Council Of Church Research Articles

The Oxford Handbook of Ecumenical Studies ed. by Geoffrey Wainwright and Paul McPartlan

Reviewed by: The Oxford Handbook of Ecumenical Studies ed. by Geoffrey Wainwright and Paul McPartlan H. George Anderson The Oxford Handbook of Ecumenical Studies. Edited by Geoffrey Wainwright and Paul McPartlan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021. xvii + 686 pp. The ecumenical movement is one of the two Christian renewal movements of the twentieth century. It already has its own Dictionary (1993) and a three-volume History (1986, 2004), so what can a "Handbook" provide? The Oxford University Press Handbook series aims to give "authoritative and up-to-date surveys of original research" by "leading figures in the discipline" who offer "critical examinations of the progress and direction of debates, as well as a foundation for future research." I can only say "mission accomplished." The forty-two authors are a galaxy of ecumenical stars who lived and led the ecumenical movement through its golden age. Regrettably, several have died since completing their essays, but they have left a legacy of memories, critiques, and suggestions that will stimulate further research. Each brief essay is an introduction to a topic followed by a list of references that support its conclusions and then suggested resources for general information. The five sections provide a multi-dimensional survey of ecumenism—its history, significant doctrinal issues, key organizations, continental variations, and methodology. Writers from Orthodox to Baptist and Pentecostal recount their confession's experience in the movement. William G. Rusch, the former ecumenical officer of the [End Page 120] Lutheran Church in America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, writes for the Lutherans (137–152). These various confessional perspectives converge on several points: the significant entry of Roman Catholics after the Second Vatican Council, the "golden age" that followed, the sense of an "ecumenical winter" at the turn of the century, and the unsettled questions that remain: Is the goal of ecumenism "visible unity," "reconciled diversity," or "conciliar fellowship?" Is the Eucharist a means of unity or its culmination? How can decisions made by experts effect change at the grass roots? The persistence of these questions, and others, has led to a sense of stagnation among ecumenists. Perhaps it is time for this renewal movement to be renewed. The impetus might be coming from the other twentieth-century renewal movement that has often been seen as a rival to ecumenism: Pentecostalism. The book's major sections provide a series of perspectives that will contribute to a multi-dimensional way of testing this hypothesis. Its section on "History" traces tensions and mutual criticism between ecumenists and Pentecostals. The following section on confessional "Traditions" contains Telford Work's essay, "Pentecostal and Charismatic" (187–204), a clear-eyed look at the changing face of the movement and the gifts it offers to ecumenism. Essays in the section on "Achievements and Issues" note a significant Roman Catholic-Pentecostal dialogue on baptism (254) but also point out Pentecostalism's lack of a "coherent theology of the church" (236). The section on "Instruments" offers glimpses of the Pentecostal movement gradually overcoming its initial suspicion of councils of churches, then its tentative participation in some elements of the World Council of Churches, and finally its full membership in the Global Christian Forum. The survey of "The Global Scene" documents Pentecostalism's dramatic growth in the "Global South." The final Handbook section, "Debate and Prospects," highlights conflicting goals for the ecumenical movement: "reconciled diversity," "visible unity," or some form of "spiritual" affinity. Cardinal Kurt Koch, in his presidential address to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (594–609), deplores this lack of consensus and notes that the debate is being complicated by a "pentecostalization of Christianity," and suggests that it may be seen as a "fourth [End Page 121] mode of being Christian" alongside the traditional confessional families. This "case study" on Pentecostalism illustrates how the Handbook provides a wealth of intriguing leads for further research. It will be just as useful for general readers who want to learn more about specific aspects of the ecumenical movement. H. George Anderson Green Valley, Arizona Copyright © 2023 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc.

