wfn.org | Talks will explore the possibility of full union with Episcopal,

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

Note #6088 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Moravian, Cumberland churches
30-June-2000
GA00138

 	Talks will explore the possibility of full union with Episcopal, Moravian,
Cumberland churches

	by John Filiatreau

LONG BEACH, June 30 --The General Assembly concurred on Wednesday with the
recommendation of the Committee on Catholicity and Ecumenical Relations that
the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) engage in "church-to-church" talks with the
Episcopal Church, the Moravian Church in America, the Cumberland
Presbyterian Church and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America.

	The dialogue with the Episcopal Church is to focus on "possible means
toward the reconciliation of ministries in the two churches."

	The talks between the PC(USA) and the Moravian Church in America will be
intended to help the churches "reach an understanding of each tradition's
ministry of oversight" and to "seek common agreements that could lead to
establishing full communion."

	In the talks with the two Cumberland denominations, representatives of the
churches will try to find "means to strengthen their mutual relationships."
The measure also provides that "the results of these conversations, with any
recommendations for the future, will be presented to the churches'
respective General Assemblies by 2006."

	The commissioners also approved a resolution calling for the Committee on
Ecumenical Relations to "design a process for review of councils and other
ecumenical alliances to which the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) belongs." The
results are to be presented to the General Assembly Council (GAC) during its
meeting in February 2001.

	Eugene Turner, the PC(USA) associate stated clerk and director of the
Department of Ecumenical and Agency Relations, said the principal obstacles
to union with the Episcopal and Moravian churches are differences in
"oversight of the ministry." He said they entrust oversight to individual
clergymen, while the ministry of the PC(USA) answers to "the will of the
body."

	Turner said the oversight-of-ministry issue has blocked closer relations
with the Episcopal Church "for a long time ... 35 years, since the
Consultation on Church Union (COCU) was created. He said the two churches
"absolutely like each other in every respect," and that full communion is
the objective of the talks.

	Eric C. Shafer, director of communications for the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA), which has been in full communion with the PC(USA)
since 1997, said "bilateral agreements" among denominations give rise to
"all kinds of creative local ministries."
		
	The ELCA has about 5.2 million members in the United States and the
Caribbean.

	Shafer said cooperation between denominations may have "the most payoff" in
what he called "deep rural and deep urban areas," where, for example, "a
tiny Presbyterian church and a tiny Lutheran Church may pool their resources
and discover that they both benefit." Eventually, he said, Protestant
denominations may cooperate in mission, avoiding duplication of services and
making better use of resources.

	The ELCA will vote at its annual meeting next year on full communion with
the Moravian and Episcopal churches.

	Shafer said ecumenism has "momentum" on its side: "A lot of energy is now
behind what they call 'bilateral agreements'" of union among Protestant
denominations. If the trend continues, he said, the National Council of
Churches will be forced to "take on a different role" from the one it plays
now, although it will continue to be important in relations with
predominantly black churches.
				
	The Episcopal Church has about 1.2 million members; the Moravian Church,
which is an international church, has about 30,000 members; the Cumberland
Presbyterian Church, whose membership is predominantly white, has a
membership of about 100,000; and the Cumberland Church in America, which is
predominantly African-American, has about 30,000 members.

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