GA08066

Committee recommends major new ecumenical policy statement

by Pat Cole

SAN JOSE, June 24, 2008 — The Ecumenical and Interfaith Committee of the 218th General Assembly has recommended the adoption of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s first major policy statement on ecumenism since the 1983 reunion of the denomination’s northern and southern streams.

“The Ecumenical Stance of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)” was drafted by the General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical Relations and was informed by a consultation called by that group in September 2007. If approved by the GA, the policy will guide the ecumenical work of the PC(USA) for the next decade.

The paper identifies 10 priorities in the denomination’s ecumenical life and each is accompanied by an imperative for the church:

1. Growing the ecumenical vision. The PC(USA) “is called to listen anew to what the Spirit is saying to all the churches, and to listen to what Christians from other churches are saying to us.”
2. Facing obstacles to Christian unity. The PC(USA) “is called to recognize the full range of obstacles to Christian unity, and to commit itself to breaking down all dividing walls in both church and world.”
3. Bridging the gaps between local and global, individual congregations and the denomination. The PC(USA) “is called to new ecumenical awareness that deepens relationships among congregational, denominational, and conciliar ecumenism. Each must be enriched by the others, leading the whole church to deeper communion in Christ.”
4. Enlarging the table of ecumenical relationships. The PC(USA) “is called to discover deeper forms of ecumenical commitment to the integrity of the gospel, embracing new partners whose different theologies, traditions, and structures can enrich our theology, traditions, and structures.”
5. Covenanting for justice in the economy and the earth. The PC(USA) “is called to sustained study and serious engagement with the Accra Confession of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.”
6. Peacemaking in a war-torn world. The PC(USA) “is called to renew its commitment to peacemaking within families and communities, in the church, and among societies and nations. As we live in unity with brothers and sisters around the world, working ecumenically to overcome violence, we both embody and proclaim fullness of the Lord’s peace.”
7. Nurturing interreligious engagements. The PC(USA) “is called to forge interreligious relationships with all who yearn and work for the healing of our wounded world, grounding interreligious engagements in our ecumenical commitments and practices."
8. Renewing a commitment to disciplines of Christian spirituality. The PC(USA) “is called to renew its commitment to disciplines of Christian spiritual formation, especially worship, regular reading of scripture, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. As we join with other Christians in praying with Jesus, we can better discern God’s will, join God’s mission, and nurture our life together.”
9. Celebrating gifts we receive and share. The PC(USA) “is called to receive gratefully the gifts God gives through others, and to share generously with others the gifts God has entrusted to us."
10. Revitalizing practices of ecumenical formation. The PC(USA) “is called to encourage commitment to the unity of Christ’s church through a range of educational, experiential, and missional opportunities.”

The priorities in the statement are supported by a biblical and confessional section that explains the PC(USA)’s ecumenical convictions and a historical overview of the denomination’s ecumenical involvement. While the committee carefully reviewed the document and made some revisions, most of the proposed policy statement’s form and content were approved as presented.

One of the most substantive changes dealt with the use of the New Testament Greek word oikoumene, which had appeared several times in the document. The draft presented to the committee defined oikoumene as meaning “the whole inhabited earth.”

The committee approved a motion to drop the word oikoumene and substitute the translation “household of God” in every place oikoumene had appeared. Phillip Dennis of the Presbytery of Northeast Georgia said the document should be easily understood by people who don’t know Greek. “Household of God is a helpful translation and makes the document more accessible,” he said.

A substitute motion by the Rev. Patrick McCoy of the Presbytery of Grace that would have shortened the document and significantly rearranged its structure failed. McCoy said his intent was “not to move it left or right” but to make it “more accessible” to congregations.
After approving the policy statement, the committee then recommended that the Office of the General Assembly and the General Assembly Council develop materials to assist congregations in their study of the new policy statement.