April 4, 2008 at 12:32 pm
"Sisters and brothers:
 
Well, I’m going to give this a try! Mainly, to “unload” some thoughts and wonderments about “unity.”
 
I am a bishop of the Episcopal Church, serving as ecumenical officer of our denomination and based in New York City. So, I am concerned about the unity of the Christian Church (no small task!) but also about unity between people of faith everywhere. And the unity of the human family.

We have just completed the Spring meeting of our Standing Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations (SCEIR) in Los Angeles at the diocesan headquarters and conference center. We were hosted with kind hospitality joining the community for their daily Eucharist in the cathedral church as well as saying our own morning and evening prayers together.

We received updates on Anglican - Roman Catholic relations, our interim Eucharistic sharing arrangement with the United Methodists, and next steps toward a full communion proposal with the Moravian Church. I am so grateful for the work of these women and men, clergy and laity, young and older adults who assist in this work — “that we all may be one.”" Episcopal Bishop Christopher Epting

 

"While Christian unity is modeled and promoted through all of the Council's work, the Christian Unity Committee is the one entity whose primary responsibility is to further Christian unity or wholeness.
A remarkable theological and ecclesiological convergence is taking place among Christian denominations in North America, and the results to date, taken together, are remarkable as well.

EPISCOPAL/MORAVIAN DIALOGUE has been ongoing since about 1999.  It had its beginning in the NC Council’s Christian Unity Committee in an exchange between Tom Rightmyer and Bill McElveen.  It began in NC in 1994 and then escalated into a national dialogue.  It is well along and full communion will probably come to these national bodies in 2009 and 2010."
North Carolina Council of Churches nccofc@nccouncilofchurches.org

THE ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT

 This document was prepared by Richard l. s. Gan as compilations of documented materials that are easily verifiable.  Many sources used are from the actual documents and statements found on Council of Churches Web Sites and Catholic Web Sites. Gan’s compilation is sprinkled with just enough commentary to add clarity for the reader.

The Ecumenical Movement is one of the most controversial subjects in this present hour.

What is the Ecumenical Movement?

The word 'ecumenical' comes from the Greek word 'oikoumene' which basically means 'this inhabited world'.

At present, there are two great bodies -- the World Council of Churches (W.C.C.) and the National Council of Churches (N.C.C.). The main aim of the Ecumenical Movement is to bring churches of all denominations and cults, and ultimately, all other religious organizations’ together as One Ecumenical Church or World Church. At the first Ecumenical Assembly held in Amsterdam in 1948, the motto 'ONE WORLD -- ONE CHURCH' was adopted. It is agreed that one of the major issues for the WCC to tackle is the relations between the churches and the organizations of all the other religions and ideologies. With regards to this issue, dialogues are being held among the different religions of the world. The Bible Prophecy of a Super Church is now being fulfilled. SEE THE FULL ARTICLE BELOW

THE ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT

"First Partial Report of the Ecumenical Affairs/Faith and Order Committee
(3) we encourage development of common life throughout the Moravian and Episcopal Churches by such means as the following:

a. Mutual prayer and mutual support, including covenants and agreements at all levels;

b. Common study of the Holy Scriptures, the histories and theological traditions of each church, and the material prepared by the dialogue;

c. Joint programs of worship, religious education, theological discussion, mission, evangelism, and social action;

d. Joint use of facilities."
Synod Report Northern Province 2006
 

"Commentary and Executive Summary of “Finding Our Delight in the Lord” A Proposal for Full Communion between the Moravian Church and the Episcopal Church
The Provincial Elders’ Conferences (the governing bodies in between meetings of Provincial Synods) of the Northern Province and Southern Province of the Moravian Church met and approved Draft 14, forwarded it to their respective Synods in 2010 for consideration, and so requested that additional supplemental materials be produced to assist the churches in studying this proposal. Both the Standing Commission and Provincial Elders’ Conferences had seen previous drafts and had the opportunity to provide feedback." Episcopal Church Web Site

 

