c. 1998 Religion News Service

ST. LOUIS _ Leaders of nine of the nation’s prominent mainline Protestant religious bodies have forged a proposal aimed at establishing greater church unity beginning by the year 2002.

For almost four decades, the groups have struggled to find ways to work together _ first holding out the hope of organic merger but, in recent years, reaching agreement on a way presenting a unified Christian voice on issues on which they agree.

At the conclusion of a five-day plenary meeting Sunday (Jan. 24), the Consultation on Church Union decided on a new name _ Churches Uniting in Christ _ and proposed their member churches work especially hard on combating racism.”From the moment of inauguration, the life of these churches is visibly intertwined as never before,”says the final text of the adopted plan.”Their relationship, with God’s help, will not be one of friendly coexistence and consultation but of binding community that actively embodies the love of Christ which ties them to one another.” The 16-page report expresses the hope all nine bodies can take part in a liturgical celebration and public declaration in 2002 of their new relationship during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which occurs in January.”This is really substantive commitment to say that starting in January 2002 our life together will not be the same,”said the Rev. Michael Kinnamon, chairman of the committee that drafted the plenary’s report, and a professor at the Lexington Theological Seminary in Lexington, Ky.”These nine remain distinguishable churches but from January of 2002, they cannot consider who they are apart from the others.” The proposal calls for the churches to mutually recognize each other’s congregations, members and ministries _ steps the consultation had not yet been able to achieve since it began in 1962. Different local churches might find various ways to relate, including sharing services, celebrating Communion together and sharing in a mission to combat racism.”It is difficult for African American churches, congregations and members to be fully convinced of the sincerity of the call of their European American counterparts for unity as equals, if the latter are not willing to actively struggle to dismantle the obstacles to social, political and economic equality presented by systematic white skin color privilege, and to give up some of the perquisites they enjoy under it,”the final text reads.

In conjunction with that, the plenary also unanimously adopted”A Call to Christian Commitment and Action to Combat Racism,”which includes encouraging interracial worship, Christian education on racism, and advocacy that supports affirmative action and seeks reform in the criminal justice system.

The unified voice on racism was cheered by delegates, including Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. “Homogeneous unity is not what we need,”said Hoyt of Shreveport, La., the leader of CME churches in Louisiana and Mississippi.”We need heterogeneous unity.” Although delegations from all nine church groups also unanimously approved the amended report of COCU’s 18th plenary, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold said his church’s General Convention would not be able to vote on the proposal until COCU leaders resolve the issues of how they will recognize and reconcile the various ordained ministries of the member denominations.”It’s only after that question is resolved that we would be in a position to enter fully into the mutual recognition process,”Griswold told reporters.”The question is still not resolved … but the very fact that we have named it and we are going to work on it allows us to vote `yes.'” He added that if the questions are not resolved about the role of the bishop and the historic succession of bishops _ which Episcopalians believe can be traced to the time of Jesus’ apostles _”we might have to go our separate ways.” But despite those sentiments, Griswold proceeded to officiate at the closing Eucharist, where participants choose which cup to drink from depending on their church body’s preference for using wine or grape juice.

Griswold added that COCU is an example of the complexity of ecumenical relations.”You begin with sort of a grand cosmic scheme of what Christian unity is about and then you … have to bump up against all the realities of the various traditions,”he said.”We’re certainly committed to working through those things.” The Presbyterians, who were concerned that the original draft of the final report did not address their ministry of elder, said they were satisfied with the final version and voted for it because of its promise for continued negotiation.”It wasn’t solved,”said delegate Dorothy Barnard, an ordained elder from St. Louis.”We want to be able to see the elder recognized and accepted … We need to just help people understand what that means to us in terms of our oversight.” Possibly as soon as March, when COCU’s executive committee is scheduled to meet, a smaller group of leaders will gather to continue to work on the reconciliation of ministries.

The Rev. Robert A. Fread, a delegate from the International Council of Community Churches, said the long-term effect of the proposal will depend on how much local churches follow its recommendations.”Ultimately the key will be in local churches, if they take heart to being one in their local communities, not only sharing Eucharist together or the sacraments in general together, worshipping together but also struggling against racism together,”he said.”If they do that, it will mean something. It will not just be one more national report.” Kinnamon said the way local churches might relate to each other is limited only by the imaginations of the members.”On boards, ice cream socials, installations, baptisms, from now on our life is intertwined in ways that invite creativity,”said Kinnamon, whose wife, the Rev. Katherine Kinnamon, is a Disciples minister in Kentucky.”For example, in Midway, Ky., we live a half block from the St. Matthew’s African Methodist Episcopal Church. From now on, that half block just got shorter.” COCU member bodies, with a total of about 17 million members, are: the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, the Episcopal Church, the International Council of Community Churches, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church.

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In addition to the local cooperation and the theological negotiations, the proposal also details potential relationships with other groups, ranging from Christian groups that have observed COCU gatherings to other traditions, such as Pentecostals and Baptists. It also mentions potential conversations with non-Christian groups, including those representing Judaism and Islam.”We seek to be a sign and means of God’s will for the unity of humankind, as together we pursue justice, peace, and the sustainability of the created order as an expression of that reconciliation made real in Christ Jesus.” If the proposed celebration occurs in 2002, the Consultation on Church Union will end, and the new relationship _ Churches Uniting in Christ _ will continue the goals towards Christian unity.

Bishop Vinton Anderson of the African Methodist Episcopal Church said the new shape makes sense.”We do need to live together in a different house because there are too many things broken in the house we’re in,”he said.”The memories in the old place _ some are good, but some are painful and you want to move on.”

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