Historical Burdens and the “German Sonderweg”: Why it is so Difficult for The Protestant Church in Germany to Stand on the Side of the Victims in the Ukraine War

Excerpt: "An Open Letter initiated by the German theologian Ellen Ueberschär and me to the Synod, the Council of the Protestant Church of Germany (EKD) and the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC) was published the week before Pentecost.1 A broad spectrum of members of the Protestant Church in Germany signed the letter; so far around 90. These include many GDR Protestants who were formerly in the Christian opposition in the GDR and belonged to the civil rights movement of the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. From this circle, Marianne Birthler and Markus Meckel are perhaps the best-known Protestants. Marianne Birthler was the head of the Stasi authority after Joachim Gauck, and Markus Meckel founded the Social Democratic Party in the GDR and was the last foreign minister of the GDR in 1990. However, politicians from various parties, a former prime minister, pastors, superintendents, and other church employees from all over Germany, military chaplains and many committed Protestants at various levels have also signed. So far, the letter has been clicked on NOEK.info more than 2,800 times. All those who signed the letter--and many more --are very concerned about what will happen in Karlsruhe, Germany, in August/September 2022 when the General Assembly of the WCC takes place there."

The Ecumenical Factor in African Theology and Ecclesiology

AbstractIn addition to the continental and national councils of churches and ecumenical theological institutions, Black and African theologies are some of the most ecumenical initiatives in Africa. This article explores the ecumenical factor in the emergence and the continued flourishing of Black and African theologies. Notably, these theologies have, from their earliest days, endeavoured to include indigenous religions and cultures as well as environmental issues. This essay also outlines a sample of the most prominent types of ecumenical theologies in contemporary Africa, arguing that these theologies are simultaneously the result of an ecumenical outlook and the greatest advocates for ecumenism in Africa.

Christian Responsibility for the Global Environmental Crisis

A recent report mentioned environmental concerns, including climate change, as the most likely threat to Earth in the 2020s. Therefore, there is a widespread perception that the problem of the environment today is not just a problem of any particular region or country, but also a problem of the future and the current problem that we live in today. Various concerns and studies on environmental issues have been conducted based on the Christian world view of creation, fall, and redemption within Christianity. These concerns began with the Catholic camp, but gradually efforts continue to link creation care with the gospel within Christianity, including the World Councils of Churches (WCC). Therefore, the study proposed as the following. First, a transition from environmental protection, or ecological conservation, to Life theology is needed. Second, a shift in the understanding of ecology looking at nature is needed. Third, at the Christian level, there should be a real recovery movement differentiated from secular environmentalism. Fourth, the church must wait for the second coming of Jesus and create a society that can realize a community with the real creation world.

Plenary Council in the Czech Republic (1997—2005)

This article analyses the preparation, process and conclusions of the Plenary Council of the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic held in 1997—2005. The Plenary Council was one of the few manifestations of the collegiality of the Czech Church, because the diocesan synods are not used here as a tool. The Decree on convocation of the Assembly was announced by the Czech and Moravian bishops on 5 July 1997 in Velehrad. The council was also an opportunity for priests and laity in the country to realise their responsibility for the Church and the co-responsibility of the Church for the condition of society. The Council had a preparatory phase (1997—2003), a stage of the 1st Session (July 2003), and a second phase of the Session (July 2005) where the project was completed and followed by the process of post-conciliar steps. Three final messages were the immediate output from the Second Plenary Session: the Message of the Council to the Public; the Message of the Council to the Believers of the Catholic Church and the Message of the Council to Christians in the Czech Republic. The resulting document was published in 2007 under the title The Life and Mission of Christians in the Church and the World. It was a document of a pastoral nature, in no way of a normative nature (no rules were actually adopted despite the work of the commission and the proposals). The Czech situation is described as “post-Christian missionary territory” there and — estimated the course of the conciliar process and of the Council itself — as an introduction of more intensive implementation of synodality in the Czech Church.

«Пагубная измена Церкви»: вопрос о «церковном большевизме» в деятельности Поместного Собора Российской Православной Церкви 1917–1918 гг.

«Пагубная измена Церкви»: вопрос о «церковном большевизме» в деятельности Поместного Собора Российской Православной Церкви 1917–1918 гг.

