April
4, 2008 at 12:32 pm
"Sisters and brothers:
Well, I’m going to give this a try! Mainly, to “unload” some
thoughts and wonderments about “unity.”
I am a bishop of the Episcopal Church, serving as ecumenical
officer of our denomination and based in New York City. So,
I am concerned about the unity of the Christian Church (no
small task!) but also about unity between people of faith
everywhere. And the unity of the human family.
We have just completed the
Spring meeting of our Standing Commission on Ecumenical and
Interreligious Relations (SCEIR) in Los Angeles at the
diocesan headquarters and conference center. We were hosted
with kind hospitality joining the community for their daily
Eucharist in the cathedral church as well as saying our own
morning and evening prayers together.
We received updates on
Anglican - Roman Catholic relations, our interim Eucharistic
sharing arrangement with the United Methodists, and next
steps toward a full communion proposal with the Moravian
Church. I am so grateful for the work of these women and
men, clergy and laity, young and older adults who assist in
this work — “that we all may be one.”" Episcopal Bishop
Christopher Epting
"While
Christian unity is modeled and promoted through all of the
Council's work, the Christian Unity Committee is the one
entity whose primary responsibility is to further Christian
unity or wholeness.
A remarkable theological
and ecclesiological convergence is taking place among
Christian denominations in North America, and the results to
date, taken together, are remarkable as well.
EPISCOPAL/MORAVIAN DIALOGUE
has been ongoing since about 1999. It had its beginning in
the NC Council’s Christian Unity Committee in an exchange
between Tom Rightmyer and Bill McElveen. It began in NC in
1994 and then escalated into a national dialogue. It is
well along and full communion will probably come to these
national bodies in 2009 and 2010."
North Carolina Council of Churches
nccofc@nccouncilofchurches.org
THE ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT
This
document was prepared by
Richard l. s. Gan
as compilations
of documented materials that are easily verifiable. Many
sources used are from the actual documents and statements
found on Council of Churches Web Sites and Catholic Web
Sites. Gan’s compilation is sprinkled with just enough
commentary to add clarity for the reader.
The Ecumenical Movement is
one of the most controversial subjects in this present hour.
What is the Ecumenical Movement?
The word 'ecumenical' comes
from the Greek word 'oikoumene'
which basically means 'this inhabited world'.
At present, there are two great bodies -- the
World Council of Churches (W.C.C.) and the
National Council of Churches (N.C.C.). The
main aim of the Ecumenical Movement
is to bring churches of all denominations and cults, and
ultimately, all other religious organizations’ together as
One Ecumenical Church or World
Church. At the first Ecumenical Assembly held in
Amsterdam in 1948, the motto 'ONE WORLD -- ONE
CHURCH' was adopted. It is agreed that one of
the major issues for the WCC to tackle is the relations
between the churches and the organizations of all the other
religions and ideologies. With regards to this issue,
dialogues are being held among the different religions of
the world. The Bible Prophecy of a Super Church is now being
fulfilled.
SEE THE FULL ARTICLE BELOW
THE ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT
"First Partial Report of the Ecumenical
Affairs/Faith and Order Committee
(3) we encourage development of common life throughout the
Moravian and Episcopal Churches by such means as the
following:
a. Mutual prayer and mutual support, including covenants and
agreements at all levels;
b. Common study of the Holy Scriptures, the histories and
theological traditions of each church, and the material
prepared by the dialogue;
c. Joint programs of worship, religious education,
theological discussion, mission, evangelism, and social
action;
d. Joint use of facilities."
Synod Report Northern Province 2006
"Commentary
and Executive Summary of “Finding Our Delight in the Lord” A
Proposal for Full Communion between the Moravian Church and
the Episcopal Church
The Provincial Elders’ Conferences (the governing bodies in
between meetings of Provincial Synods) of the Northern
Province and Southern Province of the Moravian Church met
and approved Draft 14, forwarded it to their respective
Synods in 2010 for consideration, and so requested that
additional supplemental materials be produced to assist the
churches in studying this proposal. Both the Standing
Commission and Provincial Elders’ Conferences had seen
previous drafts and had the opportunity to provide feedback."
