthodox bodies, fashioned a similar mode to allow groups with reservations about the majority view to "stand aside" from the decision. In some cases, majority and minority stances would be issued.

Even if prophetic social voices are muted by social and ideological divisions, the CCT framers nevertheless insisted that participants (the word "members" was avoided) must support the organization "both financially and through personal participation." Denominations would be expected to send their top leader to annual general assemblies.

Some analysts have predicted that the CCT might at some point overshadow or supplant the NCC and the NAE, both of which have struggled recently with financial and image problems.

Two observers at the recent CCT meeting were Lutheran William G. Rusch, director of the new Foundation for a Conference on Faith and Order, and Kevin Mannoia, an ex-NAE president now dean of Azusa Pacific University's theological school. Also involved in the foundation, Mannoia said there is "an increasing confluence of these two movements," the CCT and the new faith and order group. "It's a fresh move of God throughout North America," he added.