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Episcopalians Still Find Obstacles in Plan for Church Unity

Episcopal News Service. January 27, 1999 [99-2287]

(ENS) A 39-year-old dream for a new form of unity among nine churches has taken a step into the future in a commitment to be "visibly intertwined as never before" -- but without the Episcopal Church, at least for the time being.

At the closing session of the 18th plenary of the Consultation on Church Union (COCU) on January 24, leaders of the churches stepped forward to endorse a plan for the formation of a covenant communion that will be known as Churches Uniting in Christ. They also set a public celebration of the new relationship during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2002.

The celebration is not likely to include the Episcopal Church. Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold told the plenary, "The Episcopal delegation votes yes but will not be able to commend it to our General Convention for consideration until agreement has been reached with regard to the reconciliation of ministries...."

Earlier in the meeting, Pamela Chinnis, president of the House of Deputies, pointed out that the church's 1994 General Convention said that it was "not ready" to enter into covenant communion and expressed "reservations" about the documents outlining consensus among the participants. "As a founding member of COCU we have for many years committed ourselves to a deeper communion with this group of major American denominations," she said, admitting that "during the last decade our church has been perceived as sounding a rather uncertain trumpet in this important dialogue," leaving "our partners in the dialogue both frustrated and confused."

In an effort to explain why the attitude towards COCU seems to have changed, Chinnis pointed to a changing ecumenical climate, including Vatican II, a more catholic Prayer Book, and bi-lateral dialogues with the Lutherans that "has made us aware that solid progress can happen as we have conversations over time with one denomination that we grow to know very well." The result is the emergence of "a more consistent ecumenical stance on our part," subject to further decisions by the General Convention.

Despite its reservations, Chinnis said that the Episcopal Church supports COCU's "consistent commitment to combat the sin of racism and to strive for justice." And it wants to "continue the journey with you... even if to many of you we seem to be forever walking in last place, and even though we ourselves are in conscience not yet able to see or affirm everything that most of the rest of you do."

Historic episcopate is obstacle

As representatives to the plenary struggled with the draft of an agreement, it was clear that the reconciliation of ministries was still an obstacle. The first draft included a commitment to the ministry of bishops in historic succession and "a common and fully interchangeable threefold ministry," to be accomplished by 2007. That created problems for the Presbyterians for whom oversight is a shared ministry and bishops would not be acceptable. The final draft admitted the impasse and passed an amendment calling for a meeting "to clarify the meaning of reconciliation of ministry."

During discussion Griswold said that Episcopalians had "great difficulty" with deletion of the section on the historic episcopate in the final draft, pointing out that the vast majority of Christians in the world maintain the threefold ministry of bishops, priests and deacons. In its determination to be "consistent" in its relations with other ecumenical partners, the Episcopal Church has been very clear how crucial that understanding of ministry is to its self-understanding.

Prof. J. Robert Wright of the General Seminary in New York, an ecumenical consultant who was a member of the drafting committee, said that COCU may be able to find a way "to include our position in the emerging vision" but he admitted that the shift "raises questions for us whether we can continue." Over his objections, the committee ignored its own earlier consensus document, endorsed by seven of the nine COCU members, on the issue of ministry when it deleted the section on the historic episcopate.

Bishop Ted Gulick of Kentucky, who chairs the dialogue with Roman Catholics in this country and was a member of the Episcopal delegation, said that "we recognize ministries when the road to reconciliation of ministries is clear. We need to see the path before we can embrace the signs." He added, "The plenary moved to a different place. We didn't." Yet he expressed hopes that continuing dialogue can overcome the obstacles and give the Episcopalians a proposal they can take to General Convention in the future.

The Rev. Paul Crow of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) said that the issue of episcopal oversight has been "part of our future" in previous COCU documents. He said that it is "essential" because it is still a central issue, "one of the causes of division."

