K. Albert Little

I love the Evangelical Church.
I loved being an Evangelical.
I cut my teeth as an Evangelical Christian and cut them deep.
I read my Bible, prayed, and worshipped alongside the most devout and wonderful Christians I have ever met. I went overseas, twice, and spent time bringing the Word of God to all kinds of places where I felt it needed to go. I’ve lead small groups, Bible studies, and campus outreaches. I’ve interned and volunteered and was even an incredibly poor worship leader at a middle school youth group.
I wouldn’t trade my Evangelical past for anything but it was in the Catholic Church, ultimately, were I finally found a solution to a broken situation.

Source: K. Albert Little  -  "The Evangelical Church is Broken (A Love Letter)", The Cordial Catholic, Patheos, 8 Feb 2017, http://www.patheos.com/blogs/albertlittle/evangelical-church-broken/

Ann Cogdell

Any service honoring Ann Cogdell is necessarily ecumenical, because her children represent several different streams of the body of Christ.

Source: Fr. Lee Nelson, SSC  -  Memorial service for Ann Cogdell, Christ Church Anglican, Waco Texas

Pope Francis & Argentinian Protestants

Second, he comes with no fear or suspicion of Lutherans but decades of fellowship. In his interview with the Swedish Jesuit journal Signum he spoke of many friendships with Argentine Lutherans -Danish as well as Swedish - with whom he has had sincere exchanges. Traveling with him on the plane today will be one of his oldest non-Catholic friends, the evangelical pastor Marcelo Figueroa.

Source: Austen Ivereigh  -  Crux, "How a restless reforming pope can help heal Reformation rift", 30 Oct 2016, https://cruxnow.com/analysis/2016/10/30/restless-reforming-pope-can-help-heal-reformation-rift/

Gary Kinnaman & the Bishop of Phoenix

I have a friend standing right here, he's a bishop in Phoenix in my city, and I have a feeling that he's going to remain a Catholic the rest of his life.  And I’m going to remain an Evangelical the rest of my life. But last night we had wonderful time just sitting together, just talking about our relationship with God, with Jesus, and how that's ultimately what it means to be a follower of Christ.  We belong to him, He's the center.  And as I said, all these other things are important.  The differences are important.  The differences are what make me unique.  But it's our relationship to Jesus that actually brings all of our uniqueness together. 

Source: Gary Kinnaman  -  "Unity in Diversity", YouTube video by LightBalloon, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1HXZlgjSTQ

Baptists & Catholics In Jail Together

I heard a story — I'm not sure whether this is literally true or not, but some people say it is — in the early days of the prolife movement, about a dozen Southern Baptists and a dozen Roman Catholics were marching together outside an abortion clinic and they got thrown in jail together (for not observing the bubble zone or something), so they shared a common jail cell, about twenty-four people in the same great big cell.  And that night, they didn't sleep; they just prayed and sang hymns together all night.  In the morning, the Baptists went home and asked their family, "Why don't we love Mary like the Catholics do?"  And the Catholics went home and asked their family, "Do you accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior?"  Now that's evangelism of the trenches.  I love it.

Source: Peter Kreeft  -  Conversion to Catholicism, Catholic Education Resource Center, http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/religion-and-philosophy/apologetics/dr-peter-kreeft-s-conversion-to-catholicism-part-2.html

"How can their churches be so beautiful?"

We lived in New Jersey, and we went to New York City a lot as tourists — I'm an only child — with my parents, and we went to St. Patrick's Cathedral, just to see it, and I'd never seen anything like that before.  I was stunned.  It was just like the gate of heaven.  It was a different kind of beauty.  I said to myself, this is the most beautiful piece of architecture I've ever seen in my life.  And I turned to my father and I said, "Dad, this is a Catholic church, isn't it?"  And he said, "Yes."  And I said, "The Catholics are wrong, aren't they?" And he said, "Oh, yes, of course;  they're very, very wrong."  And then I said, "Then how can their churches be so beautiful?"  And it was the first time in my life that my father didn't have any answer to a question at all;  he was just stumped.  I saw the confusion on his face.  I think I was at the time much more scandalized by the fact that my hitherto-infallible father didn't have the answer to a very simple question than my doubts that the Catholic Church was as bad as I had thought it.  Well, sermons in stone: You can argue with thoughts;  you can't argue with beauty.

