With the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, Western missionaries began flooding the former Soviet Union, Romania and other Eastern European bloc countries, often without consultation with existing Evangelical communities in those countries. Partly in response to this wave of Evangelical missions, a new paradigm of ecumenical relations emerged among professional theologians in America when the Society for the Study of Eastern Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism (SSEOE) was formed in 1990. Comparative theology, spirituality and missions formed the focus of the organization whose archives are now housed in Asbury Theological Seminary. In 1997, the World Council of Churches (WCC) began its first series of international dialogues between the Orthodox and Evangelical communities over concerns regarding Evangelical proselytism in Russia and Eastern Europe but also shared concerns regarding perceived theological trends within the WCC itself. Publications include Proclaiming Christ Today: Orthodox-Evangelical Consultation (1995); and Turn to God, Rejoice in Hope (1998). From 2000 to 2006, a second series of seminars resulted in the publication of Building Bridges: Between the Orthodox and Evangelical Traditions (2012). Theological and missiological subjects were explored, but financial constraints eventually ended these gatherings. In 2001, the Evangelical Alliance in the UK published Evangelicalism and the Orthodox Church. This was produced by a group of Evangelical and Orthodox theologians whose goal was to lay a foundation for mutual understanding by comparing and contrasting Orthodox and Evangelical beliefs and practices.
Since then, the main ongoing exchange between Orthodox and Evangelicals has been that initiated in 2010 by leaders within the Lausanne Movement and the Oriental and Eastern Orthodox churches, which resulted in the formation of the Lausanne-Orthodox Initiative. Unlike other dialogues, this focuses on exploring how the two traditions can co-operate in the mission of God. A selection of past presentations appears in The Mission of God: Studies in Orthodox and Evangelical Mission (2015). However, in spite of all the work that has been done, there remains scope for further scholarly investigation: for example, few regional studies have examined areas outside the Anglophone world, or the political and legal aspects of relationships between these traditions.
Source: Tim Grass - "Call for Papers: : Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism in Global Perspective" email sent out to the Yale-Edinburgh Group by Brad Nassif & Tim Grass of the Lausanne-Orthodox dialogue, 30 July 2020
World Prayer Together, 2020
The event itself (World Prayer Together) was very much led by the Holy Spirit in the direction of repentance and reconciliation, quite in accord with the mission of CTR, Wittenberg 2017 and even TJCII, which was in and of itself a beautiful thing. What I found especially moving were the prayers of Indians, asking for forgiveness for exporting idol worship into the whole world, Kenyans, repenting for squandering their own natural resources and foreign aid donated to their country, and American Indians for worshipping nature and for harboring bitterness toward Europeans. The three and three-quarters hours Saturday brought into focus the different sin struggles of whole nations and cultures around the world, and how the Holy Spirit is bringing conviction in different areas.
Source: John Martin - Personal email, 21 Sept 2020
Thomas Howard
Some years later when [Thomas Howard] entered the [Catholic] Church, he lost the job [at Gordon College]. When he delivered his resignation letter to the president’s secretary and walked back upstairs to his office, he’d barely sat down when she knocked on the door and handed him the president’s acceptance. It was a don’t let the door hit you on the backside on the way out gesture. We lived nearby then and knew the college. Insiders told me the donors would not tolerate a Catholic on the faculty, and there was never any chance the college would keep him.
Source: David Mills - "RIP Thomas Howard: 1935-2020", Catholic Herald, 15 October 2020
https://catholicherald.co.uk/ch/rip-thomas-howard-1935-2020/
Cuthbert the Bridge-Builder
The Lindisfarne Gospels were created on Holy Island by Eadfrith, Bishop of Lindisfarne, 1300 years ago, to honour the memory of Cuthbert, born the year Aidan settled on Holy Island. As Cuthbert grew up and entered monastic life, Aidan sent the brothers Cedd and Chad on successful apostolic missions to the East Saxons (Essex) and the Mercians (the Midlands). Cuthbert became prior at Lindisfarne in 664, the year of the fateful Synod of Whitby when Rome demanded–and acquired–dominance over the independent and decentralised Celtic church.
