Survey of church union negotiations 1999-2002.

Best, Thomas F.

Introduction

This latest edition of the church union survey, (1) coming on the eve of the next, seventh international consultation of united and uniting churches, details many of the developments within the united and uniting churches family since the previous survey was published in January 2000. As readers know--or will learn in these pages--church unions are significant both ecclesiologically and socially. They require not only the commitment to resolve difficult, divisive issues of faith and order; but also the reconciliation of deep-seated, sometimes even violent historical, racial and cultural divisions. In addition there are often complex and emotionally charged issues to be resolved about church properties, pension funds, and other "practical" matters, which have a surprising tendency to become bearers of traditional values and cherished commitments.

The current spectrum of church union negotiations, as reflected in the pages which follow, includes lively examples of all these challenges and more. Just as the united churches are the most widely diverse family of churches, so is the current set of union discussions distinguished by its variety creativity. Here are examples of that classic form of church union, the structural integration of divided churches to form a new ecclesial body; but also partnerships, with the churches seeking the greatest possible degree of common life, witness and service while remaining institutionally separate; common parishes, living out unity at the local level (and understanding that, to varying degrees, as a challenge to their still-divided constituent denominations); proposals for an "ecumenical bishop", to explore the potential of an oversight exercised personally, yet on behalf of several churches rather than one; and yet more besides.

Each of these is the response, in a given church and cultural situation, to Christ's call to the churches to be visibly one. The interaction among these diverse understandings of what unity means today, and how it is best pursued "in each place," is precisely what makes the church union scene so dynamic today, and such a point of growth ecumenically.

A moment for taking stock, and moving ahead

As noted above, this survey looks towards the seventh international consultation of united and uniting churches, to be held in Driebergen, Netherlands, in September 2002 on the theme "`With a Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power' (1 Cor. 2:4): The Life and Mission of the United and Uniting Churches". The meeting will be hosted by the Uniting Protestant Churches in the Netherlands (the "Samen op Weg" church union process), with generous support from the Council for World Mission, and with Faith and Order (WCC) playing a coordinating role. It stands in the tradition of meetings at Bossey, 1967; (2) Limuru, 1970; (3) Toronto, 1975; (4) Colombo, 1981; (5) Potsdam, 1987; (6) and Ocho Rios, 1995, (7) each of which has proved to be a significant moment in the exploration of the meaning and forms of church union.

This seventh consultation aims at clarifying and strengthening the united and uniting churches' self-understanding, and their commitment to mission within the context of their search for unity; at strengthening the bonds of fellowship amongst these churches, and clarifying their relationships with one another, with partner churches overseas, and with Christian world communions; and at encountering the local church union process "Samen op Weg", in order to learn from, and encourage, its work. The consultations aims, further, to produce substantial yet concise texts--"letters" or "messages"--addressed to three distinct, but inter-related constituencies: to the united and uniting churches themselves; to mission commissions, agencies and networks; and to the Christian world communions.

Consultation with the united and uniting churches has identified three focal issues, to be explored in plenary presentations and complementary case studies. These are unity (the diverse--and developing--understandings of unity among the churches today, and what organizational forms best serve the unity of Christ's church); mission (whether--as is often said before union--union actually enhances mission, and how united churches can strengthen their mission today); and identity (how the churches' self-understanding is shaped by their experience of union and in mission, and by their relation to other churches and with world communions). In addition, workshops will treat a range of issues from the possible role of bishops within united churches, to church property, to relations with other churches; and informative sessions will trace the prospects for church union in the Netherlands and elsewhere. The whole will be undergirded by worship and integrated Bible study on texts from 1 Corinthians 1-3.

Making choices

The consultation hopes finally to provide resources for the united and uniting churches as they look ahead. Today these churches find themselves "in each place" making crucial choices about their identity and future. These have to do with, first, what forms of unity will best serve to make visible the oneness of Christ's church, and enable it to do mission most effectively in the world.

The experience of churches uniting over the past ten years--to form the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands (1992), the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (1994), the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (1999), the Church of Jesus Christ in Lairam (north-east India, 1999), the United Reformed Church (England and Scotland, 2000), and, not least, the "Samen op Weg" union process in the Netherlands--all show that (despite some misguided comments to the contrary) organic union, understood traditionally in the sense of structural integration, is today very much alive and well. The Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa has testified that, in its context, nothing short of structural integration can make the witness to the reconciling power of the gospel needed at this time. (From what I know of the situation in the Netherlands the same is true there, though it is not for an outsider to say.)

At the same time, in other contexts the churches find other forms of making unity more visible to be more feasible, at least for the present. The wide range of communion arrangements, partnerships, sharing in church life, common structures for oversight and parish life, all stop short of structural integration; yet all testify authentically to the unifying power of the gospel in their own particular context. One important question is how all these approaches can be kept in creative contact, for the good of the united and uniting churches family as a while.

I believe that the Edinburgh 1937 conference still speaks an important word to both groups of churches in reminding us all that "organic union" means not uniformity, but "the unity of a living organism, with the diversity characteristic of the members of a healthy body". (8) That is: the word "organic" is there not to impose uniformity, but precisely to insist on a proper diversity within the unity.

A second set of choices has to do with the forms of relationship which best correspond to the nature of the united and uniting churches, and which will most effectively further their mission in the world. In fact these churches have an even more complex set of inter-related relationships than most. Locally and nationally they have links to other churches, both united and non-united, and to the churches which did not enter the union but remained behind, continuing a denominational life which has otherwise ended in that place. Regionally and globally they have links to their immediate counterparts, the regional and worldwide family of united and uniting churches; to (in many cases) the overseas "missioning" churches which founded the local churches from which they are formed; and to the Christian world communions into which those traditions are grouped. All these links can be enriching and mutually sustaining; too often, however, and particularly at the global level, they reflect dependence rather than interdependence.