Source: Peter Kreeft  -  Conversion to Catholicism, Catholic Education Resource Center, http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/religion-and-philosophy/apologetics/dr-peter-kreeft-s-conversion-to-catholicism-part-1.html

Bonhoeffer

Since his student days in Berlin, Bonhoeffer had been deeply involved in the emerging ecumenical movement, especially through the group called the World Alliance for Promoting International Friendship Through the Churches. With some exceptions (the great Dominican Yves Congar being one), most Roman Catholics stood aloof from such movements. Bonhoeffer had been attracted to aspects of the Catholic Church since his first visit to St. Peter’s in Rome in 1924. He was also familiar with the Una Sancta movement, an effort to overcome confessional divisions through the renewal of faith among both German Protestants and Catholics, to establish “fraternity in Christ across all barriers.” While Bonhoeffer appreciated this effort, he had reservations about it. His main concern was not the goal, which he shared, but the lack of theological clarity. Without such clarity, he believed, no enduring unity could be built.

Source: Timothy George  -  "Bonhoeffer at Ettal: Advent", First Things, 12 Dec 2016, https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2016/12/bonhoeffer-at-ettal-advent-1940

Amy's Story

I believe we are living in remarkable days.  God is sharing his pain over division in the Church with many, both the great and the small.  Already I can see fruit.  Christians join together for prayer, dialogue and works of mercy in many places.  Still, I believe there is a greater glory to be revealed, the glory which Jesus prayed for His last night on earth.  The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one. (John 17:22)

I want to share a memorable chapter in my story.  It began on a remarkable day, a day still vivid in my memory.

It was 2:00 am and I was pacing my dining room floor.  I had spent the entire day in a state of shock, though I could not understand why the events of the day had shaken me so.  In the morning I had felt impressed to call an old college friend, my freshman roommate.  I had planned to convey a simple message, but as we talked, God began opening me up and I found myself telling Margaret about some dreams I had been having.  One specific dream was set in my hometown Church of Christ, only worship in the church was nothing like I remembered. In my dream women played guitars  (which was forbidden in my conservative church), the pastor had long hair, and most shocking of all, he had invited a young Catholic woman to preach!  In the church of my youth, women were never allowed to preach and Catholics were not even considered Christian.

Another dream I had was set in a church that felt entirely foreign.  I saw men in black robes with long beards, speaking a language I did not recognize until I heard them chant “Kyrie Eleison.” While I did not understand these dreams fully, I knew they were a vision of increased unity in the worldwide Body of Christ.
After I had told Margaret my dreams, she turned the tables. “Amy,” she ventured tentatively. “I’ve been having dreams too, dreams about you.  I’ve been dreaming that we are sharing the Eucharist.  All these years I have been aching to ask you, why aren’t you Catholic?”

I was stunned. Margaret’s tenderness touched me deeply.  Something about her words stirred an ache in my gut, a longing for something unknown.  Yet part of me felt offended.  After all, I was the elder sister in the faith!  I had been a Christian for years before she had her conversion in college.  Such thoughts had to be nipped in the bud.  “Margaret,” I answered. “Your dream is beautiful. I know we are sisters in Christ, but I could never be Catholic because I don’t believe many teachings of the Catholic Church.”  She apologized for saying anything, and we hung up, both shaken.

I spent the rest of the day in a fog, recalling our conversation.  When my children finally went to bed, I took my Bible and read these words from Ezekiel, “Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, and I will put them with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”’  I wondered if this Old Testament promise to Israel and Judah was also God’s heart for Protestants and Catholics.  I prayed for God to bind Protestants and Catholics together again, but still I felt no peace.  Because I could not sleep, I paced the floor.
About 2:00 am, a sudden, overwhelming physical pain hit my chest.  I fell to the floor with my hands over my heart groaning, “Thank you, Jesus.  Thank you, Jesus!”  I knew that my Lord was sharing something precious with me, an intimacy deeper than I had ever known.  He was allowing me to experience His pain over division in the Church – a pain like the pain of divorce, but deeper and broader, as only Christ’s heart could bear.

