Pentecostal Mission: A German Free Church Perspective

The Pentecostal movement is growing worldwide. This applies both globally and to the German context. Pentecostal mission, therefore, plays an increasingly important role – a role that is also reflected in new networks and institutions emerging in Germany. As Pentecostal churches increase in importance, their ecumenical relationships are also moving into focus. The reproach of prosyletism arises repeatedly at the intersection of mission and ecumenism in ecumenical discussions. This article illustrates the development of ecumenical relations in Pentecostal churches in Germany from a Free Church perspective, viewing ecumenical challenges and opportunities in relation to approaches of church theory.     

Bullinger's Defence of the Old Faith

Abstract

Bullinger regarded the evangelical faith and the evangelical churches as old and the papal faith and church as new. He was convinced that the evangelical faith was continuous with that of Scripture and the catholic church. In 1537 against the charge of being new or heretical, he went behind the New Testament to the Old, appealing to the faith of Adam and the prophets in Christ. In 1549 against the charge of separating from the church with the succession of bishops as a mark of the apostolic church, he appealed to the succession in apostolic teaching. Against further charges he appealed to the ancient Roman Church against the new Roman Church, and to the true church cleaving to Christ against the false church persecuting those who believe in Christ. Against charges of heresy and schism, he affirmed the orthodoxy and catholicity of the evangelical churches. Against the charge of disunity among evangelicals he appealed to the New Testament and the early church with their differences in minor matters. He used the concept of Satan being bound a thousand years to explain the growth thereafter of papal error, but he also named people who had challenged that error.     

Case Study on Together towards Life and Ministerial Formation

When asked over the years why I believe the World Council of Churches is so important to the life of the church, my response has been not so much because of what its programmes do but because of its work in building a common ecumenical vision and bringing the diversity of the world church around that vision. This has been so valuable in shaping the life and ministry of the church ecumenical at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries. Together towards Life gives us a fresh opportunity to do this again in the area of mission and evangelism.     

The Old Catholic churches of the Union of Utrecht

Abstract

The Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht have different historical backgrounds. The Dutch Church has her roots in the Catholic Counter‐Reformation, the German‐speaking Churches in the protest‐movements against Vatican I, and the Polish Churches in the problems of emigrants to USA. However, they adhere in common to the conciliar and synodical tradition of the Catholic Church. They lay stress on the relative autonomy of the local church, the episcopal apostolic succession, and the Eucharist as the manifestation of the Church. The autonomy of the local church is not seen as detached from the universal Church or the responsibility to stay in or to restore Church unity. This leads to an ecumenical engagement which has resulted in full communion with the Anglican Churches and a doctrinal consensus with the Orthodox Churches. Reference back to the undivided Church is a key feature of Old Catholic ecclesiology, though this does not lead to uncomplicated ecumenical solutions.     

Just Call Me by My Name: Worship Music in Asian Ecumenism

This article examines the historical development of worship music in Asian ecumenism by examining three ecumenical hymnals from the 1960s to the present. It identifies key personalities and institutions involved in the formation of Asian worship music. The essay argues that the maturation of Asian Christian spirituality via music making requires the church to hold in tension both its missional heritage and local cultural practices. It proposes the development of robust theo‐liturgical scholarship as being critical in helping the church mature.     

Contextuality and Catholicity: The Task of Orthodox Theology in Ecumenical Theological Education