Johann Baptist Franzelin (1816–86): A Jesuit Cardinal Shaping the Official Teaching of the Church at the Time of the First Vatican Council

Johann Baptist Franzelin (1816–86), a Jesuit from South Tyrol, was an important systematic theologian at the Collegio Romano. Against emerging neo-Scholasticism, he supported the growing awareness of the need for historical context and to see theological doctrines in their development over time. He was an influential theologian at the First Vatican Council. Created cardinal by Pope Pius ix in 1876, he engaged in the work of the Roman Curia, for example against the German Kulturkampf and for the Third Plenary Council of the Catholic Church in the usa (Baltimore, 1884). This article provides an overview of Franzelin’s biography and analyzes his contributions to theology and church politics.

Introductory words by the editor-in-chief

The thematic focus of this issue of the journal "Religious Freedom" was determined by the International Scientific and Practical Conference "Religious Freedom: Updating of Family Values", held on September 24-25, 2018 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Since 1994, conferences, which discussed various aspects of the existence of religious freedom, have become traditional. They necessarily ended with publication of materials of public discussion. This year the conference was devoted to the XXV-year anniversary of the Ukrainian Association of Religious Studies (URA), authoritative in Ukraine and far beyond its borders. The conference was organized by the Institute of Philosophy named after G.S. Skovoroda of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Association of Religious Studies, the Institute of Religious Freedom. People's deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, members of the government, representatives of the councils of churches and religious organizations were invited to the speeches and reports in the Grand Conference Hall of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Academician-secretary of the Department of History, Philosophy and Law of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Valery Smoliy, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Director of the Institute of Philosophy named after G.S. Skovoroda Anatoly Yermolenko, Deputy Director, Head of the Department of Religious Studies of the Institute of Philosophy named after GS Skovoroda is Doctor of Philosophy, Professor Anatoly Kolodny.

The Theological Underpinnings of Australia's Constitutional Separation of Church and State Provision

The Australian Constitution contains two provisions concerning religion: a reference to “Almighty God” in the preamble and a provision denying the Federal Parliament power to legislate in respect of religion. The inclusion of those two provisions by the National Australasian Convention, which met from 1897 to 1898 to draft the Australian Constitution, was in large measure a result of political campaigns undertaken by competing religious groups. The first group, the Councils of Churches in each colony representing the main Protestant denominations, agitated for a constitutional “recognition” of God. The second group, the Seventh Day Adventists, campaigned against any constitutional recognition of God and for the inclusion of a provision limiting the Federal Government's power in respect of religion. The Adventists held fears that constitutional “recognition” of God would empower the federal parliament to pass nation‐wide Sunday observance laws. This article explores the theological and legal thinking of the Seventh Day Adventists to explain how they came to believe what, on a strict legal analysis, was highly implausible.

Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Generaliumque Decreta. IV/1 The Great Councils of the Orthodox Churches: Decisions andSynodika. From Constantinople 861 to Constantinople 1872. IV/2 The Great Councils of the Orthodox Churches: Decisions andSynodika. From Moscow 1551 to Moscow 2000. IV/3 The Great Councils of the Orthodox Churches: Decisions and Synodika. Crete 2016

Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Generaliumque Decreta. IV/1 The Great Councils of the Orthodox Churches: Decisions andSynodika. From Constantinople 861 to Constantinople 1872. IV/2 The Great Councils of the Orthodox Churches: Decisions andSynodika. From Moscow 1551 to Moscow 2000. IV/3 The Great Councils of the Orthodox Churches: Decisions and Synodika. Crete 2016

The Worker-Priest Archetype

The concept of the worker-priest archetype, in its most recent official form, originated in France's Roman Catholic Church as a missionary attempt to “rediscover the masses” of the industrial class workers in the French factories of the 1940s. This effort was shut down by the Vatican in the 1950s out of fear of Communist influence within the movement. With the advent of the Vatican II Council (1962–1965) of the Catholic Church, new life seemed to have been infused into this archetype. For example, the liberation theology movement in Latin America was strongly influenced by Vatican II. In the United States, many new forms of liturgical celebration were created, and social reform movements, doubtless as part of the 1960s social-revolutionary energy, emerged and were fostered. When the conservative faction within the Catholic hierarchy reacted to what they perceived as dangerous and threatening developments in the church, they acted to stop this liberal movement. One likely consequence of this slamming shut the windows that had been newly opened by Vatican II was a mass exodus of Catholic priests in the United States who left the clergy and entered civilian life. This article focuses on interviews with three of the men who were active Catholic priests, two of whom chose to leave the priesthood and one who remained a priest but moved the focus of his work to the “inner city.” There he cared for young black men as an unofficial social worker/priest, operating on his own to serve a population traditionally underserved by the Catholic Church.

