Toward a common vision of the church: will it fly?

Rausch, Thomas P.

Perhaps the two most significant ecumenical documents since the Second Vatican Council's "Decree on Ecumenism" are the 1982 Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry (BEM) (1) text of World Council of Churches (WCC) and the 1999 Lutheran-Roman Catholic Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. (2) Now, the WCC has added its "convergence statement," The Church: Towards a Common Vision (TCTCV). (3) A Historical Note at the conclusion of the document points out that this text is "of the same status and character" (4) as its earlier BEM text.

In this essay I will examine briefly the TCTCV text, then make some ecclesiological observations on the text, consider some obstacles to a common ecclesial vision, and raise the question of a global church. Finally, I will ask how we might be able to move forward.

I. The Text

The history of the Faith and Order text, TCTCV, is complicated. While not as long in gestation as BEM, the antecedents to the statement on the church include the churches' official responses to BEM; the reflections of the WCC's Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order in 1993 at Santiago de Compostela, Spain, on "Towards Koinonia in Faith, Life, and Witness"; and a new ecumenical study on the church, its nature and mission, launched by the Faith and Order Plenary Commission in 1989 and published in 1998 as the provisional text, The Nature and Purpose of the Church: A Stage on the Way to a Common Statement. (5) Responses to this text noted that it did not address teaching authority and that the topic of mission was underdeveloped.

The next draft, The Nature and Mission of the Church, was presented to the 2006 WCC Assembly at Porto Alegre, Brazil. In successive chapters, it addressed the church as communion and its mission as servant of the reign of God; the relation between the local church and all the churches; the elements necessary for communion between churches, such as apostolic faith, baptism, eucharist, ministry, episkope, councils, and synods, as well as primacy and authority; and the church's service to the world. This revised text was then sent to the churches and other ecclesial groups for their responses. From this point the Plenary Commission of Faith and Order began preparing what became the final text, in the process integrating more clearly the earlier material on baptism, eucharist, and ministry into its view of what was essential to the life of the church.

The final text was presented to the Faith and Order Standing Commission, meeting in Penang, Malaysia, on June 21, 2012, where it was unanimously approved as a convergence (not consensus) statement with the title, TCTCV. John Gibaut says it represents not a blueprint but "a vision of what the Church could be in its theological self-understanding, life, and mission." (6) Interspersed throughout the text are paragraphs in italics lifting up specific issues where divisions remain, designed to encourage further reflection. In September, 2012, the Central Committee of the WCC received the text and commended it to the member churches for their study and responses. (7)

The Introduction points out that the text is structured in terms of four ecclesiological issues, the church's essentially missionary origin, understanding it as communion, its growth toward the reign of God, and its relation to the world. I will summarize these briefly as origin, nature, growth, and relation to the world, then make some summary observations on its ecclesiology.

A. Chapter I: Origin

The church finds its origin in relation to God's plan for creation, manifested in the incarnation and paschal mystery of Christ and Christ's proclamation of the gospel of the reign of God. Jesus sent forth the apostles as witnesses, empowering them with the Spirit to make disciples, to teach, and to be a community of witness. Thus, the church cannot be understood apart from the saving activity of the Trinity. From the New Testament period Christian unity has been important for both the mission and nature of the church, a visible unity that requires that the churches be able to recognize in one another what the Nicaea-Constantinople Creed calls the "one, holy, catholic, apostolic Church," noting that such recognition may call for "changes in doctrine, practice, and ministry within any given community." (8)

B. Chapter II: Nature

Chapter II stresses the nature of the church as a communion. By its very nature the church is a communion (koinonia) united with Christ and sharing through the Holy Spirit a living relationship with God and with one another. This notion of koinonia has become central to understanding the life and unity of the church, a prophetic, priestly, and royal people of God. The church is thus the people of God, the body of Christ, and a temple of the Holy Spirit. As "a communion in the Triune God and ... a communion whose members partake together in the life and mission of God," (9) the church is both sign and servant of God's design to gather humanity and all creation into communion under the Lordship of Christ. (10)

While legitimate diversity is a gift of God, each local church should be in communion with the local churches of all times and places. The unity of Christians and their churches is served by a ministry of unity (11) and by ecumenical councils and consultations, though history gives evidence of diversity going "beyond acceptable limits," resulting in heresies, schisms, and political conflicts that impair the unity and catholicity of the whole church. (12) An italicized paragraph notes the lack of criteria to distinguish legitimate from illegitimate diversity and mutually recognized structures to use these criteria.

Next, the text takes up the relation between the local and the universal church, stressing the importance of communion. Each local church is "a community of baptized believers in which the word of God is preached, the apostolic faith confessed, the sacraments are celebrated, the redemptive work of Christ for the world is witnessed to, and a ministry of episcope exercised by bishops or other ministers in serving the community." (13) The church is more than a community sharing faith and fellowship. Each local church contains the fullness of what it means to be church, but it needs to be in dynamic relation with other local churches. "This communion of local churches is thus not an optional extra." (14) The universal church is not simply the sum of all the local churches but the communion of all the local churches united in faith and worship. Thus, communion both constitutes the universal church and helps the local community realize its fullness as church. (15) While disagreement remains as to whether local church means the local congregation or a number of congregations united with the bishop or a regional configuration of churches gathered in a synod, dialogues both bilateral and multilateral have led to a shared understanding that the presence of Christ in the local church impels it to be in communion with the universal church.

