wfn.org | Committee Holds Open Hearings on Ecumenical Issues

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

GA99038 
21-June-1999 
 
        Committee Holds Open Hearings on Ecumenical Issues 
 
 
FORT WORTH   Relating to other Christians and talking with other religions 
dominated the work of the Assembly Committee on Catholicity and Ecumenical 
Relations on Monday.   
     The Committee held open hearings on proposed "Presbyterian Principles 
for Interfaith Dialogue."  Martha Murchison, interim pastor of First 
Presbyterian Church, Hillsboro, Texas, and a member of the 
Catholic/Reformed dialogue, urged the committee to adopt the principles. 
Pluralism "is a gift of God to help us understand our neighbors," she told 
the committee, "but we do need guidelines for dialogue and training for 
dialogue...Revelation is a power of the Holy Spirit; it is not in our 
hands.  By going and speaking with others, we open the way for the Holy 
Spirit to act." 
     The Committee also held hearings on whether or not the Presbyterian 
Church (U.S.A.) should "enter into a new relationship to be called Churches 
Uniting in Christ."  This recommendation comes from the Special Committee 
on the Consultation on Church Union.  It calls for churches who agree to 
this relationship to: 
      recognize one another as "authentic expressions of the one church of 
Jesus Christ;" 
      accept as valid baptisms and ordinations performed in any 
participating church; 
      celebrate the Eucharist together regularly; and 
      engage in mission together, "especially a shared mission to combat 
racism." 
     One speaker opposing the proposal accused it of being too vague, and 
urged the committee to delay action until a more specific proposal could be 
brought to a future Assembly. Thomas Johnston, Executive of the Synod of 
the Trinity, urged the committee to recommend entering the new 
relationship.  He described it as "a reconciliation of mission" between the 
traditionally separate African-American churches and the mainline 
denominations.  "We have set aside any attempt to create a big, monolithic 
church," Johnston said, and are "coming together out of a vision of being 
the church in American at this time."   
     Walter Ungerer, who had been a candidate for moderator, asked, "Can we 
do the same thing without these recommendations?"  Johnston answered, "If 
we do not seize this opportunity to move ahead, missional initiatives at a 
local level will be severely diminished, and it is unlikely there will be 
the energy and initiative to pursue this again." 
     The Committee will act later on the "Presbyterian Principles for 
Interfaith Dialogue." They will vote Tuesday on the recommendations from 
the Special Committee on the Consulation on Church Union. 
 
Peggy Rounseville  

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