A Response to S. N. Balagangadhara’s “Translation, Interpretation and Culture”

S. N. Balagangadhara wrote an essay entitled, “Translation, Interpretation and Culture: On the Disingenuity of a Comparative Theology,” which appeared in this journal in 2014. In it, Balagangadhara defends his theory of translation and supports that theory by deconstructing the field of comparative theology, which he finds unreflective and unsophisticated, at best. The tool of that deconstruction is a sharply critical assessment of several sections of my 2010 Comparative Theology. That book, meant to introduce readers to the field even while not being itself a work of comparative theological practice, draws on my other, earlier books, none of which Balagangadhara seems to have read. Given Balagangadhara’s sharply negative judgment on my work —assessing it to be fruitless, disingenuous, dissimulating, dishonest—I feel it necessary to respond to his essay, and I am grateful to Canadian Social Science for the opportunity to write this brief reply. I will first note some of his criticisms and respond to them. I then comment on what appears to be most crucial to Balagangadhara, his own theoretical reflections on translation at the start of the essay; I will note too how his comments on my work turn out to serve as a foil to his own theorizing, perhaps as a warning to those who do not work out their translation theory first. Finally, I comment briefly on the third, constructive part of his essay, with its unexpected reference to the 1960s reforming Council of the Catholic Church, Vatican II, and the intriguing notion that Balagangadhara might make a constructive contribution to post-Vatican II attitudes toward the diversity of religions.

The Second Vatican Council and Interreligious Activities of the Catholic Church in Vietnam

In the entire history of the Catholic Church, the Second Vatican Council is considered as one of the Councils that made great changes in the Catholic World. This Council made a significant change in the field of interreligious dialogue. This change has left influences on the Catholic Church in Vietnam in its relation to members of other religious traditions. This paper examines interreligious activities that have been carried out by the Catholic Church in Vietnam. Inspired by the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church in Vietnam has initiated many interreligious activities that contributed to better understanding between Catholics and followers of other faiths. With this initiation, there is hope for better understanding between Catholic Church in Vietnam and other religious traditions.

