Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Receptive Ecumenism in Building Healthy Churches

The basic idea is that ecumenical relationships tend to be “What have we got that others need to learn from us?” The receptive ecumenist says, “What could we learn from the others?”

The Centre for Catholic Studies in Durham began the “Receptive Ecumenism and the Local Church” research project based on applying this concept of learning from others to the state of decline many churches and denominations face today. The idea began as a collaborative book with contributions from theologians spanning Christian denominations in northeast England.

The project examines clergy leadership styles, church strategy and institutional structures, hoping to share what’s working in local churches with those congregations that are struggling.

Geoff Moore, the catalyst for the project, empathizes with the desire of many clergy to avoid the business approach in the church, he also sees the need for strategy. Recently, commenting on the limited resources available, a senior-level person in his diocese said to Moore, “If we don’t have a strategy, then I don’t know how to deploy the resources.” The idea behind

“the practice of faith is inevitably and deeply institutionalized …; the question is whether the institution promotes the excellence of the practice of faith or tends to corrupt it.”

Churches need to create institutional structures that reflect well on their core faith. “Receptive Ecumenism and the Local Church” research project is not about making the church a business, it’s about pooling ecumenical resources to reform church structures so that these institutions promote the excellence of the practice of faith, instead of corrupting it.

1 comment:

  1. This is a great article! I am so glad to see that there are some official projects that have been developed to encourage ecumenical cooperation to help churches find answers for areas in which they are struggling. There are many churches and pastors who may never have realized the benefit of this practice.
    I have been involved in churches within various communities which have been willing to work together with churches of other denominations for community worship services. The pastors of these communities meet monthly and share various things concerning issues that they are dealing with within their individual churches. The discussions that developed when these pastors got together have eventually helped some of their churches to improve circumstances that they were struggling to correct.
    If we remember that the job of each church and each follower of Christ is to share the message of Christ with all people, then we should be able to overlook the denominational labels on our churches and work together to spread the Word of God. We can then learn the things that we need to strengthen each church and person in the working of the church and in faith as well.

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