Workshop on Christian Unity Struggles with Ecumenical Issues
Episcopal News Service. June 21, 1990 [90163]
William J. Pugliese, Communications Officer of EDEO
Churches should "stop suppressing" or glossing over some of their disagreements on church polity in order to appeal ecumenical -- and they should begin to renew their moral discourse on some of the major issues facing our society, Dr. Avery Post, former president of the United Church of Christ, told 400 ecumenical leaders at the 27th annual National Workshop on Christian Unity in Pittsburgh held on April 23 to April 26. Post also asserted in his keynote address that the ecumenical movement will move very slowly unless it learns to incorporate some of the energy, vitality, and commitment to causes that often characterizes the young.
Over 80 Episcopal diocesan ecumenical officers met in conjunction with the workshop. Bishop William Lazareth of the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America told a luncheon audience that the differences separating the Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans was more of a hermeneutical or language problem than a doctrinal one. Both Roman Catholic Bishop J. Francis Stafford of Denver and Episcopal Bishop Ted Jones of Indianapolis, chair of the Standing Committee on Ecumenical Relations, agreed that Lazareth's insight could extend the dialogues to newer and higher levels.
The Rev. Stanley White told the story of how he and 220 members of his Assemblies of God congregation joined the Episcopal Church in an Easter Eve confirmation service. White is currently studying for the diaconate and said that he expects to be ordained an Episcopal priest.
Seminars were offered throughout the workshop to help participants better understand various ecumenical issues. The Rev. Leslie Reimer, chaplain to the world-famous transplant unit of University Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, spoke on medical-moral issues. Dean George Werner of Trinity Cathedral in Pittsburgh spoke on ecumenical cooperation in an urban setting. Dean John Rodgers of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry spoke on ecumenism and the Decade of Evangelism.
At the conclusion of the workshop the Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky, an archpriest of the Orthodox Church in America and president of the National Council of Churches, offered a personal perspective on ecumenism, arguing that those interested in ecumenism must focus on "bridging the gap between parish and institution," between people and polity.
Kishkovsky went on to affirm that the ecumenical movement can be reinvigorated by the involvement of each parish and communion. Both those who are professionally involved in ecumenism, and those engaged in the issue in their daily lives, must be involved together in the endeavor so that "they may all be one," the theme of the workshop.
The Rev. Charles Wolmelsdorf, rector of St. Michael and All Angels Church in Lake Charles, Louisiana, was reelected president of the Episcopal Diocesan Ecumenical Officers (EDEO). Next year's meeting will be held on April 15 to April 18 in St. Louis.