Book Review: Book Reviews

a Renewal Movement Be Renewed?: Questions for Future of Ecumenism. By Michael Kinnamon. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans Publishing, 2014. 167 pp. $24.00 (paper).andWhat Christians Learn from Other Religions. By J. Philip Wogaman. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014.135 pp. $15.00 (paper).Ecumenism and interreligious relations begin world, lead us more deeply into world, and are proved vital or hollow by how they engage with world. These two new books by senior leaders of national and global Christian movements and churches explore starkly ways critical questions for a new century of interdependence and mutual and multifaith understanding.in 2000, at General Convention of Episcopal Church meeting Denver, Michael Kinnamon offered poignant insights into a bold experiment of bilateral shared communion and common mission proposed that summer with Evangelical Lutheran Church America. As an ecumenical guest, Professor Kinnamon, a minister and seminary teacher Christian Church/Disciples of Christ, assessed Episcopalians (and Lutherans) with compassion and insight, and asked questions that helped move agreement now known as Called to Common Mission to adoption. His method for engagement was threefold: make relationships with diverse partners and show up to work with them every day; ask good, informed questions; and, look with hope toward unimagined mission partnerships with a wide range of neighbors.The same tack is at core of Michael Kinnamon's recent collection of highly readable (and often quotable!) essays on future of Christian ecumenism. Each of fifteen chapter titles present a pressing question for church and for world watching followers of Jesus Christ today. Fellow preachers, try some of these as openers for a homily: Are Councils of Churches a Thing of Past?'; Can Tension Between Unity and Justice be Overcome?'; What Churches Say Together About Environment?; Has Ecumenical Movement Become Too 'Political'?Naming question is first frame for Kinnamon, but order to examine several problems with greater generosity and wisdom he presents propositions a nearly scholastic manner, offering patient reader a broad range of creative solutions to problems that long have separated and harmed church. In a chapter asking Is Ecumenical Movement a Movement for Peace? Kinnamon, a past president of National Council of Churches America, suggests that the churches need to focus less on top-down pronouncements and more on programs of congregational formation, and goes on to offer a list of corporate 'disciplines' that he believes may help form a peacemaking sensibility local communities (p. 31). These disciplines include: (1) praying regularly for people who are regarded as enemies by our nation or group; (2) practicing peace by committing ourselves to seek relationship with people we prefer to avoid; (3) partnering with a nearby congregation with different approaches to matters of war and peace; and (4) joining other congregations in a local activity that counters violence {pp. 31-32).Regrettably, we hear little about background of decisive agreements or of Great Ecumenists this slim volume. Anglicans will find both William Temple and Lesslie Newbigin, but not a word about George Bell or Stephen Bayne, to say nothing of Cynthia Wedell or Desmond Tutu. The essays do render trustworthy advice for engaged ecumenists, but lack potent illustrations of a deep spirit of ecumenism, that archetype so many Episcopalians first make connection with, and feel passion for, as they are led to new connections, networks, and partnerships. …

Fifty Years after the Second Vatican Council

Fifty Years after the Second Vatican Council

We Intend to Move Together

The story of women's participation in the ecumenical movement can indeed be described as a pilgrimage of justice and peace, as well as a story of mission. From the earliest days of ecumenism--whether in its formal, institutional structures or in the lively work and witness of local communities around the globe--questions about women's role in the churches have been intertwined with questions about the social, economic, and cultural forces that affect women's lives. With changing emphasis shaped by particular time and context, the consistent thread in the journey has been a will to respond to the call to participate in God's mission in the world in ways that contribute to wholeness and fullness of life for all God's people and to the flourishing of creation. While not always named or recognized as such, gender justice has been at the heart of this journey. Consistently, women have been seeking ecumenical space in which the diverse experiences of women, their voices and visions, and the conditions of injustice and oppression that have been the lot of many women around the world can be lifted up and addressed. And in that space, women have claimed their own agency of resistance and transformation. The story of women's work and witness in the World Council of Churches (WCC) is only one facet of this journey. Each church family and world communion could tell its own story and each local context has had times of ecumenical witness and action--often connected with global programs, but also representative of particular local needs and issues. Nevertheless, the WCC has played a key role since its inception in linking ecumenical women in local contexts with international networks and global currents. A review of WCC programmes and structures committed to the journey of gender justice reveals both the rich heritage of ecumenical women's work and the challenges and gaps that continue. Affirming the "service and status of women" In the 1940s, when the WCC was still in the process of formation, Twila Cavert, a Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) leader from the US, together with other women, gained the support of WCC leaders for a pre-assembly women's meeting and a survey of woman leaders worldwide about their vision for the work of women in the whole church. (1) The questionnaire netted detailed replies from women in 58 countries, and prompted the Reformed Church of France to request that the question of women's role be placed on the agenda of the first assembly in Amsterdam in 1948. There, the study report on "The Life and Work of Women in the Church" was received and its recommendation for a permanent commission to undertake ecumenical inquiry into issues related to women's ministry was accepted. Susannah Herzel writes of the significance of these first steps for the participation of women in churches around the world: "So the infiltration had begun. Member churches of the ecumenical movement had agents of change in their midst, and the troubling questions would be increasingly difficult to ignore." (2) The material generated by the study was developed into a book by Kathleen Bliss, published in 1952 as The Service and Status of Women in the Churches, (3) Interpreting the reports through the framework of women's various types of service--voluntary, full-time and professional, ordained, and participation in church governance--Bliss examined the contributions and limitations of each area of endeavour. She asked whether the churches were making the best use of women's gifts, or helping women to participate as Christians in the changes taking place in society as a whole. Writing during a period of flux in women's public and private roles, Bliss urged churches to recognize the implications of changing family and employment patterns. She asserted that "what is needed is ... an imaginative act of understanding ... [of the] ... revolutionary change in the place of women in society." (4) These reports from around the world provided evidence that responses to women's ministries ranged from indifference to active opposition. …

