Ecumenical Prayer Dialogue Held
Diocesan Press Service. July 5, 1973 [73165]
MARRIOTTSVILLE, Md. -- "We have a common need for prayer; it is the point at which we all can relate our needs. " With those words the Second Exploratory Dialogue in Spiritual Ecumenism got underway.
The Dialogue, operating under Episcopal and Roman Catholic leadership, was held in Marriottsville, Maryland June 22-23. Participants were 27 leaders in the prayer movement; they represented seven denominations.
The Rev. Fr. Herbert J. Ryan, a member of the international committee on Anglican Roman Catholic Conversations, chaired the meeting. In summarizing last year's dialogue, he pointed out that those who had participated had found unity in their diversity, and that God's gifts to each denomination had provided the ground for meeting to share prayer experiences and learn from one another.
"Is prayer a continuing process of conversion?" was the theme of this year's dialogue. The question was discussed in a series of plenary sessions and small group meetings. Throughout the two days the meetings were interspersed with periods of silent and spontaneous prayer.
Conversion was defined as a " conscious experience that I am not at the center of the world, and Jesus Christ is. " Within the framework of that definition, the participants concluded that prayer is an essential part of the continuing process of Christian conversion.
As the Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Presbyterians, Lutherans and Quakers present talked about prayer and conversion, their terminology and their traditions presented some difficulties in communication. In the end, however, one priest remarked, " Homogeneity of experience but diversity of expression is what I am hearing." To the leaders it was apparent that the dialogue is providing an ever deepening understanding of the many facets of the life of prayer.
The dialogue will continue next year. It is funded by the Lilly Foundation, and was conceived and organized by Fr. Ryan and Mrs. Helen S. Shoemaker and Mrs. Alexander Wiley who are co-directors of the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer.
Three Episcopal bishops participated: the Rt. Revs. Stephen Bayne, Austin Pardue, and Harry Lee Doll. Other Episcopalians were: the Rev. Donald M. Hultstrand, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer; the Rev. Samuel S. Johnston, also of that Board; and Miss Heidi Frost, Director of Field Ministries, Faith at Work; Mr. Harry Griffith, Director of the Bible Reading Fellowship in the U.S.A. and member of the Board of Trustees of the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer; and Dr. Donald Gross, Director of the Pittsburgh Pastoral Institute; and Mrs. Shoemaker and Mrs. Wiley.
From the Roman Catholic Church were : Sister Anne Chester, Executive Director of Houses of Prayer; Sister Constance of the Carmelite Monastery in Baltimore; the Rev. Fr. John Haughey, S. J., editor of "America;" the Rev. Fr. Thomas Kilduff, Superior of St. Joseph's Carmelite Monastery; Mrs. Edna McCallion, Consultant for U.N. Affairs, Churchwomen United in the U. S. A., and the Ecumenical Division of the Archdiocese of New York; Mr. Thomas Reynolds, student at Woodstock College; Mrs. Rose Koerber, Secretary of the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer; and Fr. Ryan.
From the Orthodox Church were Mother Alexandra, Abbess of the Monastery of the Transfiguration, and the Rev. John Psinka. From the Lutheran Church in America, the Rev. William Peterson, Commission on Evangelism; and from the American Lutheran Church, the Rev. William Starr, National President of "Young Life. "
From the Presbyterian Church was Dr. E. R. Homrighausen of Princeton Theological Seminary; Dr. Harold Martin of Ecumenical Prayer Seminars; and Dr. John Oliver Nelson, Director of Kirkbridge. The Society of Friends was represented by Dr. and Mrs. Douglas Steere of Haverford College.