C. Chapter III: Growth

As an eschatological reality anticipating the reign of God, the church continues to show "progress towards greater convergence" (16) on issues that have divided the churches in the past and addresses the ecclesial elements required for full communion within a visibly united church. They include "communion in the fullness of apostolic faith; in sacramental life; in a truly one and mutually recognized ministry; in structures of conciliar relations and decision-making; and in common witness and service in the world." (17) The BEM text represents significant progress here, though the text notes less agreement on ministry. (18) In regard to faith, ecumenical dialogues have found "substantial agreement" concerning the meaning of the Nicene Creed. (19)

The churches "generally agree" as to the importance of Tradition, which different ecclesial traditions need to embody. Toward this end, the dialogues have acknowledged that discerning the contemporary meaning of the word of God demands the faith of the whole people, the insights of theologians, and the discernment of the ordained ministry, even if the challenge remains of determining "how these factors work together.' (20) In subsequent paragraphs, following a suggestion made by a 2001 major inter-Orthodox consultation, the text integrates the material from BEM into its presentation of what is essential to the life of the church.

With regard to authority, the text argues that, while churches differ as to how authority is structured and exercised, all communities see the need for a ministry of episkope to maintain continuity in apostolic faith and unity of life, holding the local community in communion. (21) Episkope is also exercised by synods and ecumenical councils, (22) though an italicized paragraph points out that some churches regard all post-biblical doctrinal decisions as open to revision, asking if ecumenical dialogues have made possible a common assessment of the normativity of the teaching of the early ecumenical councils.

The text also raises the question of a universal ministry of unity such as has been exercised by the bishop of Rome. While some dialogues have expressed openness to such a ministry, the text states that it is important to "distinguish between the essence of a ministry of primacy and any particular ways in which it has been or is currently being exercised," thus drawing an important distinction between the meaning of the office and its historical expression. (23) It also notes that there is not yet agreement that such a ministry "is necessary or even desirable." (24) From a Roman Catholic perspective, it is significant that the text addresses both teaching authority and a universal ministry for Christian unity, two topics not addressed by the 1998 study on ecclesiology, The Nature and Purpose of the Church.

D. Chapter IV: Church and World

The final chapter, "The Church in and for the World," underlines the missional nature of the church. As it participates in the Divine Mystery, the church serves God's plan for the transformation of the world. It proclaims the gospel, celebrates the sacraments, and, in "manifesting the newness of life given by [Christ]," anticipates the reign of God "already present in him." (25) A constitutive aspect of evangelization is the promotion of justice and peace. The text spells this out in relation to three areas. Christians must respect religious freedom, especially with today's increased awareness of religious pluralism, and be respectful of those who hold different beliefs. They need to be accountable to each other with regard to ethical and moral values. In serving the world that God so loved they are impelled by their faith "to work for a just social order, in which the goods of this earth may be shared equitably, the suffering of the poor eased and absolute destitution one day eliminated" (26)--and they must join with others to care for creation.

II. Some Ecclesiological Observations

In approaching the text from an ecclesiological standpoint, several points immediately stand out. First, the church, rooted in the saving activity of the Trinity, is called to visible unity. The text continues to stress visible unity, something that is not always a given today. Second, sharing in the trinitarian life means that the members of the church live in communion with God and with one another. While diversity is a gift of God, the unity and catholicity of the church means that each local church should be in communion with all the other local churches. (27)

Third, the text points to a number of ecclesial elements required for full communion within a visibly united church (as noted above on Chapter III)--"communion in the fullness of the apostolic faith; in sacramental life; in a truly one and mutually recognized ministry; in structures of conciliar relations and decision-making; and in common witness and service to the world" (28)--though many differences remain about the number of the sacraments or ordinances, who presides at the eucharist, how ordained ministry is structured and whether it is restricted to males, the authority of councils, and the role of the bishop of Rome. Finally, there is a strong eucharistic orientation to the text, which looks forward to visible unity in one faith and one eucharistic fellowship. The centrality of the eucharist in the text is remarkable; it clearly views the church as a eucharistic community.

What is interesting about these four points is that they indicate that the WCC's vision of the church says that the church is not simply any group of Christians striving to live in the example of Jesus and witnessing to the reign of God. The church, sharing a trinitarian faith, is called to visible unity with other Christian communities and has a structure consisting of apostolic faith, sacramental life, and a recognized ministry--and it is a eucharistic community.

III. Obstacles to a Common Ecclesial Vision

In spite of the progress represented by TCTCV, there are a number of obstacles to full agreement--the result of changing priorities that present new obstacles to the ecumenical movement. They include a diminished interest in visible unity, a new emphasis on denominational identity, a lack of agreement on sacramental practice, and, especially, the fact that with the shift of Christianity's center of gravity to the global South the new churches of Asia and Africa find the WCC's vision too traditional, too Western, and not expressive of their own experience. Let us consider some of these obstacles.

