wfn.org | 'Consultation' becomes 'covenant'

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Note #7022 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

20-January-2002
02032

'Consultation' becomes 'covenant'

Ecumenical group takes a new name, says key word is 'uniting' 

by Jerry L. Van Marter

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — COCU is no more.

In a dramatic, carefully-staged business meeting on Jan. 19 that lasted barely 20 minutes, delegates from the nine member churches of the Consultation on Church Union voted unanimously to dissolve the 40-year-old ecumenical organization and create a covenant fellowship of churches to be known as Churches Uniting in Christ (CUIC).

The 250 COCU/CUIC participants then moved from their hotel to nearby St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, where they were joined by an equal number of Memphis Christians for a stirring worship service that included an ecumenical sacrament of the Lord's Supper and a review of COCU's accomplishments.

The Rev. Kathryn Bannister, a United Methodist pastor and a president of the World Council of Churches, said the hallmark of CUIC will be the genuine hospitality of God — "a sign of hope that love is always possible and hate is never inevitable."

Preaching from the "great banquet" parable in Luke 14:12-24, Bannister said Jesus Christ "is the hospitality of God," reaching out to those on the margins of society. "This hospitality of God is integral, not optional," she said, and extending the love and justice of Jesus Christ across the margins of society — social, racial, economic, political — "is proof of the authenticity of Christianity."

It should come as no surprise that Jesus came as "a marginalized one," Bannister said, noting that he was born as a refugee, became a homeless man with "no place to lay his head," then was outcast by his own people, branded a criminal by the governing authority and finally humiliated by execution on a cross.

Yet Christians too often act like conquerors rather than joining the rejected outcast who extended hospitality to the marginalized and was always to be found "where hope is alive in the midst of suffering."

Pointing to the communion table prepared for the service, Bannister said genuine hospitality is marked by four traits:

* Humility, a recognition that this is God's table and "we're all guests together here." 

* Hospitality — "because Jesus Christ is in every person we meet." 

* A willingness to receive, knowing that in any situation, the "guests" have as much to offer as the "hosts."

* A willingness to relinquish power — "to come to the table unconditionally, and to stay at the table when we'd rather walk away."	 

Genuine hospitality, Bannister said, "only makes sense in the economy of God, but we cannot turn away from the invitation, because it is the only way to become the Body of Christ."

Referring to CUIC, she said: "What a possibility we have before us! To extend hospitality so that the world will know there is still room at the table."

Significantly, the motion to dissolve COCU was offered by the Rev. Paul Crow of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the organization's second general secretary, who served from 1968-1974, and seconded by Vivian U. Robinson of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, its longest-serving president, who took office in 1988 and served for more than a decade.

The member churches of COCU, now CUIC: The African Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Episcopal Church, the International Council of Community Churches, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church.
They will be joined by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which has chosen to "participate fully" without formally becoming a member. The American Baptist Church, the Moravian Church and the Roman Catholic Church, all strong supporters of COCU historically, have pledged their continued support.

In a Jan. 18 dinner address, Roman Catholic Bishop Terry Steib of Memphis told the group: "We know how hard your road has been, and we hope to continue with you every step of the way. Though we are not full (COCU) members, we have participated in your theological and liturgical studies. We pledge to you to continue to work with you, because we see unity as central to Christian identity."
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