Until that night I had no idea that Christian division caused our Lord such pain.  I had always assumed that our differences were a small matter in God’s eyes.  Though I had little hope that we Christians could come to unity on earth, I was blissfully certain that God would work everything out in heaven.   Now God had called me out of complacency.  I knew He wanted me to pray with Him for His followers to be one as Jesus and the Father and the Spirit were one.

I took up this call only to discover God’s interruption of my life was not finished.  Quite unexpectedly, I found myself drawn to the Catholic Church just down the street in my neighborhood.  It was not a matter of dissatisfaction with my own church.  I loved our charismatic, evangelical church!  Even so, the pull I felt towards the Catholic parish down the street was strong and mysterious. 

One day, when I could resist no longer, I showed up for morning mass planning to hide in the back as an observer.  As it happened, there was no place for a blonde woman in her early 30’s to hide.  Daily mass was held in a small side chapel that held no more than twenty people. The average parishioner’s age was about 65.  Everyone was Hispanic except for me.  The mass was in Spanish, and I spoke no Spanish.  Nor was I the least bit familiar with the liturgy.  I didn’t know when to stand, when to kneel, how to make the gestures everyone else was making.  When mass was over, I ran home and cried.  Then I got up the next week and did it again, and again, and again.
After a few weeks of sporadic attendance, I thought I should meet the parish priest and explain my presence.  I planned to ask if I could offer some service to the parish – rides for the elderly, meals for the sick, or some other quiet, practical help. When I left the priest’s office, I found myself on the leadership team of the parish youth group despite my protestations that I was a Protestant and probably should not be teaching young Catholics.

During the next few months, I fell in love with my new Catholic family.  I met some of the kindest, most holy, most sacrificial people I had ever known.  I read Catholic theology voraciously.  I peppered my friend Margaret with all sorts of doctrinal questions.  And I repented for the arrogance and ignorance that had shaped my attitude toward the Catholic Church.

One day as I was reflecting on some passage by a Catholic author, my husband asked, “You aren’t seriously considering becoming Catholic, are you?”  Needing wisdom quickly, I prayed.  It was true that my heart was drawn to the Catholic Church, but I also loved my Protestant family.  More important than any personal desire was the unity of our family, and the honor I both owed and felt toward my husband.  “Thomas,” I answered. “I am not seriously considering doing anything you could not bless with your whole heart.”

Several months later, hidden away in a thousand-year-old church in Switzerland, Thomas gave me his full blessing.   During an afternoon of silent prayer, we both felt released to walk together as a Protestant/Catholic couple, living in the tension of a union which is true and deep and beautiful already, but incomplete.  We long for the day when we can share communion again.  Even more, we long for the return of our Lord who will “make all things new.”  Until then, we pray with Jesus that all Christians “may be perfected in unity so that the world may know Him.”

Source: Wittenberg 2017  -  "Amy's Story", from the Wittenberg 2017 (US) website
http://www.wittenberg2017.us/amys-story.html

French Catholics & Evangelicals

In writing to a knowledgeable observer of the French Catholic scene that the emphasis on personal conversion through simple faith in Jesus was at least an “allowable minority position” within Catholicism, he responded: “I would go even farther than you do in one respect. My conversations with priests and Catholic theologians in France bring me to believe that the necessity for a personal faith commitment on the part of the baptized is the overwhelming majority position for French Catholic clergy! This is what is continually being taught to the faithful by their parish priests in the homilies that are being presented during the baptisms of infants. Hence, you might want to add to your arguments that on a pastoral level, the teaching of the Catholic Church (at least in France, an overwhelmingly Catholic country) also favors an evangelical view. Again, I have yet in my encounters with Catholic priests and theologians for the past 20+ years in France, to find someone who holds to or teaches a pure (in the sense of excluding the necessity of a personal faith commitment to Christ) ‘baptismal regeneration’ doctrine.  I would say that on the ‘ground level’ Roman Catholicism in France is very friendly to the evangelical emphasis on the necessity of a personal acceptance of Jesus-Christ as Lord and Savior to enter into the fullness of life in Christ that their baptism experience anticipated.”

