Date: 2009-10-20 02:38:26
When I was reading again recently about the history of the ecumenical movement, it struck me how clearly the stages of its development were linked to historical developments.
First, the missionary movement, with the ground-breaking Edinburgh Missionary Conference of 1910, gave impetus to the meeting of churches, not just individual Christians with a common cause.
WWI was barely over when on 10 January 1919 the Holy Synod of the Church of Constantinople (the Ecumenical Patriarchate) decided officially to invite all Christian churches to come together to form a “League [koinonia] of Churches” (at that time the proposed League of Nations was still a symbol of hope). It did so at a time when the emergence of totalitarian regimes in countries like Russia was threatening the secure stance of many Orthodox churches.
At that time the Ecumenical Patriarchate did not know that a world conference on Faith and Order was being planned – they discovered this in April of the same year. The Ecumenical Patriarchate probably did not know either that a Swedish bishop, Nathan Soederblom, was forging plans for an ecumenical council
In hindsight we can see that following the carnage of WWI the strands of ecumenical cooperation that had emerged before the war came together in providential ways. The path was set for the development of an ecumenical movement that embraced a wide range of Protestant churches, the Anglican Church, as well as Orthodox churches – with early collaboration with the Roman Catholic Church, e.g. in Faith and Order, which has continued until today.
A convergence of paths
Why all this detail? Well, it shows how clearly ecumenical endeavour is linked to the context in which Church exists in each era, each culture, each place. Ecumenical longing never arises in a vacuum. It is exciting to see now – so many years later – that the latest meeting of Faith and Order has begun to see convergence in the different strands of its work. A common focus seems to be emerging in the emphasis on the context in which Church is found. This may seem too simple, it may not seem new. We need to wait to see what comes of this intensive and broad process of global consultation.
It is refreshing to know that with Living Church in Rural Queensland – among other projects – churches in Queensland are responding to the promptings of the Spirit in this direction as well.
Today you will see that we cannot ignore our global context, not just the local one. Let us pray for boldness and patience to undertake the hard work of discerning, with the help of the Spirit, what it means to be Church in the face of global poverty and inequality.
Glenine Hamlyn
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26-27 October: The Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland (ECCQ) reminds you to hurry to register for its multicultural summit. Click here for information and registration.
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12 December: join the Walk Against Warming – make this a day of action everywhere, when leaders meet in Copenhagen.
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All are welcome to the annual Multicultural Mass of the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.