Czy rodzina przemija? Definicja i przyszłość rodziny według Kościoła Ewangelickiego w Niemczech (EKD) w perspektywie ekumenicznej

On the 19th of June 2013 in Berlin representatives of the Lutheran Evangelical Church in Germany (Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, EKD) have presented a comprehensive document Zwischen Autonomie und Angewiesenheit. Familie als verlässliche Gemeinschaft stärken. Eine Orientierungshilfe des Rates des Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland (Between Autonomy and Dependence. Strengthening the Family as a Reliable Community. A Guide of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany). Some of the contents of the text have provoked a stir in Catholic and Orthodox circles. Critics of the document accuse the EKD Council of breaking with biblical model of the family, which for centuries – despite divisions among Christians – has been unanimously supported by Churches and Communities in the West and in the East. In that context, the article discusses the structure, theological and social grounds of the document and its ecumenical significance.

The Impact of Non-Roman Catholic Observers at Vatican II

Not all accounts of Vatican II, 1962–65, recognize that the 200 carefully selected non-Roman Catholic Observers had a considerable influence on the Council and on its major documents about the Church, Church unity, liturgy, the Jews and religious freedom. Their impact is assessed both by Roman Catholic theologians like Congar and Willebrands and Observers such as Bishop Moorman and Robert McAfee Brown together with comments Karl Barth later made on some of the documents in his discussions with Pope Paul VI and others, including Ratzinger and Rahner in Rome. An attempt is made to explain how the Observers had the influence they did. One conclusion is that they helped the Council evolve from what could have been a purely domestic affair and a rubber-stamping exercise dealing with 70 documents, already prepared by the Curia, and Commissioners appointed by the Pope, into a genuinely ecumenical, deliberative, debating and decision-making council of the worldwide Church.

Innovative Retailing

This study was inspired by the persistence and strength of character of striving entrepreneurs in rural communities who strive to establish or let grow of their businesses. The Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church considered Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC) as a “New Way of Renewing the Church”, thus the researcher collaborates with Caritas Diocese of Libmanan (Inc.), the social action and development arm of the Diocese of Libmanan, Camarines Sur, which established the BEC-Based Integral Evangelization program. This aims to develop not only spiritual renewal but social and moral transformation as well, to broaden and sustain alternative Income Generating Project (IGPs) that will uplift the standard of living of its members. The BEC through Caritas Diocese of Libmanan is determined to concretize an innovative retailing through its BEC Retail Store (“Tindahannin SKK” - in local dialect) and Automated Teller Machine (ATM)/Credit Card. The BEC –ATM/Credit card) which will provide economic empowerment to its members as an alternative credit access in the procurement of basic goods and services, and as an alternative credit access in starting small businesses.

THE ROAD OF UNITY IN THE FAMILY OF DUTCH REFORMED CHURCHES IN SOUTH AFRICA SINCE 1994: A DUTCH REFORMED PERSPECTIVE

This paper is about the view of the Dutch Reformed Church on the ground covered in the process of unity between the Family of Dutch Reformed Churches from 1994 to January 2003. Most probably some of the other churches will have different views on some of the matters mentioned in this paper. The paper is an attempt to describe the road travelled form official documents of the DRC, much of which was also brought before councils of the other churches for their approval. Some of the information also comes from official documents of the other churches. Other information comes from personal knowledge through official involvement in the process since 1994 and also from the interpretation that some other people gave of the relationship between the members of the Family of Dutch Reformed Churches. May this attempt to draw a map of the ground covered help us to chart the route for tomorrow and the days after.