Source: David E. Bjork, Ph.D.  -  BJORK, D., in a 2004 personal email Re: Your chapters and my paper, to Paul M. as quoted in footnote 45 of "Evangelicals Cooperatively Evangelising & Discipling with Catholics in Faithfulness to Evangelical Distinctives", by Paul M.

The Parents of Peter Kreeft

Though my doubts were all resolved and the choice was made in 1959, my senior year at Calvin, actual membership came a year later, at Yale. My parents were horrified, and only gradually came to realize I had not lost my head or my soul, that Catholics were Christians, not pagans. It was very difficult, for I am a shy and soft-hearted sort, and almost nothing is worse for me than to hurt people I love. I think that I hurt almost as much as they did. But God marvelously binds up wounds.

Source: Peter Kreeft  -  Hauled aboard the Ark, http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/hauled-aboard.htm

Pope Francis

"Mateo Calisi…developed contacts in Argentina with local Evangelical and Pentecostal leaders, with whom a new body was formed; the movement known as CRECES (literally, Renewed Communion of Catholics and Evangelicals in the Holy Spirit). From the beginning, Catholic archbishop of Buenos Aries, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, SJ, now Pope Francis, supported CRECES. Cardinal Bergoglio played a regular part in CRECES gatherings, and was prayed over by leading Pentecostal pastors.... Pope Francis is the first bishop of Rome to have had regular and warm relationships with Evangelical and Pentecostal leaders. This closeness is reflected in the welcome given to Cardinal Bergoglio's election as bishop of Rome by a leading Argentinian Pentecostal, Dr. Norberto Saracco: 'Bergoglio is a man of God. He is passionate for the unity of the church—but not just at the institutional level. His priority is unity at the level of the people.'"

Source: Fr. Peter Hocken  -  Pentecost and Parousia, p. 69

Gary Kinnaman

Our John 17 Movement has sprouted in NYC, where we held an advent worship event last fall, and in Houston, where the cardinal, bishops, priests and Protestant pastors have been gathering for fellowship and prayer.

On June 10, at the invitation of the Vatican, seven prominent evangelical pastors from Phoenix and many others from Portland, Salem, LA, Denver, NYC and Richmond spent two hours with Pope Francis. We worshipped, prayed, and asked him prepared questions. He’s invited us back for similar meetings.

Some years ago I launched a fellowship of the pastors of the largest churches in Phoenix. We/they have been meeting regularly now for more than 10 years. Bill Hybels met with them two years ago and told them he had never seen that level of friendship and collaboration among influential pastor in any city in North America. This week they are gathering for their eighty annual summit. Several of these pastors were with us in Rome and have invited Joe Tosini to the retreat to talk about our extraordinary movement.

Source: Gary Kinnaman  -  Presented during Movement Day NYC, representing the John 17 movement and Greater Phoenix and Arizona Catholic/Evangelical Bridges, as posted on the John 17 FB page on 1 November 2016.

Verena's Story

My name is Verena Lang.  I live in Austria.   My journey to reconciliation has been long and arduous.  How could it not be when you have to confront the history that I have?  A history that includes confusing and condemning messages about God and the church.  A history where I had to confront the fact that my father was a leading Nazi during World War II.  A history where I was led to enter into the pain of my Jewish friends who lost loved ones in the Holocaust.  A history that now leads me to be involved in the work of reconciliation between Catholics, Protestants and Free churches.

I was born in Salzburg in 1944. My faith journey began with a confusing, inaccurate, and limited view of God.  My father was a Catholic and my mother was a Protestant. Both of my parents left the church before my birth.  Therefore I was not baptized as a child.  My parents told me that I could choose any denomination that I wanted. From my mother I was told that in the Old Testament you find cruel stories of an angry God.  From my father I was told that Jesus was a good man but he is not God and was not a Jew.

When I attended high school I was part of a class with Protestant girls.  I often say they put all us heretics together, because Austria, at that time, was 80% Catholic.   Due to the Counter Reformation, Protestants were said to be heretics in Austria. To spend time with my Protestant girlfriends helped me to eliminate any fear of contact with Protestants or members of Free churches.