A. Visible Unity

From the beginning of the ecumenical movement, the goal of full visible unity has receded considerably. One of the first to articulate this was the WCC's Konrad Raiser, with his "new paradigm" that minimizes agreement in faith and visible unity in favor of an ecumenism centered on issues of justice, peace, and the integrity of creation--a view that sees the church as "the agent of a coming world community." (29) Rather than a sacrament, he argues that the eucharist is a fellowship meal, a symbol for unity in God's household, "the visible and sufficient expression of communion in the body of Christ." (30)

Some argue that the church's nature is spiritual, thus invisible. Ola Tjorhom says that many Protestants, misunderstanding the Reformers' view that the "real church" is hidden (verborgen), have misinterpreted the church as essentially invisible. Such a church tends to become a mere "idea" that has no "body." (31) According to Veli-Matti Karkkainen, "most Pentecostals emphasize the spiritual, thus invisible, nature of the church." (32) From this perspective, visible issue is not really an issue. Others lament this loss of focus on Christian unity. Geoffrey Wainwright has written that institutional unity without the spiritual unity of heart and mind would be a mere facade, but he adds that "the alternative to visible unity is visible disunity, and that is a witness against the gospel." (33) Harding Meyer argues that the ecumenical movement cannot be reduced to a "conciliar process" that settles for social-ethical responsibility toward the world, giving up the goal of the visible unity of the churches in faith, sacraments, and the ministry. (34)

But, this vision seems to be slipping away today. In an address in Norway in 2011, Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said that, for the churches of the Reformation, the goal of the ecumenical movement has become less clear: "[T]he originally envisaged goal of visible unity in the shared faith, in the sacraments and in ecclesial ministry has steadily been abandoned in favour of a postulate of mutual recognition of the various churches as churches, and thus as parts of the one church of Jesus Christ." (35) Koch also called attention to a new search for de nominational identity. While he saw a positive dimension to this, in that churches must be aware of their own identity if they are to offer to each other their unique gifts, this focus on difference runs the risk of burdening the relationships of churches to one another with "old prejudices and animosities." (36) A year later he quoted Wolfhart Pannenberg to the effect that the Reformation remains unfinished without the restoration of Christian unity. (37)

Recently, Michael Kinnamon has called attention to "an even deeper issue" than the present split between unity and justice, "a loss of commitment among leaders of our churches to the possibility, to the very idea, of Christian unity." He says that in his experience "at the National Council of Churches in the United States, the great vision of eucharistic fellowship is reduced in the minds of many church leaders to policies of good neighborliness and occasional cooperation that can easily be demoted on the list of ecclesial priorities." (38) James Loughran notes that the text we are considering was largely ignored at the WCC 10th Assembly at Busan, Republic of Korea (November, 2013). Though it was published in the Assembly's Resource Book, it never rose to the level of a plenary. (39)

B. Lack of Agreement on Sacramental Practice

In spite of the clear eucharistic focus of TCTCV, I wonder how far we have come toward recovering a vision of the church as a eucharistic community. According to BEM, it is "appropriate" that the eucharist should take place at least every Sunday. (40) Walter Kasper lifts up the rediscovery of the centrality of liturgy, especially the eucharist, in his Harvesting the Fruits, (41) but eucharistic worship is not yet central in many denominations where too often it has been marginalized or reduced to a private devotion. David Fergusson points out that weekly celebration "is still largely foreign to the worship of most Reformed communities in the world today," and progress probably requires a reassessment of its theological significance. (42) According to Robert Jenson, evangelicals are "are rarely bothered by questions of eucharistic fellowship--or by sacramental matters generally." (43)

Tracing the marginalization of the eucharist within American Evangelicalism, Lutheran liturgist Gordon Lathrop asks: "[I]s the church centered on individuals and their process of decision-making? Or is it centered on-indeed, created by--certain concrete and communal means that God has given, which bear witness to and give the grace of God, and in which God is present and active?" (44) From a Pentecostal perspective, Cheryl Bridges Johns acknowledges the need to integrate a sense of eucharistic presence into the Pentecostal "sacramental mysticism" created by the Spirit's presence, particularly in worship. (45)

There are also significant differences regarding sacramental practice. Some Orthodox churches continue to re-baptize converts from other churches, and some Protestant churches both in the United States and abroad no longer see baptism as a prerequisite for participating in the eucharist, reducing it to a fellowship meal. (46) Other issues noted by Kasper include Catholic concerns about the use of nontrinitarian formulas in baptism, permitting unordained persons to preside at the eucharist, and a casual way of treating the elements after communion. (47)

C. Western Losses

Another obstacle to the search for unity is that mainline churches in the U.S. and Western Europe continue to lose members. Kinnamon points out that the denominations that were once pillars of the ecumenical movement are in many places experiencing diminishing numbers and resources, with a resulting toll on ecumenical organizations. Those that are member churches of the WCC constitute little more than twenty percent of world Christianity, a number that is diminishing. (48) He asks if the WCC is becoming too ideological, substituting its commitment to economic, social, and ecological justice; centering its focus on what humans can do rather than on what God is doing; and losing ecumenism's traditional vision of a reconciled church sharing the eucharist and making decisions in common where possible. (49)

