Ecumenical Officers Propose Guideline Project
Episcopal News Service. February 25, 1977 [77070]
PITTSBURGH, Penn. -- Responding to a need for more positive guidelines in ecumenical work, the Episcopal Diocesan Ecumenical Officers have agreed to urge that projects of search and study be carried out over the 1977-79 triennium.
At their annual meeting here in February, the officers proposed a three-part project that will include study of working models, implementation of the Lund Principle of interaction and development of groupings of dioceses to carry on common ecumenical work.
In developing the proposal, the officers noted that there was a need -- especially for those who might be new to ecumenical work -- to have available working models of the variety of ecumenical work such as shared facilities, study programs, eucharistic fellowship, joint parishes, communal baptisms.
In the second part of the project -- referring to the Lund Principle -- the group is working on the endorsement of the 1976 meeting of the General Convention which re-affirmed the Episcopal Church's commitment to the principle urging Christian Churches to act together in all matters except those in which deep differences of conviction or church order compel separate action. A panel will draft proposals for the variety of ways in which both large and small dioceses can implement this principle.
The third part of the project urges groupings of dioceses to examine their portion of the Episcopal Church in light of trends of visible unity among churches, and in explanation of models or problems that may be held in common among the members of the group.
The Rev. John Bonner, chairman of the group and rector of St. Paul's Church, Chattanooga, Tenn., said he hoped that the officers would give thought to holding regional meetings to "test the commitment of our Church to visible unity."
The annual meeting was addressed by the Ven. Bernard Pawley, Archdeacon of Canterbury who spoke of the history of Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue and of the slowly advancing reconciliation of the two communions. Archdeacon Pawley was an official Church of England observer at the Vatican II meetings.
The Episcopal Diocesan Ecumenical Officers were formally organized in 1974 with the primary objective of initiating, supporting and communicating ecumenical activity -- on behalf of the diocesan bishops -- that takes place on diocesan or local levels. This year's annual meeting was held in conjunction with the National Workshop on Christian Unity bringing together ecumenical leadership of eight churches.