It is interesting that in my schooling I was drawn to study history, culminating in a PHD in the subject.  The historical period I was most drawn to was the period between World War I and World War II.  This was the period where my father was involved in the politics of Austria. There is a character in James Joyce’s novel, Ulysses, that states: “History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.”  These words resonate with me and my story.  I had a lot of “awakening” to do, personally and spiritually. 
 
​Following the end of World War II, Austria, like Germany, was divided into four parts (one part each ruled by the Americans, the British, the French, and the Russians).  I was brought up in the zone occupied by the Americans. As a child we were told all Nazis were criminals. How do you reconcile this when your father was a Nazi?   How do you live with a deep love for your father and at the same time live in a society that tells you he is a criminal?  These questions were too painful to confront. So I hid the story of my father being a leading Nazi.  Yet, amidst the hiding, I was always searching for the truth.  My study of history helped me to further “awakenings” even after the death of my father.  We can feel imprisoned by history, but we can also be liberated through studying and engaging with history. 
 
Following my studies, my husband and I moved to Wieselburg, a little town in the east of Austria. At that time I was asked to sing in the masses of the Catholic Church. I did this also in Salzburg in the Protestant Church because I liked to sing. After eight years of singing in the Catholic Church in Wieselburg, a surprising event took place.  It happened on a Holy Thursday.  I was not in a crisis at the time, nor was I seeking after God.  Yet God touched my heart with the words of the liturgy: “Do this in remembrance of me.”  These words, along with God touching my heart, were the beginning of a profound conversion where I received deep healing over several years.

When I surrendered my life to God it was as if he took an eraser to eliminate all the negative and condemning thoughts that I had accumulated from my parents as a child -- all the bad thoughts, all the lies about Jews, all the conflicting words about God.  I received a lot of love from Jesus and was healed from anxiety about death. Today I am fully awake to all the healing I experienced and know that my healing has been a gift from God to help me endure what was to come.

After some years I fell into a big crisis. Deep feelings, that I had long suppressed, came out as sadness and anger.   I felt I had to finally confront all the evil things that took place during Nazi rule and the involvement of my father. This proved to be a time of purification and a time for me to mature in my Christian life.

It took me a decade until I could come to the decision: I will forgive my father.  Later, still, I came to forgive my mother (who I had learned had abandoned me for a period as a child).  The power of forgiveness freed me from a tremendous amount of pain I had been living with.  When I said to God: “I forgive my mother for leaving me because she did not know what she was doing,” I was healed from 45 years of chronic back pain.

God continued to lead me into expanding forgiveness. Years ago, my husband and I attended a big Christian conference in Rome.  One day the conference celebrated a mass of reconciliation between European nations.  Following the celebration we had lunch.  At the lunch I sat next to a lady from Israel, a Jewish woman who had lost all her relatives in the Holocaust. She had originally come from Germany. I listened to her story and experienced a deep sadness about it.  I felt led to say to her: “Mrs. Kleinberger, my father was a Nazi and on behalf of my father and my country, I ask you for forgiveness for what the Nazis did to your family.” A long silence followed. Then she did something astounding, something transformative.  Mrs. Kleinberger wept and embraced me and said to me: “ In Christ we are one.”

This transforming idea of “in Christ we are one” continues in my life today.  Years ago my husband and I were invited to the “Round Table – Way of Reconciliation”.  The Round Table is a fellowship of leaders of all denominations and churches in Austria, including Catholics, Protestants, Pentecostals, Free churches, Anglicans, and Orthodox. Fifty years ago it would have been impossible to think that members of all these churches and denominations could sit together around a round table and begin to respect and love one other.  Our individual and church histories had all convinced us that we alone were in possession of the truth and the others were wrong.  For 400 years Austria was a predominantly Catholic country because our rulers – the Habsburg families – were Catholic.  All non-Catholics were said to be heretics. The split in the church created a tragic divide.  We have to learn that we have a common history and that God is a God of history. 