Jim Hinch argues that even evangelicalism in American Christianity "is not only in gradual decline but today stands poised at the edge of a demographic and cultural cliff," with "[p]rominent figures in the evangelical establishment ... sounding alarms." (50) He cites David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, an evangelical market-research organization: "At present rates of attrition two-thirds of evangelicals in their 20s will abandon church before they turn 30." (51)

Others find serious lacks in evangelical theology, that it is too populist and insufficiently rooted in the Christian tradition. Jeffrey Bingham believes that, often lacking a commitment to the early church's "rule of faith," the future of evangelicalism is in jeopardy. (52) Scot McKnight says that generic American evangelicalism is falling apart theologically. (53) The evangelical claims that they represent forty percent of Americans may be greatly exaggerated. John Dickerson cites a number of studies to show that the actual number is closer to seven percent. (54)

Jenson wonders if perhaps God is not winding down the Protestant experiment, suggesting that, if things continue as they are, God "will carry on the ecumene with the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern churches, and Pentecostal groups." (55) Johns, noting that Pentecostals are closer to Pope Benedict XVI's understanding of the organic unity of the Bible and the church than most Protestants, cites with approval a 1969 projection of John Mackay, "The Christian future may lie with a reformed Catholicism and a mature Pentecostalism." (56)

IV. Toward a World Church

As is well known, Karl Rahner described Vatican II as symbolizing the transformation of Western Christianity, a church largely of Europe and North America, into a world church. (57) As Christianity's center of gravity shifts from Europe and North America to the continents of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, (58) the truth of Rahner's remark becomes increasingly obvious. What will this new, world church be like? Will it be a truly catholic church, a communion of local churches living in visible unity? Or, will it be a multiplicity of churches and communities, even more divided in faith and life? Will these churches be able to receive Gibaut's powerful vision of TCTCV as a challenge to renewal of ecclesial life, a commitment to justice and peace, mission, and unity?

If Christianity is diminishing in the West, it is flourishing in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, usually referred to as the "global South." (59) A recent Pew Forum study finds that more than 1,300,000,000 Christians live in the global South (sixty-one percent of all Christians), compared with about 860.000. 000 in the global North (thirty-nine percent). (60) Much of this growth has been in the church's Evangelical, Pentecostal, and Neo-Pentecostal expressions. According to David Barrett, there are over 126.000. 000 charismatics and Pentecostals in Africa, over 140,000,000 in Latin America, and over 134,000,000 in Asia, and these numbers are more than a decade old. (61) Allan Anderson cites studies that claims that "there were 628 million 'Pentecostals, Charismatics and Independent Charismatics', collectively termed 'Renewalists', in the world in 2013, 26.7 per cent of the world's Christians." (62)

Also rapidly growing are the independent, indigenous churches, whose members comprise about one-fifth of all Christians today and thus are not members of traditional denominations or churches. Mark Noll notes, "This past Sunday it is possible that more Christian believers attended church in China than in all of so-called 'Christian Europe.'" (63) What this means is that the profile of global Christianity has changed dramatically, and the Western church cannot afford to ignore it.

This re-centering of the majority Christian population to the global South poses significant challenges for ecumenism. Much less concerned with doctrine, confessional differences, or ecclesiology, these new churches have a different agenda. They sense the nearness of the supernatural, unlike the Enlightenment-influenced West. They place great emphasis on healing--of body, mind, soul, spirit, and society--and stress life issues such as AIDS, violence, and poverty. Their denominational boundaries are often porous, and multiple Christian identities are not unusual. As Noll notes, whether Anglican, Baptist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, or independent, "almost all are Pentecostal in the broad sense of the term." (64) Not a few Christians in these churches are decidedly anti-ecumenical, as was evident in Busan, where hundreds were protesting not just the WCC assembly but also the ecumenical movement in general.

A. Asian Churches

Noting the enormous diversity of forms of Christianity in Asia, with evangelical, Pentecostal, Neo-Pentecostal, and independent house churches, Peter Phan speaks of Asian Christianity in the plural. (65) In China, Christianity is growing rapidly, though exact numbers are difficult to come by. It is estimated that there are some 16,000,000 Catholics, while estimates for Protestants vary from 20,000,000 to 120,000,000, though a more realistic estimate, based on cross-checked data, suggests 39,000,000 as of 2007. (66) The overwhelming majority of Protestants in China are at least charismatic, but also Pentecostal or Neo-Pentecostal in their theological orientation; this includes ninety percent of house-church Christians and perhaps eighty percent of the total Christian population there. While Classical Pentecostals represent a minority, they still represent a quarter of house-church Christians. (67)

These house churches emphasize the miraculous, with prayers for healing playing an important role in the life of their communities. (68) According to Phan, these house churches and indigenous churches, which are present also in Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, "do not have any central authority and have minimal, if any sacramental practice and ordained ministry," so church union, as envisioned by TCTCV, "founded on a common set of theological and ecclesiological principles, is totally out of the question for the foreseeable future." (69) Nor am I aware of any efforts to build bridges between these house-church Christians and China's Roman Catholics, a situation made worse by the fact that in some parts of Asia, Catholicism and Protestantism are considered separate religions.