"The Episcopal delegation made it clear that the Episcopal Church cannot enter into a relationship that includes the mutual recognition of ordained ministry, unless it has assurance that future reconciliation will include bishops in historic succession and a common and fully interchangeable three-fold ministry which the Presbyterian Church has rejected." The Episcopal Handbook For  Ecumenical Dialogue
75Pages by;
The Rt. Rev. C. Christopher Epting, Deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations
Thomas Ferguson, Ph.D., Associate Deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations


EPISCOPAL HANDBOOK FOR DIALOGUE

 

On Christian Theology

1.    IS JESUS THE SON OF GOD?

“If you begin to explore the literary context of the first century and the couple of hundred years on either side, the way that someone told a story about a great figure was to say ‘this one was born of the gods.’ That is what we’re saying. This carpenter from Nazareth or Bethlehem – and there are different stories about where he came from – shows us what a godly human being looks like, shows us God coming among us”

2.    HOW DO WE HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD?

Comments on “No One Comes unto the Father except through me” (John 14:6):

“In its narrow construction, it tends to eliminate other possibilities. In its broader construction, yes, human beings come to relationship with God largely through their experience of holiness in other human beings. Through seeing God at work in other people’s lives. In that sense, yes, I will affirm that statement. But not in the narrow sense, that people can only come to relationship with God through consciously believing in Jesus”

On the role Jesus has in our relationship with God and salvation.

“We who practice the Christian tradition understand him as our vehicle to the divine. But for us to assume that God could not act in other ways is, I think, to put God in an awfully small box”

(Time, July 10, 2006).

“Human communities have always searched for relationship with that which is beyond them.with the ultimate.. with the divine. For Christians, we say that our route to God is through Jesus. Uhh.. uh..that doesn't mean that a Hindu.. uh.. doesn't experience God except through Jesus. It-itit says that Hindus and people of other faith traditions approach God through their.. own cultural contexts” (NPR Interview, Oct. 8, 2006).

“The question is always how can we get beyond our own narrow self-interest and see that our salvation lies in attending to the needs of other people”

3. HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT IS TRUE?

On how The Episcopal Church helps people answer questions about the ultimate meaning of life:

“Well, we don’t come with a prescribed set of answers. We really do encourage people to wrestle with the question” (Arkansas Democrat Gazette, January 2007).

About the Apostles and Nicene Creeds:

“Those creeds are not about checking off a bunch of propositions. They are about giving our heart to a sense that Jesus shows us what it looks like to be a divine human being”

4. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE?

Question: So what happens after I die?

“What happens after you die? I would ask you that question. But what’s important about your life, what is it that has made you a unique individual? What is the passion that has kept you getting up every morning and engaging the world? There are hints within that about what it is that continues after you die…..’Statements by the Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schorie  of the Episcopal Church

 

The 2006 Utah General Convention Delegation On Scripture and Morality:

“Judgments about ethics by appeal to the Holy Scriptures alone are foreign to our Anglican traditions, which have always included other sources of authority in their deliberations…There is no single biblical morality…”-Episcopal Diocese of Utah- Deputies to General Convention 2006,

1,000 Episcopalians are leaving the Episcopal Church, weekly. Between 2005 and 2006, TEC lost 50,084 members. Figures for 2007 and 2008, when they can be obtained, will most likely be even higher. Mrs. Jefferts Schori told a reporter that she will leave the lights on in the vain hope they might return. Two dioceses have left The Episcopal Church. Two more are on their way out the door. More could follow.
UPDATE:

11-18-08 This past week end the 4th diocese has left TEC.[Episcopal News Service, Bedford, Texas] Delegates attending the 26th annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth on November 15 overwhelmingly approved realignment with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. http://www.episcopallife.org/79901_102536_ENG_HTM.htm

Read 10 reasons why now is the time to re-align by Fort Worth Bishop Rt Rev Leo Iker

See Video of Bishop Iker at Fort Worth Convention

 
 

From http://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/2004GrowthReport(1).pdf