wfn.org | [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 393-United Methodists organize for new ecumenical efforts

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

United Methodists organize for new ecumenical efforts

Sep. 22, 2008    News media contact:   Linda  Bloom * (646) 3693759*   New York {393}

NOTE: Photographs and a related story are at http://umns.umc.org

>By Linda Bloom*

DAYTON, Ohio (UMNS)-The United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity  and Interreligious Concerns is not quite re-inventing itself.

But with new leadership at its helm, 26 new members on its 43-person  board and an expanded agenda of both a global and interfaith nature, the  church's ecumenical agency is moving forward in a new way.

"We realize it is a season of fresh beginnings," said Bishop Mary Ann  Swenson of the Los Angeles area, the new commission president.

During its Sept. 17-21 organizational meeting at United Theological  Seminary in suburban Dayton, the commission officially elected its new  chief executive, the Rev. Stephen Sidorak Jr., and heard from the new  ecumenical officer of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, Bishop  Sharon Rader.

Swenson noted that the meeting's theme-"Making All Things New" from John  1:5-is fitting for the new leadership, new members and the new  quadrennium. She said she hopes the commission can focus on teambuilding  and promoting unity with wholeness, both within the denomination and on  the outside, with Methodist, ecumenical and interfaith partners.

Sidorak, the long-time executive director of the Christian Conference of  Connecticut, is a veteran teambuilder of ecumenical partnerships,  particularly at the state level. He unofficially started his new  position on July 1.

His Sept. 21 installation service at Concord United Methodist Church  drew two nearby state leaders, the Rev. Nancy Jo Kemper, a United Church  of Christ clergywoman and head of the Kentucky Council of Churches, and  the Rev. Rebecca Tollefson, a Presbyterian who is executive director of  the Ohio Council of Churches.

One of the new commission members is the Rev. Gary Harke of the Moravian  Church, who leads the Pennsylvania Council of Churches. "It's rare that  a commission invites people from outside its membership into its  internal structure," he told United Methodist News Service.

A challenge at the state ecumenical level "is keeping the whole of the  vision and not collapsing it into things that are more readily  achievable," said Harke, who also has experience with the National  Council of Churches.

>Kinnamon addresses group

The Rev. Michael Kinnamon, a Disciples of Christ minister who leads the  National Council of Churches and is a longtime friend of Sidorak's,  delivered the sermon for his installation.

Kinnamon-himself a member of the Commission on Christian Unity from  1988-92-also addressed the group about ecumenical relationships. He  noted that major gifts of the Methodist heritage to the ecumenical  movement include a relationship between personal and social holiness and  a sense of the church as a connected community.

One of the complaints about The United Methodist Church, however, he  added, is that its size sometimes makes the denomination too  "self-sufficient." He pointed out that "others have gifts to give that  you need to receive."

While the modern ecumenical movement "begins with the conviction that we  are one," unity does not mean agreement, he cautioned. Rather, church  bodies seek agreement as a consequence of being one.

Kinnamon said the Golden Rule of ecumenism is to "try to understand  others even as you would be understood by them."

A passion for justice must "go hand-in-hand" with reconciliation and  witness for Christ. "This is not an easy way to be Christian," he said.  "It is a faithful way to be Christian."

The significance of councils of churches-from local to international  levels-comes through the relationships among the members, not from the  structure itself. At the worst, he pointed out, a council of churches  can "institutionalize our differences" instead of promoting deeper  unity.

>Through solidarity

Bishop Gaspar Joao Domingos of Angola in Africa also spoke to his fellow  commission members about reconciling differences. "To reach peace, the  path is through solidarity ... that does not exclude anyone," he said.

The danger is acting more like a social club or advocacy group. "Simply  having organized unity is not a guarantee of having authentic spiritual  unity," Domingos said. Unity is not built by members of the church but  by the Lord "who reigns over all of us, working through us and in all of  us."

Returning commission members acknowledged the pain and turbulence of the  commission's December 2007 meeting, when a close vote by members  resulted in the dismissal of the Rev. Larry Pickens, the group's  previous chief executive and first African-American leader.

Responding to concerns about racism, the commission has worked to repair  relations with its partners from the historically black Methodist  churches on the Pan-Methodist Commission. Three representatives from  those churches are part of the new commission. The United Methodist  Commission on Religion and Race also prepared a confidential report for  the commission, and the Rev. Barbara Issacs, a Religion and Race  executive, provided training during the meeting.

Sidorak said he believes momentum is growing for the renewal of the  commission. "I'm exceedingly grateful for the spirit and energy of all  the people on this board," he said.

># # #

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

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

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

----------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe from this group, go to UMCom.org, log in to your account, click on the My Resources link and select the Leave option on the list(s) from which you wish to unsubscribe. If you have problems or questions, please write to websupport@umcom.org.

Powered by United Methodist Communications http://www.UMCom.org