B. African Churches

In Africa, the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches have experienced enormous growth, but the continent has also seen an explosion of new churches, usually identified as African Independent, African Indigenous, or African Instituted Churches (AIC's). Roughly two-thirds of the AIC's are in South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Nigeria. While AIC typology is complex, with some tracing their roots to the Ethiopian movement in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and some from the prophet-founded movements after the First World War, the most significant expression emerged after the 1970's and is Neo-Pentecostal.

Many see these churches as an authentic expression of African religious impulses and cultures. They are communitarian in style, pneumatological in ecclesiology, and more comprehensive in their doctrine of salvation. Their liturgy is known for "its exuberance, spontaneity, free expression, and corporate reverence." (70) Most are not eucharistic communities; while some might celebrate the eucharist at Easter, others believe that it is not necessary. More emphasis is placed on the work of the Spirit in dreams, prophecy, visions, and other spiritual gifts. Many preach the "Prosperity Gospel." Having developed from bases in the U.S., this Prosperity Gospel or "Health and Wealth Movement," sometimes referred to as the "Faith Movement," is growing rapidly today in Africa, China, Korea, and Latin America. Its theological profile stresses healing, prosperity, and "positive confession"--meaning that the believers lay claim to God's provisions and promises in the present--combined frequently with support for current regimes and national pride. (71) Mainstream evangelicalism has long opposed prosperity theology as unbiblical, if not heretical.

C. Latin America

The Catholic Church has learned much from the Pentecostals in Latin America. Some speak today of its "Pentecostalization," particularly through the widespread Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR). Far more Latin American Catholics have been involved with the Renewal than with Christian Base Communities (CBC's); 73,600,000 have participated to some degree in CCR, sixteen percent of all Catholics in Latin America, while CBC's have engaged only 20,000,000-30,000,000, just two to five percent of the Catholic population. (72) While these charismatic Catholics "report holding beliefs and having religious experiences that are typical of pentecostal or spirit-filled movements," they appear able to incorporate renewalist or charismatic practices without displacing their Catholic identity and core beliefs, and most do so without formal participation in Catholic charismatic organizations. (73) Something similar is occurring in the Philippines, where the Catholic Bishops' Conference is working actively with the popular charismatic movement, El Shaddai.

While not all pluralism is a blessing, it can make it possible for churches to share their gifts with each other and learn from each other. The liturgical movement has helped many churches to recover a greater appreciation of the eucharist in their ecclesial lives. Some evangelical theologians today lament the "real absence" of the eucharist in many American evangelical communities and call for a return to the sacramental ontology and eucharistic practice of the great tradition. (74)

It is also true that some of the churches of the global South may have something to learn from older, more established churches. Pentecostal churches are more known for divisions than for unity. They may need to rethink their emphasis on the Prosperity Gospel, which too easily substitutes the false hope of material prosperity for the inevitability of suffering and the cross in the following of the poor Jesus. The 23rd Pentecostal World Conference at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, called attention to the errors of this prosperity teaching. (75) Others may need to pay greater attention to the place of the eucharist in TCTCV.

V. How Can We Move Forward?

How might we move forward toward the WCC's vision of a church that is a eucharistic community, sharing a trinitarian faith, nourished by the word of God and the sacraments (or ordinances), guided by a ministry with oversight and a teaching authority, and living in visible community with other Christian communities? Let me make some suggestions.

One approach would be to dismiss the TCTCV's theological vision as too traditional, too Western, and not sufficiently attentive to the experience of the largely Pentecostal-Charismatic churches in the Southern Hemisphere, as does Karkkainen in his comments on an earlier version of the WCC statement. (76) He characterizes it as a failed effort, not helpful with today's religious pluralism, but this would mean reducing the theological meaning of "church" to any group that claims the name. Even those who advocate a broadly inclusive "inductive ecclesiology" or "ecclesiology from below" stress the centrality of the eucharist. Paul Lakeland says unequivocally, "without the Eucharist we have no Church," (77) while Roger Haight points to BEM's common apostolic understanding of the eucharist "as the central act of the church's worship." (78)

A second approach would be to argue that these new churches or ecclesial communities are not churches in the proper sense, as does the Vatican declaration, Dominus Iesus. A strict interpretation of TCTCV would do the same thing, checking off the missing elements, but that would be to ignore the obvious vitality of these new churches.

TCTCV presents an ecclesiology strongly rooted in the tradition. It can continue to serve as a goal, a terminus ad quem for the ecumenical movement, but we are not there yet. Perhaps there was considerable wisdom in Vatican II's language of "churches and ecclesial communities." It may be that not every Christian community realizes what it means to be church "in the proper sense." Are there not "churches" today that are more accurately Christian communities, with rich apostolic lives, their own traditions, a unique mission, and their own structures of governance, but which are not eucharistic communities, may not have sacraments, and lack a teaching authority or a ministry of unity or even a concern for visible bonds with other churches? Thus, they do not fulfill the vision that TCTCV presents describing the church. But, they bring unique gifts that could enrich the life of the entire church. Perhaps we could describe them as movements in search of a church, which might appropriately find a home within the larger communion of the church. Among such Christian communities we might include the Moravians, the Hutterites, the Mennonites, the Quakers, and perhaps also some indigenous, Pentecostal, or emergent church communities.

