by Will Fletcher.
I have a love/hate relationship with tidying up. I hate not being able to find anything for those few weeks afterwards when everything that had been out and handy, is now put away in its supposedly rightful place! However, I love those things I discover that I had forgotten I had!
I recently discovered a forgotten bag of magazines stashed behind an armchair that someone gave me. All the magazines were from a series called Methodist and the publication went out of print in the summer of 1969 to give you an idea of how old they were. I’ll let you decide whether that feels quite recent or not!
It has been interesting having a read through some of them to see what was being discussed in Methodism 50+ years ago. It has sometimes been sad to see the topics talked about then, that don’t feel like they’ve progressed much since. One of them was the whole subject of Church unity.
In one of the 1969 editions there were some reflections on Church unity, which had real hope that it might be over the horizon. Sadly, this has not been the case. In one of the articles the author reflected on some of the prayers that were part of that year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Part of the prayer (a challenge for those of us praying it now as much as then) said:
Keep us, O Lord, from growing accustomed to our divisions:
Save us from considering as normal that which is a scandal to the world and an offence against thy love.
The first thing to say is that there are structural conversations around unity with various denominations, and I’m not really going to address those, as they often feel beyond most of us. However, the work for unity is something which anyone can engage in, in their local context. In my experience I have found that tea, cake, and a chinwag is a good place to begin.
So often it seems as though we approach Church unity from a purely pragmatic position. We seek to work together because we can do more than we could do apart. With churches of many denominations finding it hard to fill the necessary roles, it can be tempting to think that joining together might ease some of those burdens. There is some truth to this.
However, I wonder whether part of the reason that ecumenism can feel so hard, or even something that we can’t be bothered with, is because of just such a feeling. If we seek to enter into these relationships only in order to make our lives a little easier, or for some other benefit, it is easy to break off from them when it feels like it takes too much effort, of the benefits don’t appear forthcoming. Would these relationships and our commitment to them feel any different if we entered into them from a position of love and following the desire of God?
I also recognise that being the Church today is quite a challenge, and seeking after unity feels an extra that we don’t often have time or energy for. However, it feels somewhat disingenuous to preach a Gospel of reconciliation that can overcome any chasm with one breath, whilst in the next saying that seeking after Church unity is impossible or not even desirable.
As I write this, I acknowledge that making such a desire into a reality isn’t fully within our power. Any relationship of two or more parties has to be mutual and depend on prayer and the input of the Holy Spirit. There have been disappointments of the past and present, that were not, and are not, of our making. I’ve had my share of being shunned or ignored by some clergy because of our position on certain issues, or our church doesn’t seem as glamorous or exciting as others – in fact one such email came in as I was writing this article! So this isn’t written completely with naïvety or blind optimism – just enough in order to keep hoping!
As I close, some questions to ponder:
- What have been the qualities of good ecumenical relationships that you have been part of?
- How has it felt when there has been a negative ecumenical relationship?
- Have we grown accustomed to our divisions? If so, what needs to change in our mindset and practice?
- What could you do where you are to make an inroad, however small?
Theology Everywhere 
Although decline appears to be a good reason for working together and may happen in some places there is also the practical issue of leaders having to spend more time keeping their plates spinning over increasingly widespread areas with the result that there is little time for informal or formal interactions
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A very important issue. I don’t think we should be ashamed of reaching out to each other when things are difficult, instead of stretching our denominational rubber bands until they are at breaking point. Christ called us to be one in Him; even serious difficulties come second.
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Thanks Will, you probably know some of my thinking, but I will share here. I have various reasons for being very cautious about ecumenical relationships, in my first post I was called “sweetie” by the local vicar on several occasions, when I challenged him he told me I wasn’t really a minister anyway! A member of his congregation actually spat at me when we were sharing communion.
In my current post with all of my churches registered to celebrate marriages of any two people I have again been shunned by other local clergy including the Salvation Army, three Anglican clergy, and the local Pentecostal Minister, emails go unanswered as do phone calls. That said I have experienced some of the same within our own denomination- my “lifestyle- which is actually very boring- being called an abomination- I assume they meant my sex life- which is none of their business.
It is of course tricky, as a leader in the church I feel I should try to foster good relationships with others, I am content to agree to disagree, but I am not content to be vilified by those who have taken no time to get to know me, So we are a broken body, we do point to one another and declare one another wrong.
I would like to see the church universal working together to tackle poverty and injustice, I would like to see us attempting to love one another despite our differences and what we may see as shortcomings in one another- as all families do, but it is difficult. I pray for grace, I pray for unity, and I pray for strength when all I want to do is hide away and get on with serving those I can.
I have had good ecumenical relationships- but often at a cost.
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‘May they all be one, Father, just as you and I are one.’
No, we should not settle for church disunity, but we should be realistic about what ‘unity’ means.
It doesn’t mean all agreeing on every aspect of our faith; that would be an impossible feat!
Unity means being one in the spirit of truth and love, despite our differences. It means respecting and valuing each other’s variations on worship and prayer, and the way our faith is manifested in the world. Some of us have a very quiet faith but our lives are steeped in prayer. Some are more politically active and some are very flamboyant in their style of worship. Unity means recognising there is no ‘wrong’ or ‘right’ way; just different ways.
I think churches are pretty good these days at working together in the community, but we need to worship together more. I would suggest that every time there is a fifth Sunday in the month, we should make it ‘Ecumenical Sunday’ when we all worship together under one roof. This does not have to be in a church; it could be in a community centre, a village hall, or even in a park or on a beach, weather permitting. Each denomination could take it in turn to lead the worship in any style they choose.
I truly believe most Christians would get on board with this, but I’m not so sure the church leaders would initiate it. So come on, vicars, priests, ministers and pastors everywhere, lead by example and get your people worshipping together as one! Maybe ‘unity in diversity’ would then follow quite naturally?
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