The ecumenical challenge of united and uniting churches

Ecumenical Review, The, Oct, 1995 by Rena Karefa-Smart

Why have spurious claims been so effective? How has it been possible within a short period of thirty to forty years for the prophetic work of so many persons in so many parts of the world, and in so many different kinds of churches, to lose its force? Can the reasons for the retreat of ecumenists and ecumenically-committed churches be articulated? Are there explanations that can assist those under attack to survive this period of recession, to continue effectively in the struggle for the emergence of a church that is truly catholic, truly reformed and truly evangelical? Is it realistic to be committed to the emergence of a people of God reunited from all of the Christian traditions - Protestant, Anglican/Episcopal, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Pentecostal? What is the vision that can give hope and direction to those who believe in the imperative to be the one church for the one world? How do all churches become "unitable churches"? Can they together create the new structures that are congruent with life in organic union?

In this context, united and uniting churches (UUCs) bring to the ecumenical movement a life-giving word. They proclaim the truth of the founding, radical union vision that inspired hope for visible unity. They model church life that is holistic, union-centred and shaped by an ecumenically-informed morality of change that moves churches from separation and division into unity and union. As they encounter effectively the power of denominationalism, liberating Christians in many countries from the relative powerlessness of formerly divided and fragmented church life, united and uniting churches are helping to shape a new paradigm for living into unity and union. Their conversion to new life is so radical that it challenges all churches to engage in self-examination and prayer, in order to discern the meaning of this movement within the ecumenical movement. Are united and uniting churches enabling the larger ecumenical movement - through their conversion and new forms of institutional life - to move into an authentic future within the household of God? Are they enabling the ecumenical movement to live out of a reclaimed, powerful and liberating union vision? Is their path into organic union the way all churches must walk, if the people of God are ever to live as one people?

Such questions involve churches in a search for understanding that transcends the level of discourse within ecumenism today, The origins and development of the UUCs reveal life in union informed by a hermeneutic of contrition, an interpretation of church life that connects biblical truth with historical, theological and sociological insights, searching them for the norms and strategies that lead into a life of recovered unity. Discerning the way of obedience, moving from fragmentation and division to union, UUCs are moving out from remorse and penitence into the light of forgiveness and the "long road of amendment" that brings them into the circle of redemption and reconciliation. Enduring protracted negotiations (see for example the Church of South India) and the disappointments of dialogue reception, UUCs experience all that is to be endured on the rocky path to union. The ecumenical movement has, in them, a resource which is essential to the experience of all churches if they are to realize the goals of living into visible eucharistic unity.

In this presentation I will consider, first, selected problems within the ecumenical movement as sources of the criticisms that, however exaggerated or unfair, have contributed to the undermining of ecumenical ministries. Then I will relate the development of united and uniting churches to the larger ecumenical movement. The second part of the paper will identify the strength, but also the vulnerability, of the union vision as it has determined the history of UUCs, emphasizing a context of denominational resistance and even opposition. Completing this statement is a question about possible structural changes, that is, where the focus on UUCs is placed within the World Council of Churches.

Visible unity and organic union: vocation and gifts

The ecumenical movement is living under siege, held hostage to its own authentic but often-rejected goal of unity through organic church union. In this situation, the role of UUCs is decisive. Will ecumenism find the way to liberate the churches from their self-imposed captivity? Will it find a way to envision all churches within one eucharistic whole? Will it be able to forge the conceptual and practical tools for living radically changed lives - moving through penitence, forgiveness and amendment into a common life of redemption within the body of Christ, the Reconciler? The experiences of UUCs of vision empowerment, complex ecclesiastical negotiations, delayed results - even failures, and, most importantly, liberation from isolation and the fear of change, have prepared them to be taken seriously as evolving ecumenical models of normative institutional life today. The question is, are not UUCs, as trans-denominational and trans-confessional bodies, the model of church union that can effectively take all churches into the life of koinonia to which we are all called as persons, churches, confessions and communions? How else can institutional churches move authentically into organic union - the glorious gift of the triune God? We rejoice that some separated churches have moved into visible unity through union. United in integrated life, they are a gifted presence, manifesting forgiveness, and calling others to the way of full eucharistic life in union with each other and with Christ.