Cuthbert the bridge-builder accepted the Whitby ruling. He stressed unity with diversity as he worked to reform the community and gained a widespread reputation as a holy man and worker of miracles. When the island was abandoned in face of the Viking threat, Cuthbert’s body and the Gospels crafted in his memory began an eventful journey ending 120 years later in Durham.
The Gospels richly embody Cuthbert’s emphasis on diversity in unity. Breath-taking in detail, colour and ornate design, the Gospels weave elements of book-making, ornamentation, script, illustration, theme and symbolism not only from the Irish Celtic and Roman traditions that were fused at Whitby, or from the scribe’s Anglo-Saxon roots. Experts have also identified elements from Coptic, Byzantine, Oriental and British Celtic sources.
The story of Lindisfarne and of the Gospels inspire many today to pray and strive towards a weaving together of God-given strands of spirituality which over time have become separated.
Source: Jeff Fountain - "The Book That Made Britain", Weekly Word eNewsletter, 27 July 2020
https://us9.campaign-archive.com/?e=0b86898e11&u=65605d9dbab0a19355284d8df&id=f4d0087745
"So, where is the music?"
Yet another Christmas event proved to be an eye-opener for me personally. I was asked to be co-director of an ecumenical service. The other director was from Church in the Round, the large Church of God in Christ congregation. We invited all the choirs in town to participate. Those who rallied to the call were St. Titus Roman Catholic Church, Church in the Round, and our folk from Celebration / All Saints [Episcopal].
On the first night of rehearal the Roman Catholics were asking, "So, where is the music?" I was circulating the printed songs as they spoke. The African American folk from Church in the Round were asking, "So, where's the music. Sing us a tune." I realized they could have cared less about what was on a piece [of] paper being passed around. For them, the music was in the air ... Sing it, please. Being all things to all people took on new meaning for me that Christmas.
Once again, music seemed to unite where systems failed; people from radically different backgrounds could sing the same song together - to the glory of God. Again NBC showed up to film this ecumenical event.
Source: Betty Pulkingham - "This Is My Story, This Is My Song", Ch. 19, p. 183
The 7 Ecumenical Councils
In 325, the first Ecumenical Church Council, convened by emperor Constantine, was held in Nicea’s emperor’s palace. In 381, the second Ecumenical Church Council, convened by emperor Theodosius I, was held in Constantinople’s Church of Holy Peace (Hagia Sophia). In 431, the third Ecumenical Church Council, convened by emperor Theodosius II, was held in Ephesus’ Church of Mary. In 449, an unofficial church council, later called the “Gangster Council,” convened by emperor Theodosius II, was held in Ephesus’ Church of Mary. In 451, the fourth Ecumenical Church Council, convened by emperor Marion, was held in Chalcedon’s Church of Saint Euphemia. In 553, the fifth Ecumenical Church Council, convened by emperor Justinian, was held in Constantinople’s Church of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia). In 680-681, the sixth Ecumenical Church Council, convened by emperor Constantine IV, was held in Constantinople’s Church of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia). In 787, the seventh Ecumenical Church Council, convened by emperor Constantine VI and his mother, Irene, was held in Nicea’s Church of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia).
...
Today, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant churches generally accept the doctrinal conclusions of these councils, which defined the true (orthodox) Christian faith.
Source: Dr. Andrew Jackson - "The Ecumenical Church Councils of the Early Church (325-787)"
https://www.drandrewjackson.com/the-ecumenical-church-of-councils-of-the-early-church-325-787/
"That's All I Needed To Hear"
I simply said, “I really failed you during the reorganization. I should have come and talked to you right away. My absence and silence must have hurt you deeply. I have no excuse or explanation. I failed you as a manager and I failed you as a friend. I was wrong, and I’m so very sorry. Can you please forgive me?”
His eyes softened as he said, “That’s all I needed to hear. I know you didn’t mean to let me down, but it helps to hear you admit you did. Jesus has forgiven me far worse things, so yes, I gladly forgive you. This is behind us; let’s move on.”
And that was the end of it. No explanation. No excuses. Grace flowed. We were back on course. Ministering together better than ever.