We might take Catholic religious orders as an analogy. Catholics have a saying, a cliche really--like most cliches, simplistic, but still with a certain truth--that, when a Protestant has a new vision of the Christian life and mission, he or she establishes another church, while a Catholic in the same position establishes a religious order or community. A religious order is a community within the Church, with its own charism, mission, ministry, and structures of governance. Part of the genius of Francis of Assisi was his ability to find a home for his movement, part of a larger apostolic movement that revitalized European Christianity in the twelfth century, within the Church. (79) It became the Franciscan order. The Reformation gave us denominations. How many denominations do we have today? Estimates go as high as 33,000. (80) If Christianity is now truly a world religion, as Noll argues, it is not yet a global church. He quotes Lamin Sanneh's remark about the new dynamics of world Christianity, which "compels a fundamental stocktaking of Christianity's frontier awakening, and an imperative of partnership with it. When opportunity knocks the wise will build bridges, while the timorous will build dams." (81)

Thus, TCTCV presents a challenging vision for all the churches. Its great strength is its transdenominational ecclesiology, but it also calls for the recovery of a vision of the church that is rooted in the fullness of apostolic faith. (82) It is testimony both of how far the ecumenical movement has come and of how far it needs to go. All the churches are being challenged to renewal and perhaps change, while the statement suggests that it may not be possible to recognize just any Christian community as church. The church has certain endowments or gifts that need to be incorporated into its life.

The Roman Catholic Church will need to continue to renew its structures of governance, making them more truly "personal, collegial and communal in their exercise," (83) a renewal that one hopes has already begun under Pope Francis but that still has a long way to go. It will continue to be difficult to invite those exercising oversight in other churches into a ministry of unity for the entire church if the Roman curia remains in its present position between the bishops and the pope, rather than being at the service of both. The Catholic Church will also need to find ways to give expression to the principle of subsidiarity in its life, allowing local and regional churches more latitude for making pastoral decisions in light of their own social contexts, as well as more input from local churches in the selection of their bishops. While the Synod of Bishops could provide a consultative structure for more than the Catholic Church, it would first need to be reformed in its exercise.

The Orthodox lack a clear consensus about the ecclesial and salvific character of the non-Orthodox churches and about the validity of their baptism, and they lack the distinction between full and partial communion, which is so important to Roman Catholic ecumenical theology, as Kasper has argued. (84) They will also have to find ways to accommodate a diversity of theological expression with an underlying consensus in the Church's faith and consider how to develop a structure of visible communion with other Christian communities. As Herman Pottmeyer notes, without a center of unity and ministry of communion, the Eastern Church "saw its unity disintegrate into a multiplicity of autocephalous or autonomous churches, which have not found their way to a workable communion among themselves." (85)

Protestant churches are in different places on the difficult journey toward reconciliation and visible unity. Some have yet to engage in the search for unity or to see visible unity as a goal. Some may need to examine their worship life, recovering the centrality of the eucharist in the church's life. Others may need to establish or formalize a teaching office or to renew their teaching or practice in light of the great apostolic tradition, providing a creedal or liturgical context for the interpretation of scripture, preventing the Reformation scripture principle from becoming a warrant for such private or nontraditional interpretations as the Prosperity Gospel that is so popular with some Neo-Pentecostal communities. Some need to develop structures for conciliar relations and decision-making. Some noneucharistic churches might better be seen as apostolic communities within the communion of the church, sharing in its sacramental life rather than being churches themselves "in the proper sense." Ultimately, communion with the Catholic Church means that the churches must face the question of an office of unity exercised by the bishop of Rome, though reformed in light of the gospel.

VI. Conclusion

What the churches most need to do is to begin taking the steps toward reestablishing bonds of communion in life, witness, and worship that would point to and encourage a common ecclesial life. That might involve dialogue, working together and learning from one another, and sharing educational resources. What if the Catholic Church, the Orthodox churches, and other liturgical churches could find ways to bring other Christians into their communion? If both could find ways to relax somewhat their sacramental discipline, extending occasional eucharistic hospitality to those other Christians who share a eucharistic faith and desire to live in communion with them, rather than proselytizing their members, these established churches might help those Christians and their communities to recover a deeper understanding of the church as a eucharistic community.

Note that eucharistic hospitality is different from intercommunion, since it is offered to individuals in particular circumstances. It falls short of full communion between churches, which is based on formal agreements, making possible concelebration and the exchange of ministers. Occasional eucharistic hospitality builds on the partial communion that Vatican II recognized as existing between baptized Christians of other churches and ecclesial communities and the Catholic Church. (86) It presupposes a eucharistic faith, recognizing Christ's presence in the bread broken and the cup shared, as well as a desire to live in communion with the Catholic Church. (87) While such conditions are not always present, there are many non-Catholic Christians for which they hold true. The same is true for other liturgical churches.

While some of these ecclesial communities or churches may not yet fully realize what it means to be church according to TCTCV, they are Christians united with Christ by baptism, joined in the life of the Spirit, nourished by the word of God, and celebrating other sacraments. (88) These steps toward a fuller communion would also witness to a renewed, more inclusive catholicity.