Episcopal Church Web Site
"The Episcopal
delegation made it clear that the
Episcopal Church cannot enter into a relationship that
includes the mutual recognition of ordained ministry, unless
it has assurance that future reconciliation will include
bishops in historic succession and a common and fully
interchangeable three-fold ministry which the Presbyterian
Church has rejected."
The Episcopal Handbook
For Ecumenical Dialogue
75Pages by;
The Rt. Rev. C. Christopher Epting, Deputy for Ecumenical
and Interfaith Relations
Thomas Ferguson, Ph.D., Associate Deputy for Ecumenical and
Interfaith Relations
EPISCOPAL HANDBOOK FOR DIALOGUE
On Christian Theology
1.
IS JESUS THE SON OF GOD?
“If you
begin to explore the literary context of the first century
and the couple of hundred years on either side, the way that
someone told a story about a great figure was to say ‘this
one was born of the gods.’ That is what we’re saying. This
carpenter from Nazareth or Bethlehem – and there are
different stories about where he came from – shows us what a
godly human being looks like, shows us God coming among us”
2.
HOW DO WE HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD?
Comments on
“No One Comes unto the Father except through me” (John
14:6):
“In its
narrow construction, it tends to eliminate other
possibilities. In its broader construction, yes, human
beings come to relationship with God largely through their
experience of holiness in other human beings. Through seeing
God at work in other people’s lives. In that sense, yes, I
will affirm that statement. But not in the narrow sense,
that people can only come to relationship with God through
consciously believing in Jesus”
On the role
Jesus has in our relationship with God and salvation.
“We who
practice the Christian tradition understand him as our
vehicle to the divine. But for us to assume that God could
not act in other ways is, I think, to put God in an awfully
small box”
(Time, July 10, 2006).
“Human
communities have always searched for relationship with that
which is beyond them.with the ultimate.. with the divine.
For Christians, we say that our route to God is through
Jesus. Uhh.. uh..that doesn't mean that a Hindu.. uh..
doesn't experience God except through Jesus. It-itit says
that Hindus and people of other faith traditions approach
God through their.. own cultural contexts” (NPR
Interview, Oct. 8, 2006).
“The question is always how can we get beyond our own narrow
self-interest and see that our salvation lies in attending
to the needs of other people”
3. HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT IS TRUE?
On how The
Episcopal Church helps people answer questions about the
ultimate meaning of life:
“Well,
we don’t come with a prescribed set of answers. We really do
encourage people to wrestle with the question” (Arkansas
Democrat Gazette, January 2007).
About the
Apostles and Nicene Creeds:
“Those
creeds are not about checking off a bunch of propositions.
They are about giving our heart to a sense that Jesus shows
us what it looks like to be a divine human being”
4. WHAT
HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE?
Question: So what happens after I die?
“What
happens after you die? I would ask you that question. But
what’s important about your life, what is it that has made
you a unique individual? What is the passion that has kept
you getting up every morning and engaging the world? There
are hints within that about what it is that continues after
you die…..’Statements
by the Presiding Bishop
Katharine Jefferts
Schorie
of the Episcopal Church
The 2006 Utah General Convention
Delegation On Scripture and Morality:
“Judgments about
ethics by appeal to the Holy Scriptures alone are foreign to
our Anglican traditions, which have always included other
sources of authority in their deliberations…There is no
single biblical morality…”-Episcopal
Diocese of Utah- Deputies to General Convention 2006,
1,000 Episcopalians are leaving the
Episcopal Church, weekly. Between 2005 and 2006, TEC lost
50,084 members. Figures for 2007 and 2008, when they can be
obtained, will most likely be even higher. Mrs. Jefferts
Schori told a reporter that she will leave the lights on in
the vain hope they might return. Two dioceses have left The
Episcopal Church. Two more are on their way out the door.
More could follow.
UPDATE:
11-18-08 This past
week end the 4th diocese has left TEC.[Episcopal
News Service, Bedford, Texas] Delegates attending
the 26th annual convention of the
Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth
on November 15 overwhelmingly approved realignment with
the
Anglican Province of the Southern
Cone.
http://www.episcopallife.org/79901_102536_ENG_HTM.htm
Read 10 reasons why now is the
time to re-align by Fort Worth Bishop Rt Rev Leo Iker
See Video of Bishop Iker at Fort
Worth Convention
From
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/2004GrowthReport(1).pdf