Simple, sincere confessions, without excuses … a great way to take hold of the promise:
“He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Prov. 28:13).
Source: Ken Sande - "No Excuses", RW360 blog post, 11 Feb 2019
https://rw360.org/2019/02/11/no-excuses-2/
"Reunion with Catholics Inevitable"
According to a new report from the Union of Orthodox Journalists, during his trip to Mt. Athos the previous month, Pat. Bartholomew attempted to convince several Athonite abbots and monks that there are no dogmatic differences between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, and that reunion with the Catholic church is inevitable.
Pat. Bartholomew expressed his personal convictions during a private talk at Pantocrator Monastery with the brethren and guests of the monastery, including other Athonite abbots. Eyewitnesses report that Pat. Bartholomew’s security did not allow anyone to record the conversation.
In his opinion, the division that now exists between Orthodoxy and Catholicism is merely a matter of historical events, not dogmatic differences.
Catholics “are just as Christian as we are,” Pat. Bartholomew emphasized, adding that the recent gift of the relics of St. Peter from Pope Francis is proof of the Catholic church’s nearness to Orthodoxy.
Source: OrthoChristian.Com - "Patriarch Bartholomew tells Athonites reunion with Catholics is inevitable, reports UOJ", Mt. Athos, November 27, 2019
https://orthochristian.com/125924.html
A Protestant Learns About Greek Orthodoxy
Greek Orthodoxy has always been a bit of a mystery to me, and I wanted to get a clearer sense of what it's all about so I drove down to the Assumption Cathedral in Denver, Colorado and spent the morning getting answers straight from the source. Huge thanks to Father Chris Margaritis for taking the time to hang out!
Source: The Ten Minute Bible Hour (Youtube channel) - "A Protestant Learns About Greek Orthodoxy", video published on Feb 10, 2019
Expansion of Signatories to the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
The five signatories of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) looked toward a future “realizing a deeper communion towards the full visible unity of the church and to make manifest the growth in communion which we have already been experiencing.”
“In a broken, violent and fearful world, it is urgent that the church bear witness to the possibility of unity and reconciliation and manifest the courage to stand together in works of proclamation, justice and compassion,” said Anna Case-Winters, a member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) delegation to a consultation of the JDDJ communions, held 26-28 March 2019 on the campus of Notre Dame University (Indiana, USA).
Originally signed by leaders of the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the JDDJ has since been broadened to include the World Methodist Council, the Anglican Communion and the WCRC, all of which agree on the core message of salvation in and through Christ.
...
“The JDDJ has formed the basis of a new orientation to one another. We no longer begin from the place of division, but of unity,” said Case-Winters. “We no longer look for what is lacking in one another but rather look for the distinctive gifts we each bring.”
Source: Phil Tanis - "JDDJ signatories look toward common future", World Communion of Reformed Churches, Posted on April 1, 2019
http://wcrc.ch/news/jddj-signatories-look-toward-common-future
Mark Rutte, Premier of the Netherlands
The speaker was none other than Mark Rutte, now the premier of the Netherlands for over ten years. What did the church mean for us in these difficult days? he asked, answering with the word: ‘Togetherness’. What really counted in life? he continued. Not ‘more, more, more’, or ‘me, me, me’ but togetherness, ‘doing unto others what you would have them do to you’.
Reading Paul’s words from Romans 12, Rutte defined the good life as life in the service of the will of God – ‘his good, pleasing and perfect will’ – and not being conformed to the pattern of this world. In other words, he said, not going along with the crowd, as exemplified by Luther who stood for his convictions.
The corona crisis had confronted us with our smallness, the premier admitted, citing a fisherman’s prayer which John F. Kennedy had hung in the Oval Office: ‘O God, Thy sea is so great and my boat is so small.’ Which was why we needed each other, and the church, he stressed. For in church we were not alone, we were together. And that was something we could not hear often enough.
Source: Jeff Fountain - "Togetherness", Weekly Word eNewsletter for 2 Nov 2020
https://us9.campaign-archive.com/?e=0b86898e11&u=65605d9dbab0a19355284d8df&id=cdb1197607
Lewis & Augustine
I love somebody like C. S. Lewis whom almost all evangelical Protestants love, and almost all faithful Roman Catholics love. St. Augustine's another one; Catholics and Protestants both love him.
