Church Union, Mutual Responsibility Reports Heard
Diocesan Press Service. June 7, 1965 [XXXIII-2]
The spring meeting of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church began with a special order of business called by Presiding Bishop Hines to hear two reports - one by the Rt. Rev. Robert F. Gibson, Jr., chairman of the Consultation on Church Union, and the other by the Rt. Rev. Thomas H. Wright, chairman of the Joint Commission on Mutual Responsibility and Interdependence. The meeting was held May 18-20 at Seabury House.
In reporting on the Consultation's 1965 session, in April at Lexington, Ky., Bishop Gibson told Council members that discussions have moved into a new stage from a mere exploration of denominational differences to a corporate search for the truth of the Gospel. At the present time, he said the greatest need is to increase communication among and within the six participating churches and to accelerate dissemination of information on all aspects of the merger.
With the Episcopal Church, Consultation participants are the United Presbyterian, Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren Churches, the United Church of Christ and the Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ).
At the Lexington meeting, the Consultation named a commission to develop "the outline of a possible plan of union" and also called on other Churches to join in the talks.
In a resolution adopted, the Council agreed to consider recommendations put forth by the Consultation. These recommendations urge joint development of educational material dealing with Church union by the Christian education forces of the six Churches, inclusion of church union discussions in seminaries, the development of more study groups on union across denominational lines for the interpretation of the union discussions.
It was suggested that the Presiding Bishop and Council staff officers consider the recommendations for "appropriate action by the Episcopal Church. "
Bishop Wright presented to the Council a statement from the Mutual Responsibility Commission to the Church which warned that the Church may react to the call of "Mutual Responsibility and Interdependence" as just another campaign to raise money for Christian mission which has for many years been thought of chiefly as "voluntary charity" -- carried on at some distant place among less privileged folk. This concept, it was pointed out, "may defeat a major purpose of mission, which is to develop among Christian people everywhere a responsible interdependence. "
The Council recorded its acceptance of "the necessity for the Mutual Responsibility Commission and its executive officer to be outside the structure of the Executive Council" and yet to have close liaison with the Council in order to enlist the skills of its staff and to participate in the development of plans and programs of its departments and general divisions.
In other action, the Council strengthened its commitment to the companion dioceses and cooperative missions program within the Anglican Communion, approving eight such relationships and bringing the total to thirty-one.
Suggestions for an American directory of projects under the cooperative program were presented to the Council. The directory, said the Rev. C. Howard Perry of Olympia, Wash., will include projects which can best be met cooperatively by the Episcopal Church in this country, its missionary districts in the Caribbean, Latin and Central America and Mexico, the Anglican Church of Canada and the Province of the West Indies.
Each project should be a "unit of planned action" which can "open the way for a venture in unity, which could become a living relationship," Mr. Perry said.
In his report to Council, Bishop Gibson said that the first meeting of an Episcopal subcommittee and a Roman Catholic subcommittee will be June 22 in Washington. The Rt. Rev. Donald H. V. Hallock, Bishop of Milwaukee, is chairman of the Episcopal group which is a subcommittee of the Joint Commission on Ecumenical Relations.