The essay unfolds theological foundations for theological education in ecumenical perspective from Orthodox perspectives seeing it as a worldwide enterprise fundamental to the mission of the church, not in its institutional character, but in its eschatological awareness of being a foretaste of the Kingdom of God. The relation between early ecumenical optimism and enthusiasm towards the goal of the visible unity of the church and the wide application of contextuality, i.e. the recognition of the contextual character of theology as a method from the 1970s onwards is discussed. According to the Orthodox perspectives, the ecumenical movement has lost its momentum and coherence and its determination for the quest of visible unity with the predominant acceptance of contextuality as the guiding principle in ecumenical discussions and theological education. The author argues that Orthodox theology has to deepen the understanding of its own contextuality and soften the existing antithesis between contextuality and catholicity of theology and theological education. Orthodox perspectives should underline the relevance of a fundamental unity of divine revelation, as represented in the broad understanding of Christian tradition, which is for the entire created world, not only for believers and which is challenging both a potential distortion, wherein unity is identified with the maintenance of denominational loyalty, as well as all contextual expressions of Christian theology with regard to their relation to the overall goal of church unity. The paper concludes with a plea for all Orthodox theological education to be of some real service to the church in deciding to deal both with current issues (to be contextual) and not to lose sight of the past (to be oriented to catholicity and church unity), to both open up to ecumenical theological education while at the same time maintaining a strong commitment to the common church tradition.     

Church and State After Christendom

Abstract

At a time when traditional markers of Christian identity are in decline, renewed attention has been devoted to the relationship of the church to state and society. In particular, there has been a marked rise in counter-cultural ecclesiologies stressing the distinctiveness of the church over against its host society. The article argues that there is a rich resource of Scriptural and traditional materials for fruitful reflection upon the political nature of the Christian community and its relationship to the state and civil society. Particular attention is devoted to the kingship of Yahweh in the Old Testament, the ministry of Jesus, and several leading writers of the early church. It is claimed that these historical attempts to express a positive account of stratified citizenship are significant for the increasingly post-Christendom context of Western churches.     

Studying ecclesiology in ecumenical perspective: the Finnish context: what does it mean to be ‘the same church in all directions’?

This article introduces the main international ecumenical contacts of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF). The article shows how the ecumenical contacts shape the unique ecclesiology of the ELCF. According to its own ecumenical strategy, the ELCF wants to be the same church in all directions. Unlike Lutheran churches in other Nordic countries, the ELCF is not a state church, but a folk church. Its status from a majority church in a national state is rapidly changing to a majority religious body in a multicultural society. This requires a new kind of ecclesiology, too. This article claims that there are four inter-related issues that shape the ecclesial self-understanding of the ELCF as an ecumenically active folk church. These issues are emphasis on doctrinal unity, communion within the LWF and Porvoo Communion, the status of a decreasing majority folk church, and internal debates on socio-ethical issues, especially those related to sexuality.     

What Happens when History Does Not Walk as We Wish?

The modern ecumenical movement calls the churches to pray together and to stay together. Through the World Council of Churches, this call has been supported by theological reflection, most notably on baptism, eucharist and ministry and, more recently, ecclesiology. It has also been nurtured by the missionary movement and its practical calls to common witness and service. This article sets out the context of the work of a parish church in Edinburgh, UK. It provides context to ecumenical and interfaith relations in the parish and to pastoral work within what is called the pink triangle. It concludes with a reflection on John Zizioulas's local church and considers the implications of an ecclesiology and missiology that reflect the life of the parish: “While cherishing the unity of the Spirit in the one Church, it is also important to honour the ways in which each local congregation is led by the spirit to respond to its own contextual realities.” 1     

Impressions of the Church of Sweden: liberal and catholic with nuances of Lutheranism

The Church of Sweden is difficult to describe or to characterise, whether as a Folk Church, a national church, as catholic or liberal, or as, in some sense, Lutheran. This article refers to aspects of its complex relations with the Roman Catholic Church and with Lutheranism at large. The author detects, from ecumenical agreement and practice, an incipient new communion of churches, based on a common claim to be catholic and also to be open to developments in society. This group includes the Church of Sweden, the Church of England, the Episcopal Church in the USA, the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht and the Philippine Independent Church, all of which are in communion with each other. The author's presentation is set out in relation to the Church of Sweden's liturgical and sacramental life, its church–state relations, and in an account of the rather asymmetrical shape of ecumenism in Sweden, in all of which the question of gender plays a role.     