The united and uniting churches have so far declined to form a separate world confessional body, sensing that this would blunt the sharpness of their witness to unity. Instead they have asked Faith and Order (WCC)--which is mandated in its by-laws to foster common reflection and action among churches seeking union, and those which have united--to serve as a common contact point among them. In response Faith and Order has organized, together with the united and uniting churches, the series of international consultations and has published every two to three years this survey of church union negotiations.

At their previous consultation in Jamaica in 1995, the united and uniting churches and Faith and Order affirmed this special relationship, while agreeing to seek broader contacts between these churches and the WCC as a whole, and with world communions. Another important question, then, is how the united and uniting churches can expand their circle of contacts, without relapsing into the denominationalism from which they have come.

The survey: instructions for use

The following reports are grouped by region and, within that, by country. We happily extend thanks to each church union correspondent represented in these pages. It is this worldwide network of authors which enables the survey to be published, and who assure its distinctive character as a collection of locally based accounts, telling in their own words the stories of the search for union "in each place" around the world. Please note that, as always, contact information (including the email address and web site url) is given after each contribution; readers are encouraged to take up questions, or requests for further information, directly with the correspondent concerned. For general information please contact Tom Best at the address given below.

A concluding thought

Let us conclude with words from the preparatory material for the seventh international consultation of united and uniting churches. Speaking to the very heart of this particular witness to the unity of Christ's church, they reflect what is at stake:

 It is sometimes forgotten that the goal of church union is not to unite
 church bureaucracies; nor are they merely for the sake of efficiency or,
 indeed, survival. Church unions are not the end, but the beginning, of a
 process whose goal is to heal wounds, to witness to the justice and
 reconciliation effected by Christ (in both the church and in the world!),
 and to enable more effective witness and service to the world.

As Alastair Rodger wrote in the previous church union survey for 1996-1999, reflecting on the formation of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa:

 ... this union is a step in faith. It does not mean that the old divisions
 and all the hurts, suspicions and fear that go with them have suddenly been
 overcome, but it does demonstrate a willingness to allow God to take us a
 stage further in the healing process?

NOTES

(1) The survey of church union activities--which has appeared in this form since the mid-1960s, and in other formats for some years before that--signals one of Faith and Order's most enduring commitments. Surveys appearing over the past twenty years have included 1983-85/86 (Faith and Order Paper no. 133, reprinted from The Ecumenical Review, Oct. 1986), 1986-1988 (no. 146, ER, April 1989), 1988-91 (no. 154, ER, Jan. 1992), 1992-1994 (no. 169, ER, Jan. 1995), 1994-1996 (no. 176, ER, April 1997), and 1996-1999 (no. 186, ER, January 2000).

(2) Mid-Stream, vol. 6, 1967, report, pp. 10-15, notes from the discussion, pp. 16-22; German: see Kirchenunionen und Kirtchengemeinschaft, Hrsg. Reinhard Groscurth, Frankfurt am Main, Otto Lembeck, 1971, report, pp. 115-21.

(3) Mid-Stream, vol. 9, 1970, report, pp.4-12, notes from the discussion, pp. 13-33: German: see Kirchenunionen und Kirchengemeinschaft, report, pp. 123-31, notes from the discussion, pp. 133-51.

(4) Mid-Stream, 14, 1975, report, pp. 541-63, see also What Unity Requires, Faith and Order Paper No. 77, WCC, 1976, pp. 18-29.

(5) Growing Towards Consensus and Commitment. Faith and Order Paper no. 110, WCC. 1981, report, pp. 1-35: see also Unity in Each Place ... In All Places ...: United Churches and the Christian World Communions, Michael Kinnamon ed., Faith and Order Paper no. 118, Geneva, WCC, 1983, report, pp. 101-35, and Called to be One in Christ: United Churches and the Ecumenical Movement, Michael Kinnamon and Thomas E Best eds. Faith and Order Paper no. 127, Geneva, WCC, 1985; German: report: Wachsen im Konsensus und in der Verpflichtung, Colombo 1981, Berlin, Kirchenkanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union, 1982.

(6) Living Today Toward. Visible Unity: 77w Fifth International Consultation of United and Uniting Churches, Thomas F. Best ed., Faith and Order Paper no. 142, Geneva, WCC, 1988, report, pp. 1-20; German: see Gemeinsam auf dem Weg zur sichtbaren Einheit, Hrsg. Reinhard Groscurth, Berlin, Kirchen-kanzlei der Evangelischen Kirche der Union, 1988, cf. pp. 10-11, 20-24, 27-28.

(7) Built Together: The Present Vocation of United and Uniting Churches (Ephesians 2:22), Thomas E Best ed., Faith and Order Paper no. 174, Geneva, WCC/Faith and Order Commission, 1995, report, pp. 6-31. The report from the sixth international consultation of untied and uniting churches, Jamaica, 1995, is available at: http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/unite.html.

(8) See The Second World Conference on Faith and Order: Edinburgh 1937, Leonard Hodgson ed., New York, MacMillan, 938. p.252.

(9) The Ecumenical Review. vol. 52, no. 1, 2000, p.29.

Contact: Rev. Dr Thomas F. Best, Faith and Order, World Council of Churches, 150 route de Ferney, P.O. Box 2100, 1211, Geneva 2, Switzerland, tel. +41.22 791.63.35, fax +41.22 791.64.06, +41.22 710.24.52, email tfb@wcc-coe.org, web site http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/index-e.html.

Thomas F. Best is an executive secretary for Faith and Order, World Council of Churches. The various union correspondents are identified at the point of their respective contributions.