wfn.org | Consultation on Church Union's dream for unity entering new phase

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2001-78

Consultation on Church Union's dream for unity entering new phase

by James Solheim
jsolheim@episcopalchurch.org

     (ENS) Nine denominations that have been nurturing a 40-year-old dream for 
church unity are ready to move into a new relationship, even though they have 
been forced to postpone hopes for full communion until they can resolve 
differences on ministry. 

     While admitting that the nine churches of the Consultation on Church Union 
(COCU) "are not yet at the point where they can live in full communion with one 
another, they are surely beyond the stage of occasional cooperation," said the 
Rev. Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of COCU, in a recent Christian Century 
article. "Not all theological issues need be resolved before the churches give 
formal expression to the life that, in some places, they are already beginning to 
share." Next January they will inaugurate Churches Uniting in Christ (CUIC).

     The nine denominations are the African Methodist Episcopal Church, African 
Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Christian Church-Disciples of Christ, Christian 
Methodist Episcopal Church, Episcopal Church, International Council of Community 
Churches, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ, and United 
Methodist Church.

     Kinnamon also pointed out that, since its beginning, COCU's "special 
significance and promise has been that it includes three predominantly African-
American denominations and thus challenges the color barrier that has so divided 
U.S. Christianity." 

     Doing local mission together and sharing resources will become natural but 
"the real test will be whether attitudes begin to change. "We have lived so long 
with denominations acting like competing corporations that it will take time and 
effort even to imagine alternatives," according to Kinnamon.

Ecumenical realities

     Since Presbyterian Stated Clerk Eugene Carson Blake stood in the pulpit of 
Grace Cathedral in San Francisco in 1960 and laid out a bold plan calling for a 
merger of several major American churches, the road to unity has been a bumpy 
one. The Consultation on Church Union (COCU) was founded in 1962 and produced a 
Plan for Union in 1970 that was not accepted because of major differences over 
how participants ordered their ministries. A plan in the 1980s for the formation 
of a "covenant communion" had to be modified when both Presbyterians and 
Episcopalians backed away because of disagreements on the role of oversight--
specifically bishops and ruling elders.

     Yet the dream persisted and changed shape as it faced new ecumenical 
realities. In a statement following the 18th plenary of COCU in January 1999, 
members said they "confess that we have not always been certain of the road 
toward visible unity in Christ, or patient with the pace of our journey," but 
added that they were convinced that "we do not go the journey alone and that, as 
we have traveled together, we have grown in love for one another."

     The plenary decided that love and trust makes possible a new relationship, 
Churches Uniting in Christ, which will be inaugurated January 18-21, 2002 in 
Memphis during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

     "The full reconciliation of ministries, as well as resolution of any 
remaining challenges, is a goal we seek to accomplish and proclaim by the time of 
the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2007," the plenary statement said.

Reconciled ministry?

     At a meeting of the COCU executive committee in Massachusetts in March, 
Kinnamon said that only two years ago the churches seemed at "an impasse--still 
wanting to be in relationship but uncertain about how to move forward given 
historic differences with regard to ministry." He said that some were even 
predicting that "the whole COCU effort was in danger of unraveling."

     Instead, it has been possible to move ahead with inauguration of CUIC and 
commit "to one more round of intensive dialogue on ministry."

     That commitment to dialogue is crucial for the Episcopal Church and its 
future role in CUIC. At its January meeting in Dallas, the Episcopal Church's 
Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations called attention to a resolution from 
the last General Convention that "receives with enthusiasm" the proposals for 
CUIC and the church's commitment to "continuing participation in COCU and to a 
process of engagement and dialogue." 

     The General Convention resolution also expressed its appreciation for COCU's 
intent "to adopt the three-fold ministry of bishop, presbyter and deacon as part 
of the process of ministerial reconciliation" and its affirmation that "a 
reconciled ministry shall include bishops" who stand in continuity with the 
historic episcopate. The standing commission asked COCU "to establish prior to 
the inauguration, a process whereby issues regarding recognition and 
reconciliation of ordained ministry may be resolved before the establishment of 
full communion of the member churches."

     "The ministry of oversight needs special attention so that churches with 
corporate or personal oversight and those with oversight in the historic 
succession of bishops can be reconciled in a way that invites universal 
recognition," the 1999 COCU plenary said. It called for a committee to "clarify 
the meaning of reconciliation of ministry," expressing the hope that "new 
approaches" would make full communion possible by 2007.

Not the final step

     Kinnamon told the executive committee that the Memphis celebration would be 
"a big step but not the final step." Several other "partners in mission and 
dialogue" are expressing interest in CUIC--including the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church in America, the Moravians and the American Baptists. He repeated his 
caution that CUIC was not just another structure but "a new way of being the 
church."

     He added, "Never before have churches with such diversity attempted to live 
into an exciting, unique relationship--one that could reshape the ecumenical 
movement in the coming generation. The dream of Blake lives, although it has 
faced challenging ecumenical realities."

     He also argued that "the focus on combating racism is surely on target. No 
one can pretend there is justice in the land or equality in the church." It is 
ironic, he said, that "racism has divided us and now it unites us."

     Yet he said he is troubled by recent conversations with those who were 
largely interested in how the new relationship would benefit them on the local 
level. "The way we live is a betrayal of the Gospel," Kinnamon said. "We are 
called to maintain the spirit of unity because God has willed it. Instead, we 
continue to be willfully disobedient. This is a crucial time for our witness." 

     The 19th and final plenary of COCU will convene January 18, 2002 and when it 
adjourns the next evening, CUIC will be officially launched. The day will close with 
a  Eucharist at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, with Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold 
serving as celebrant. The Inaugural Service of Worship will be held at Mt. Olive Cathedral 
(CME) on Sunday, January 20.

--James Solheim is director of the Episcopal Church's Office of News and Information.