Finally, all the churches and Christian communities need to remember that reconciliation and Christian unity are primarily God's work, not ours. This has been a constant message of recent popes. Most recently, at a service on January 25, 2014, marking the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Pope Francis said:

   Unity will not come about as a miracle at the very end. Rather,
   unity comes about in journeying; the Holy Spirit does this on the
   journey. If we do not walk together, if we do not pray for one
   another, if we do not collaborate in the many ways that we can in
   this world for the People of God, then unity will not come about!
   But it will happen on this journey, in each step we take. And it is
   not we who are doing this, but rather the Holy Spirit, who sees our
   goodwill. (89)

Kinnamon has made the same point. In an article exploring new contours of ecumenism in the twenty-first century, he reminds us that, according to Vatican II, prayer for unity is "the soul of the ecumenical movement." "Prayer for unity makes clear that God is the Chief Actor in this movement. Since unity is a gift, we ask for it in prayer." (90) Let us continue to pray together for this gift, that the world might believe.

(1) Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry, Faith and Order Paper 111 (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1982).

(2) Available at http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/ documents/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_311101999_cath-luth-joint-declaration_en.html.

(3) The Church; Towards a Common Vision, Faith and Order Paper 214 (Geneva: WCC Publications, 2013); hereafter, TCTCV.

(4) Ibid., p. 46.

(5) Faith and Order Paper 181 (Geneva: WCC Publications, 1998).

(6) John Gibaut, "The Church: Towards a Common Vision," J.E.S. 50 (Spring, 2015): 216

(7) See TCTCV, Historical Note, pp. 41-46.

(8) Ibid., [section]9.

(9) Ibid., [section]23.

(10) See ibid., [section]25.

(11) See ibid., [section]29.

(12) Ibid., [section]30.

(13) Ibid., [section]31.

(14) Ibid.

(15) See ibid.

(16) Ibid., Introduction, p. 2.

(17) Ibid., [section]37.

(18) See ibid.

(19) Ibid., [section]39.

(20) Ibid.

(21) See ibid., [section]52.

(22) See ibid., [section]53.

(23) Ibid., [section]56.

(24) Ibid., [section]57.

(25) Ibid., [section]58.

(26) Ibid., [section]64.

(27) See ibid., [section]31.

(28) Ibid., [section]37.

(29) Konrad Raiser, Ecumenism in Transition: A Paradigm Shift in the Ecumenical Movement? (Geneva: WCC Publications, 1991), p. 8.

(30) Ibid., p. 110.

(31) See Ola Tjorhom, Visible Church--Visible Unity: Ecumenical Ecclesiology and "The Great Tradition of the Church" (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2004), p. 77.

(32) Veli-Matti Karkkainen, An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical, and Global Perspectives (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), p. 73.

(33) Geoffrey Wainwright, The Ecumenical Movement: Crisis and Opportunity for the Church (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1983), p. 4.

(34) See Harding Meyer, That All May Be One: Perceptions and Models of Ecumenicity (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999), pp. 147-148.

(35) Kurt Koch, "Developments and Challenges in Ecumenism Today," July 29, 2011; available at http://www.katolsk.no/tro/tema/ekumenikk/artikler/developments-andchallenges-in-ecumenism-today.

(36) Ibid.

(37) See Kurt Koch, "The Significance of Ecumenism for the New Evangelization," PCPCU Information Service, vol. 14, nos. III--IV (2012), p. 18.

(38) Michael Kinnamon, "New Contours of Ecumenism in the 21st Century," Ecumenical Trends 42 (December, 2013): 13.

(39) See James Loughran, "World Council of Churches 10th Assembly," Ecumenical Trends 42 (December, 2013): 9.

(40) BEM, [section]31.

(41) Walter Kasper, Harvesting the Fruits: Basic Aspects of Christian Faith in Ecumenical Dialogue (London and New York: Continuum, 2009), pp. 200-201.

(42) David Fergusson, "The Reformed Churches," in Paul Avis, ed., The Christian Church: An Introduction of the Major Traditions (London: SPCK, 2002), p. 41.

(43) Robert W. Jenson, "The Strange Future of 'the Ecumenical Movement,'" The Living Church, January 19, 2014, p. 24.

(44) Gordon W. Lathrop and Timothy J. Wengert, Christian Assembly: Marks of the Church in a Pluralistic Age (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2004), p. 126.

(45) See Cheryl Bridges Johns, "Of Like Passion: A Pentecostal Appreciation of Benedict XVI," in William G. Rusch, ed., The Pontificate of Benedict XVI (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009), p. 101.

(46) See Kurt Koch, "Recent Ecumenical Progress and Future Prospects," Origins 41 (November 24, 2011): 401.

(47) See Kasper, Harvesting the Fruits; and Thomas J. Green, "A Canonist's Perspective on Harvesting the Fruits," Ecumenical Trends 42 (February, 2013): 7-9.

(48) See Kinnamon, "New Contours," pp. 11-12.

(49) See ibid., pp. 12-14.

(50) Jim Hinch, "Where Are the People? Evangelical Christianity in America Is Losing Its Power--What Happened to Orange County's Crystal Cathedral Shows Why," The American Scholar (Winter, 2014); available at http://theamericanscholar.org/where-arethe-people/#.Utxk6LSIapo.

(51) Ibid.