The Bible tells us to: Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations (Deuteronomy 32:7).   I was forced to do this when I was asked to prepare a paper for a Conference on the common history of the Catholic and Protestant church.  Through this experience God was encouraging me and moving me to further “awakenings” and to deeper involvement in the reconciliation between the different parts of the Body of Christ.  This has led me to become active in the important work of Wittenberg 2017.  I am convinced that the principles of reconciliation that guide Wittenberg 2017 are important to give our attention to and hold the promise of leading us to greater unity among the Body of Christ.   Among the Principles, the following stand out to me:

Divisions weaken the Church universal.
The Church universal should feel the pain of her divisions and grieve them.
Grieving requires memory and emotion and we should pray for reconciliation and unity.
Any division can be healed and reconciled with the power of God.

These Principles have proven true in my journey of forgiveness and reconciliation.  They have been true in my family’s life.  Because of this I am convinced that God can do his work of forgiveness and reconciliation in the divided Church. This is my prayer and my hope.

Source: Wittenberg 2017  -  "Verena's Story", from the Wittenberg 2017 (US) website
http://www.wittenberg2017.us/verenas-story.html

The Archbishop of Atlanta

Beginning in 1908, Christians have observed an annual time to pray for the ultimate gift of full unity. The observance began in New York with Episcopalians and Catholics and has since developed into a worldwide octave of Prayer for Christian Unity. The octave concludes with the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on Jan. 25. This year, I shared in the ecumenical prayer service at Emory University on Jan. 24 and joined my voice with those Christians of other denominations asking the Lord to heal our divisions and in His grace and time to unite us more perfectly in Christ Jesus.

I hope that many such opportunities for ecumenical prayer and fellowship will connect the communities of the Archdiocese of Atlanta with our Christian neighbors and friends. We have recently made great progress in learning how to care for one another with greater mutual respect and affection.



Source: Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory  -  The Georgia Bulletin, "The love of Christ compels us to reconcile", 26 Jan 2017, https://georgiabulletin.org/commentary/2017/01/love-christ-compels-us-reconcile/ (ALSO IN SPANISH at https://georgiabulletin.org/commentary/2017/01/el-amor-de-cristo-nos-apremia-reconciliarnos/?lang=es)

An Ecumenical Story from .... Cosmo?

My name is Carmen Briceno, but everyone calls me China (sounds like "cheenuh"). I'm 35 years old, the daughter of a diplomat, and I was born in Venezuela but have lived in United States for most of my life.

Growing up, I was what you might call a "cradle Catholic" — my family went to Mass every Sunday, but we weren't incredibly religious, more culturally Catholic. I didn't have a deeply personal relationship with God in any sense. It wasn't until later, as a young adult, when my faith became my own and I allowed God to change my life.

When I moved to Virginia as a young adult, I got into volleyball — which, in a way, paved my way toward God. While playing, I met a Christian girl. She was my first non-Catholic friend. She wasn't pushy and never tried to get me to convert. Instead, she was instrumental in demonstrating to me what a relationship with God could really be like, because in her I saw a deep, tangible love and a personal connection to Jesus Christ. Watching Jesus alive in her, I thought, That. I want that.

She brought to light some of the answers to questions I never knew I had. When she asked me about my relationship with God, I truly had no idea how to answer. When you're not questioned about your faith, you may not know the depth of what you're missing. Around that time, I also met a priest, Father Juan, who met with me regularly and explained so many things about faith and the Bible to me. So through these two blossoming friendships, my faith was deepened or, in many ways, awakened.

In 2005, I got the opportunity to go to Cologne, Germany, with 20 other young adults, led by Father Juan, for International World Youth Day. It was a powerful week of prayer, service, and fellowship with the Pope. I'd never seen anything like it; people were on fire for God and were not afraid to express it.

There, I felt the first inkling of what would become my vocation. I felt the Lord speak to me in prayer about my relationship with Him — and, no, it's not a dramatic audible voice or anything like that! He simply said to me: You've given time to other boyfriends, but have you ever thought about me? How about you give me a chance? I had to listen. I had to give him the chance.
...
After World Youth Day, my faith was set ablaze, and I was thirsting to know more about what the Lord was asking of me.

Source: Carmen Briceno  -  As told to Lisa Marie Basile in Cosmopolitan magazine, "I Am Happily Married to God — as a Consecrated Virgin", 12 Sept 2016, http://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a63987/married-to-god-consecrated-virgin/