The Mission of the Church
Written by QCT Tuesday, 05 October 2010 04:23
The national dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Uniting Church has been steadily progressing over the past five years. The team comprised twelve representatives of the two churches. This dialogue was based in Queensland.
On 29 September 2010 in Brisbane the dialogue team launched their report. It is entitled The Mission of the Church .
Fittingly, the launch took place in the centenary year of the Edinburgh Mission Conference of 1910. Guest speaker Revd David Gill, former General Secretary of the Australian Council of Churches, the National Council of Churches in Australia and of the UCA Assembly, referred to this event at the beginning of his talk.
Due to the seeds of ecumenism planted at the Edinburgh Mission Conference, said Gill, mission became the central theme of ecumenism. The implications of this link were far-reaching. Firstly, he posited, the focus on mission helped to save the ecumenical movement from an "introverted ecclesiasticism". This, however, came at a price: the focus on mission increased the tendency to view ecumenism instrumentally, a problem that is still rife today. Questions such as, "Is ecumenism worthwhile?" reveal an instrumental way of thinking. Costs are weighed against benefits, means against ends.
If we view ecumenism instrumentally, said Gill, we fail to see that "some things transcend calculation." In so saying he was referring to the prayer of Jesus in John 17, in which Jesus prays for the unity of his followers "so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (v.21). Striving for unity should be part of who we are as the Church.
Knowing who we are
It is easy to lose sight of who we are and why we are here, Revd Gill reminded his listeners. The Mission of the Church, he said, reminds us of a key truth, namely, that together we partake in the mission of God (missio Dei).
Referring to the exceptional international interest in the first report of this dialogue, published ten years previously and dealing with the subject of inter-church marriages, Gill expressed hope that the latest dialogue document would also attract international attention, as well as being widely received in Australia.
Gill referred to three aspects of the report in more detail:
- The methodology, he said, was exemplary. The first step had been to identify issues together. Each church then expressed its views on an issue, before the other church commented on these views. In conclusion, common ground was sought. This model, Gill suggested, might be useful if applied to intra-church dialogues as well.
- The report contained reflections of the participants on their learnings as the dialogue progressed. This unusual aspect of the dialogue helps communicate the process to those who were not part of it. Thus when the participants conclude that after much deliberation they see "no substantial differences in our respective ecclesial visions regarding either the missional nature of the church or what constitutes its mission", the road to this conclusion is visible.
- The report was not written in a vacuum but with a mandate from each of the two churches. This context is vital. How will each of the churches be informed and affected by the consensus?
Protestant-Catholic relations
From the report itself, Revd Gill moved on to the broader topic of Protestant-Catholic relationships and offered a number of comments:
- The current discourse surrounding "receptive ecumenism" is to be welcomed. Basically receptive ecumenism shifts the emphasis from what "my" church has to offer others to the gifts that I can receive from those other church. The Uniting Church, Gill suggested provocatively, may need to go back to the encyclical of Pope John Paul II of 1995, Ut unum sint, and consider what would stop it from seeking unity under the Bishop of Rome.
- We need a more self-critical ecumenism: What is it about my tradition that others find difficult?
- We need a more empathetic ecumenism – a journey of the mind and the heart: How can we enter into what it feels like to live the gospel the way another church does?
- We need a more confident ecumenism. We have come so far since 1910, Gill pointed out, and the journey continues.
Click here to read the full text of the talk given by Revd David Gill.
Click here to download the report, The Mission of the Church.
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