The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick of Louisville said that the Presbyterian General Assembly endorsed the covenanting agreements but changes in the church's constitution necessary to implement the plan had failed in a vote among the presbyteries on the local level. The documents don't acknowledge the lay office of ruling elder, he said, and Presbyterians doubted the need for "covenanting councils" at the local level to implement the plan.

Whose baby is this?

The Rev. Cynthia Campbell, president of McCormick Seminary (Presbyterian) in Chicago, said in a report from COCU's theology commission that it was important "to affirm what we can affirm now." That would include recognition of a common baptism, acceptance of each other as churches with authentic ministries and sacraments. Even though its efforts over the decades have produced "a certain sense of fatigue," she said layers of relationships, trust and friendship are gifts that "the Holy Spirit has managed to foist upon us, sometimes against our better judgment."

In his keynote address, Bishop Thomas Hoyt of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church used the metaphor of pregnancy and birth to argue that the COCU baby is "caught between movement and structure." The parent churches have struggled to determine "what this baby should be, how the parent body should associate with the baby, whether the baby should be aborted or allowed to grow to full term." And each church has its own understanding of what is good for the baby. Instead they should hope that the baby would have "some features of each of us without being an exact replica of any of us," he said.

Common efforts on racism

"Racism is the greatest church-dividing issue in America -- if not the world," said Dr. Vivian Robinson, who has served as president of COCU since the last plenary in 1988. And the Rev. Lewis Lancaster, a Presbyterian who is interim director of COCU, said that COCU is the place to discuss the issue since it is the only place where predominantly white and predominantly black churches can discuss the issue. (In addition to the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church USA, the United Church of Christ the Christian Church [Disciples of Christ,] the International Council of Community Churches and the United Methodist Church, COCU includes the African Methodist Episcopal, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion and the Christian Methodist Episcopal churches.)

Under the leadership of the Rev. Ed Rodman, canon missioner in the Diocese of Massachusetts, the consultation small groups discussed a proposed "Call to Christian Commitment and Action to Combat Racism." The document drew "an irrefutable link between the churches' search for unity in faith, sacraments and ministry and the struggle to overcome racism in the churches and the human community." It also asserted that "our prophetic witness against racism and all the powers of oppression is a primary test of the faithfulness of these churches."

Unless the church takes action, racism "will continue to corrupt our national and ecclesiastical aspirations for a society that truly incarnates 'liberty and justice for all,"' the document said. "The moral integrity and credibility of both our nation and our churches are at stake in this struggle. For the churches in COCU particularly, our quest for visible unity is irrelevant -- in fact, fraudulent -- unless that unity embodies racial solidarity and produces a vital public witness for racial equality and fairness."

A plan of action

The plenary appealed to member churches to:

  • continue to make a compelling theological case against racism
  • identify, name and share information with each other regarding programs and initiatives
  • claim Martin Luther King Jr. Day and similar appropriate occasions for dialogue leading to systemic change
  • Use the discipline of social ethics to encourage effective advocacy
  • insure that worship is an intentional witness against racism
  • maintain a strong program of Christian education on the dynamics of racism and the demands of racial justice
  • search for racism embedded in the structures, politics and programs of churches
  • renew the commitment to the struggle for equal human rights through advocacy
  • develop resources to address the issue of racism in the response of churches to new immigrant groups.

Crow said that the racism document "has radical implications for COCU -- and our churches," and he asked if it was realistic to continue individual programs and efforts on the issue. In response Rodman issued a broad warning, "If you are not willing to give up anything, nothing will happen."

In a later interview, Rodman said that "the statement is great but its implementation will depend on resources." Support for COCU by its member churches has diminished, making it necessary to deplete reserves to support an annual budget of about $200,000.

Rodman is convinced that the struggle against racism "is one thing that we can do together" and he sees that struggle as a "bellwether on how serious the church is." Connecting the King Day and the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is "a natural sign, one that could work at all levels of the church," he added.

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