(52) See D. Jeffrey Bingham, "Evangelicals and the Rule of Faith," in George Kalantzis and Andrew Tooley, eds., Evangelicals and the Early Church (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2012), p. 159.

(53) See Scot McKnight, "Evangelicals and the Public Use of Creeds," in Kalantzis and Tooley, Evangelicals and the Early Church, p.143.

(54) See John S. Dickerson, The Great Evangelical Recession (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013), pp. 28-29.

(55) Jenson, "Strange Future," p. 24.

(56) Johns, "Of Like Passion," p. 113; Mackay's statement was in his Christian Reality and Appearance (Richmond, VA: John Know Press, 1969), pp. 88-89.

(57) See Karl Rahner, "Towards a Fundamental Theological Interpretation of Vatican Council II," Theological Studies 40 (December, 1979): 718.

(58) One study that takes the churches of Asia, Africa, and Latin America seriously is Karkkainen, Introduction to Ecclesiology (see note 32, above).

(59) See Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 6-7.

(60) See http://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/global-christianity-exec/.

(61) David Barrett and T. M. Johnson, "Global Statistics," in Stanley Burgess and Eduard M. Van der Mass, eds., New International Dietionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), p. 287.

(62) Allan Heaton Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, U.K., and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014), p. 307.

(63) Mark A. Noll, The New Shape of World Christianity (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2009), p. 20.

(64) Ibid., p. 34.

(65) See Peter C. Phan, ed., Christianities in Asia (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011).

(66) See Benoit Vermander, "Religious Revival and Exit from Religion in Contemporary China," China Perspectives, vol. 4, no. 4 (2009), p. 10.

(67) See Luke Wesley, "Is the Chinese Church Predominantly Pentecostal? "Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies, vol. 7, no. 2 (2004), p. 251. Anderson says, "The rapidly growing house church movement in China is mostly of an authochthonous Pentecostal type, even though it may not recognize itself as 'Pentecostal'" (Anderson, Introduction to Pentecostalism, p. 303).

(68) Wesley, "Is the Chinese Church," p. 226.

(69) Peter C. Phan, "The Church: Toward a Common Vision: A View from the Asian Churches," from a not-yet-published lecture given at St. John's College, Oxford, U.K. April n, 2014.

(70) See Cephas N. Omenyo, "Essential Aspects of African Ecclesiology: The Case of the African Independent Churches," PNEUMA: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies 22 (Fall, 2000): 241.

(71) See Simon Coleman, The Globalization of Charismatic Christianity: Spreading the Gospel of Prosperity (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp. 28-40.

(72) See Jacob Egeris Thorsen, "Charismatic Catholicism in Latin America," forthcoming in Virginia Garrard-Burnett and Paul Freston, eds., Cambridge History of Religions in Latin America (Cambridge University Press); see also Edward L. Cleary, How Latin America Saved the Soul of the Catholic Church (New York and Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2009), P. 53.

(73) Pew Forum Survey, "Changing Faiths: Latinos and the Transformation of American Religion"; available at http://www.pewforum.org/files/2007/04/hispanicsreligion-07-final-maro8.pdf, p. 32.

(74) See John Jefferson Davis, Worship and the Reality of God: An Evangelical Theology of Real Presence (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2010), pp. 113-114; and Hans Boersma, Heavenly Participation: The Weaving of a Sacramental Tapestry (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2011).

(75) Global Christian Forum News, no. 1 (March 11, 2014), p. 3.

(76) Veli-Matti Karkkainen, '"The Nature and Purpose of the Church': Theological and Ecumenical Reflections from Pentecostal/Free Church Perspectives," Ecumenical Trends 33 (July/August, 2004): 5-7.

(77) Paul Lakeland, Church: Engaging Theology--Catholic Perspectives (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2009), p. 179.

(78) Roger Haight, Ecclesial Existence: Christian Community in History, vol. 3 (New York: Continuum, 2008), p. 210.

(79) See M.-D. Chenu, Nature, Man, and Society in the Twelfth Century (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1969), pp. 239-269.

(80) See David B. Barrett, George T. Kurian, and Todd M. Johnson, eds., World Christian Encyclopedia, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001).

(81) Noll, New Shape of World Christianity, pp. 196-197; citing Lamen Sanneh, Disciples of All Nations (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 287.

(82) TCTCV, [section]37.

(83) Ibid., [section]52.

(84) Walter Kasper, That They May All Be One: The Call to Unity Today (London: Burns and Oates, 2004), p. 59.

(85) Herman J. Pottmeyer, Towards a Papacy in Communion: Perspectives from Vatican Councils I and II (New York: Crossroad, 1998), p. 134.

(86) Unitatis redintegratio (UR) 3; Lumen gentium (LG) 15.

(87) See Thomas P. Rausch, "Occasional Eucharistic Hospitality: Revisiting the Question," Theological Studies 74 (June, 2013): 399-419.

(88) UR3, 22; LG 15.

(89) Pope Francis, "Celebration of Vespers on the Solemnity of the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle" (January 25, 2014); available at http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2014/documents/papa-francesco_20140125_vespri-conversione- san-paolo.html.

(90) Kinnamon, "New Contours," p. 14; Jenson also makes the same point in "Strange Future," p. 24.