wfn.org | [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 216-United Methodists refine process for ecumenical relations

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United Methodists refine process for ecumenical relations

>May. 21, 2008

NOTE: Photographs are available with this report at http://umns.umc.org.

>By Linda Green*

FORT WORTH, Texas (UMNS)-Prior to the 2008 United Methodist General
Conference, the church's Council of Bishops was authorized to work in
cooperation with its ecumenical agency to engage in formal relations
with other denominations or ecclesial bodies. The bishops' ecumenical
officer coordinated the relationships.

Delegates to the 2008 General Conference added language to give the
bishops authority to enter into "interim and provisional ecumenical
agreements" with other Christian bodies, following consultation with and
concurrence of the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and
Interreligious Concerns. However, all agreements of full communion and
permanent membership in ecumenical organizations must be ratified by
General Conference.

By a General Conference vote, The United Methodist Church entered into
full relationship with The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on
April 28. The denomination also has an interim Eucharist-sharing
covenant relationship with The Episcopal Church and agreements with five
historically black Methodist denominations that make up the
Pan-Methodist Commission.

"The nature of our ecumenical relationships is evolving, changing and
growing," said Doug Mills, a staff member of the Commission on Christian
Unity and Interreligious Concerns. "The Discipline was silent on full
communion and to keep up with our evolving relationships, we needed to
give a structure to allow the church to move forward in its ecumenical
commitments."

In approving the petition submitted by the Council of Bishops, General
Conference delegates described full communion as two or more Christian
churches that recognize the:

*	One, holy, Catholic and apostolic faith as expressed in the Holy
Scriptures and confessed in the church's historic creeds; 
*	Authenticity of each other's baptism and Eucharist and extend
sacramental hospitality to each others members; 
*	Validity of their respective ministries; and
*	Full interchangeability and reciprocity of all ordained
ministers in each of the churches.

Full communion does not presume that there are no differences in rites
or doctrines between churches, but that these differences provide no
barrier to affirming each other as full expressions of the one holy,
catholic, and apostolic Church of Jesus Christ, according to legislation
passed by the assembly. The relationship commits the churches to working
together as partners in mission.

"This is a positive step and it provides steps for further conversation
with Christian bodies," said West Virginia Bishop Ernest Lyght, who
submitted the petition on behalf of the Council of Bishops.
"Historically, The United Methodist Church has not functioned in
isolation. Going back decades, it has always sought to be in
relationships with Christian communities and non-Christian communities."

Prior to the 2008 General Conference, the Book of Discipline did not
define full communion but did define covenanting, said Bishop William
Oden, the outgoing ecumenical officer for the Council of Bishops. "The
understanding of covenanting has been expanded by the use of full
communion," he said.

Oden said the church is in a new era in which the term "full communion"
will be used more and more in ecumenical relationships.

*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in
Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact: Linda Green, e-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org.

>********************

United Methodist News Service Photos and stories also available at: http://umns.umc.org

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