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
Pelikan's Phrase
In 1959, on the eve of the Second Vatican Council, [Jaroslav Pelikan] coined another phrase of continuing relevance when he wrote of “the tragic necessity of the Reformation.”
That phrase appeared in a book titled The Riddle of Roman Catholicism, published while Pelikan was still a Lutheran. Much later in his life, in 1998, he was received into the fellowship of the Orthodox Church in America. This decision represented an Eastward tilt in Pelikan’s own spirituality that had been long in the making. But he continued to believe that the great religious upheaval in the Christian West at the dawn of the modern era had involved both the necessity of reform and a division at once scandalous and tragic.
Source: Timothy George - First Things, "The Reformation: A Tragic Necessity", 11 July 2016, https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2016/07/the-reformation-a-tragic-necessity
To Find the Wounded Heart
Source: Wittenberg 2017 - "Sr. Joela's Story", from the Wittenberg 2017 (US) website
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
Honored by the Queen
An English Jesuit who left his order to become a diocesan priest in Northern Ireland has been honored by England’s Queen Elizabeth II for his services to a community wrought by sectarian violence.
Father Paul Symonds, a priest of the Belfast-based Diocese of Down and Connor, has served for four years in Ballymena, a predominantly Protestant town known for anti-Catholic sectarianism. Father Symonds is especially known for his work with Catholics and Protestants in Ballymena’s Harryville section, where Catholics have been subjected to sustained campaigns of intimidation. As recently as the summer of 2005, Masses at Our Lady the Mother of Christ Church in Harryville were canceled because of such intimidation.
Source: Catholic Review - "English priest receives awards for work in Northern Ireland", 5 Jan 2008, http://www.catholicreview.org/article/faith/vocations/english-priest-receives-award-for-work-in-northern-ireland
Reflection ... Action ... Prayer - from A2J
Reflection
When I was in college I had several confusing and painful experiences with Christians from a particular tradition that caused me to be judgmental and closed off to this tradition. It took some time but God has redeemed these painful experiences and I now have wonderful friends who are part of this tradition and have received the gifts and strengths of this tradition I once rejected
Action:
Think of an experience in your life when you had an encounter with a brother or sister from another Christian tradition that you dismissed in your heart because they were ‘different’. Ask God for forgiveness for any critical and competitive attitudes towards other Christian traditions and other brothers and sisters. Ask God whom He might want you to receive that until now you have kept at a distance.
Prayer:
O God the Father of all, you ask every one of us to spread love and reconciliation where people are divided You open this way for us, so that the wounded body of Jesus Christ, your church, may be leaven of communion for the poor of the earth and in the whole human family. Amen
-Brother Roger (founder of Taize)
Source: A2J Community - Apprenticeship to Jesus Community, Phoenix, Blog Post "Unity Week Devotion - Day 1", 18 Jan 2016, http://www.a2jphoenix.org/blog/unity-week-devotion-day-1
Pastors Praying Together ... in Steyr, Austria
Source: Wittenberg 2017 - "Franz's Story", from the Wittenberg 2017 (US) website
The Lutheran Sisters of Mary
Source: Wittenberg 2017 - "The Lutheran Sisters' Story", from the Wittenberg 2017 (US) website
Note: Sr. Damiana, who is in this video, died last year and is now with her Bridegroom in glory
Jeff Fountain - Son of a Baptist Elder
The Charismatic movement brought renewal to mainstream Protestant churches beginning in the 1960’s. My family was involved in the very beginning of this charismatic movement in New Zealand. My father, a Baptist elder, led a prayer meeting every Friday night in our home that was packed with people from across our city from all denominations. When Catholics too began being ‘filled with the Spirit’ and calling themselves Pentecostal Catholics, our horizons were being truly stretched beyond our denominational prejudices and our wildest dreams!
Source: Jeff Fountain - "The Hope Of Pentecost", Weekly Word eNewsletter, 5 June 2017, http://us9.campaign-archive2.com/?e=0b86898e11&u=65605d9dbab0a19355284d8df&id=2f143ac9e0