Ecumenism and the new paradigm of healing

Ecumenical Review, The, July, 2003 by Keith Clements

"Jesus Christ Heals and Reconciles--Our Witness in Europe" was the theme of the 12th assembly of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) in Trondheim, Norway, 25 June-2 July 2003. It is through considering some aspects of this theme that I would like to reflect on this question: "What is the purpose of a church council concerned with ecumenical relations, or a council of churches, and for that matter, what is the purpose of CEC itself?." We live in a time when all institutions, church and ecumenical institutions no less than others, are facing a crisis of credibility. Can we actually deliver what we claim?

We can readily say, of course, that our purpose is to reveal to ourselves and the world the reconciling love of God in Christ. And no less readily, we can draw up the ever-lengthening shopping-list of points where reconciliation is needed in our world. We recently have experienced a fearsome war between US-led forces and Iraq. I say it is "fearsome" because, even if it has rid Iraq of dictator Saddam Hussein, it is still disastrous for relationships in the world between the rich, white, powerful West and the poor of the world, and not least between Christian and Muslim. It seems to many in the world to have legitimated economic and military power as the key to world order, the very opposite of reconciliation.

But of course this is only the beginning of the shopping-list. Relations between Christians and Muslims and people of other faiths are already an issue for us within Europe, as nearly all our big cities can testify. Also within Europe, the Berlin wall may have come down but the disparities in economic health and living conditions between West and East Europe are all too apparent, and may well be growing. There have been vicious wars in the former Yugoslavia with ethnic cleansings which will leave a bitter legacy for generations to come. Then there are the relations between majority ethnic communities and the indigenous minorities, all too well known among our assembly's hosts in Norway. We can speak of the churches themselves: the tensions which the ecumenical bodies are having to handle between the Orthodox and other churches, the uneasy stand off between the Vatican and the Orthodox and between the Vatican and those of us in the Protestant world, notwithstanding the accord on justification reached between the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation in 1999. Relations between majority and minority churches continue to occupy us, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. And within the churches themselves, right down to local parish and congregational level, we are still seeking to manifest the true community of women and men in the church.

As the Charta Oecumenica puts it: "Fundamental differences in faith are still barriers to visible unity. There are different views of the church and its oneness, of the sacraments and ministries. We must not be satisfied with this situation. Jesus Christ revealed to us on the cross his love and the mystery of reconciliation; as his followers, we intend to do our utmost to overcome the problems and obstacles that still divide the churches." (1) And as the Charta goes on to make clear, this is inseparable from the wider needs of reconciliation in Europe: "In view of numerous conflicts, the churches are called upon to serve together the cause of reconciliation among peoples and cultures. We know that peace among the churches is an important prerequisite for this." (2) Peace within the churches, too, we might say. Some of the most church-dividing issues run right through churches, for example on certain fraught ethical issues.

Healing--a new emphasis

The agenda of reconciliation indeed seems endless. So it is not surprising that the theme of reconciliation, so prominent at Graz in 1997, was with us again in Trondheim. But the interesting question is why it is now joined and indeed preceded by the theme of healing. CEC's theme for the Trondheim assembly is "Jesus Christ Heals and Reconciles". Moreover, the council of the Lutheran World Federation meeting in Winnipeg a few weeks later has as its theme "For the Healing of the World"; while the WCC world mission conference in Athens in 2005 will meet under the theme "Come Holy Spirit, Heal and Reconcile". Why is "healing" just now entering our ecumenical vocabulary in such a big way? I do not think it is just for the sake of varying our language to be more colourful, for while "reconciliation" and "healing" both describe the saving work of Christ, while they are closely related and sometimes used almost interchangeably, they do not mean quite the same thing.

Of course, one quick answer to why we are all suddenly talking about "healing" might be to say that we have started reading our Bibles more thoroughly! While "reconciliation" is a central theme for the apostle Paul, and also features in the gospels, there is a far greater abundance of healing stories and healing metaphors in both the Old and New Testaments. But I trust we have always been reading our Bibles and have always known this. So why is "healing" suddenly becoming so much more important to us? One factor is the greater attention being paid to the actual healing ministry of the church, in Europe no less than in the South. You can see this, for example, in the January/April 2001 issue of International Review of Mission devoted entirely to "Faith, Health and Healing". The spread of the HIV-AIDS pandemic is proving a special challenge to the churches at many levels--again, in Europe, too. But "healing" is also becoming more important as an inspiring and visionary metaphor for the mission of the church in society, and it is on that level that I would like now to reflect on it and its significance for our ecumenical calling.