Statement on Purpose of Church Issued by Anglicans and Roman Catholics
Diocesan Press Service. October 31, 1975 [75380]
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The Anglican -Roman Catholic Consultation (ARC) in the United States has released an agreed statement that the purpose of the Church is to preach the Gospel of salvation, celebrate the sacraments, and manifest the love of God in service.
Admitting that they find themselves "living in separate churches," the Roman Catholics and Episcopalians (Anglicans) of ARC say that their "estrangement of four centuries has been far from complete. " With regard to the purpose or mission of the Church, the ARC members say, "We have uncovered no essential points on which we differ." The Agreed Statement on the Purpose of the Church was released jointly by the co-chairmen of ARC, the Rt. Rev. Arthur A. Vogel, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri (Kansas City), and the Most Rev. Charles H. Helmsing, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St.. Joseph.
The two Church leaders, on behalf of ARC, said that it is their hope "that this Agreed Statement will be another step hastening the day that we will be truly one according to the mind and heart of Christ the Lord. "
Emphasizing the "relationship between prayer and belief," the text of the statement is illustrated with prayers from the contemporary Eucharistic liturgies of the two Churches.
The ARC statement says that "The Church is that community of persons called by the Holy Spirit to continue Christ's saving work of reconciliation. " It is not, they point out, "a man-made society of like-minded people who are trying to live Christian lives and to exert some kind of Christian influence upon the world. "
As "a community created and called by God," they say, the Church is "to be an instrument of God's work in the world focused in the saving and liberating mission of. Jesus Christ. "
"Our churches have understood," the statement says, "that this mission of witness to Jesus Christ is to be carried out by the proclamation of the Good News, the praise of God's Name, and service to all people. "
The Agreed Statement emphasizes that the proclamation of the Gospel is "not only preaching in words but also witness in deeds. "
The Church "expresses its own life most fully when it gathers as a community for worship, especially the celebration of the Eucharist, which is the summit and source of its mission, " the statement says.
The document points out that it is "imperative" for the Church "to serve others," though neither the Roman Catholic nor the Episcopal Church apparently "has yet found the means to carry out this aspect of mission as successfully as we might. "
A special responsibility and opportunity are thus placed on "those Church members who find themselves among the affluent," the ARC document says, "for they possess, under God, particular means whereby the Church may become more fully a servant people, a sign of hope on mankind's way. "
"To many contemporary Christians," the agreed statement says, "the witness of worship is only fully complete when it results in a commitment to service. " The document says that "human liberation ... is that aspect of the Church's mission of service which is most challenging for our time. "
The statement concludes "that insofar as the Church appears visibly divided, its purpose is obscured, its mission impeded, and its witness weakened. We yearn, therefore, for a restoration of the unity that will serve our common purpose."
The Agreed Statement on the Purpose of the Church, along with a number of other documents, will be published as ARC-DOC III by the United States Catholic Conference. Included will be the Anglican - Roman Catholic International Commission Statement on Ministry and Ordination (1973), with the ARC response; materials on covenanting parishes and inter-church marriages; and addresses by Pope Paul VI and Bishop Alan C. Clark of Northampton, chairman of ARCIC.
Anglican (Episcopal) members of ARC are: The Rt. Rev. Arthur A. Vogel, Bishop of West Missouri, chairman; the Rt. Rev. William Weinhauer, Bishop of Western North Carolina; the Rt. Rev. David B. Reed, Bishop of Kentucky; the Rev. Warner Traynham, Hanover, N.H.; the Rev. Charles Winters, Jr., Sewanee, Tenn.; the Rev. J. Robert Wright, New York, N.Y.; Mr. Peter Day, ecumenical officer, New York, N.Y.; and Mrs. Sherman Johnson, Mansfield, Ohio. Dr. George A. Shipman, Freedland, Wash., is a consultant.
Roman Catholic members of ARC are: The Most Rev. Charles H. Helmsing, Bishop of Kansas City -St. Joseph, chairman; the Most Rev. William W. Baum, Archbishop of Washington; Sister Sara Butler, Mobile, Ala.; the Rev. Allan Laubenthal, Cleveland, Ohio; the Rev. Herbert J. Ryan, S.J., Los Angeles, Calif.; the Rev. Georges Tavard, Delaware, Ohio; the Very Rev. Frederick M. Jelly, O.P., Washington, D.C.; the Most Rev. Raymond W. Lessard, Bishop of Savannah ; and the Most Rev. Daniel E. Pilarczyk, Cincinnati, Ohio. Staff members are the Rev. John F. Hotchkin and the Rev. John Peter Sheehan, both of Washington, D.C.
[For attached statements please contact the Archives. --Ed.]