Kingship and the ‘Apostolic Church,’ 1620-1650

Abstract

During the 1640s, English divines came to place new weight on the role of the Apostles in founding the Christian Church. Earlier in the century, Archbishop Laud and his allies had tended to appeal to the Old Testament, and especially to the Jerusalem of King David, as a model for the English church. In Jerusalem, they argued, king and church had cooperated in perfect harmony, and they sought to emulate this situation. With the outbreak of civil war, however, Jerusalem no longer seemed such an appropriate model. Clerics and laymen alike had to think afresh about the relationship between church and state, and several episcopalian clergymen began to appeal instead to the church of the Apostles, seeing this as a template for a church which was independent of the state. This essay examines the concept of apostolicity as understood between 1620 and 1650, showing that it proved both fruitful and problematic for English theologians.     

Serving God's Mission Together in Christ's Way: Reflections on the Way to Edinburgh 2010

This paper argues that missio Dei theology must continue to provide the basis for an ecumenical missiology, provided certain problems are revisited, in line with themes of the 2010 Edinburgh study process. Among them is the need for emphasizing the vertical dimension of a transformative spirituality, somehow neglected in earlier ecumenical theologies. Only this will prevent an over‐estimation of humanity's capacities. Within a missio Dei theology the specific role of the church is to be reaffirmed: there is no way back behind integration, which remains a cornerstone of an ecumenical approach, provided it keeps a critical distance to dogmatic ecclesiologies that tend to hinder progress towards visible unity. The debate on gospel and culture has to be urgently taken up again, through a positive appreciation of syncretism and the related search for criteria in intercultural hermeneutics. This will lead to articulating pneumatological approaches to mission with Christologies. Indeed, the New Testament texts with the most universal horizon refer to Christ as Word or Wisdom and not to the Holy Spirit. The paper moves on to ask whether then the relevance of the biblical wisdom tradition should not feature more in missiology. It could provide fertile approaches to witness in a religiously plural and ecologically damaged world. Ecumenical mission should in future be shaped by wisdom as much as it has been by prophecy, and keep both traditions in creative tension.     

The Way of Ecumenism: Gratitude and Commitment

This address to the Ecumenical Kirchentag in Germany in 2003 takes as its starting point the symbol of the church as the people of God on the way together to describe the ecumenical movement. This is a path that leads out of the security of structures, relying on the promise of God as a response to the call of the gospel to faith and the path of discipleship – the way of pilgrimage as it was described by the World Conference on Faith and Order in 1993 in Santiago de Compostela. After looking back at the milestones on the ecumenical journey toward communion in life, faith, and witness, the address highlights the significance of a mutual recognition of baptism by churches as representing a “Copernican revolution” in ecumenical dialogue, in which churches would commit themselves to mutual accountability in matters of faith and church order.     

The Renaissance Ethics of Music: Singing,Contemplation and Musica Humana

Abstract

This article considers Calvin's late work, the Harmony of the Pentateuch (1563). It takes account of previous attempts to illuminate Calvin's purpose in this production by De Boer, Blacketer, Thiel, Wright and Balserak. There follows a consideration of Calvin's view of the ceremonial law for Christians, and a distinction is drawn between the Old Testament cult and the Old Testament law concerning that cult. It finally takes soundings from the work itself to argue that for Calvin, the timeless spirit of worship could be understood behind its outward expression. What matters is that God is seen to call believers out of the flow of everyday occurrence into worship.     

The Future of Multilateral Ecumenical Dialogue

This article offers an overview of work undertaken in multilateral ecumenical dialogue, as it has been conducted at the international level by the commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches (WCC), to clarify the issues discussed in this dialogue and the methods used. In particular, the article analyzes the statements on unity made at various WCC assemblies. While they demonstrate a certain continuity regarding the key points of church unity they identify, they clearly mark a shift in the overall understanding of how unity is conceived. The second part of the article examines the current ecumenical situation and its importance for this dialogue, to show how Faith and Order has responded and what further progress in multilateral dialogue might look like.     

Asian Women in the Ecumenical Movement: Voices of Resistance and Hope

Throughout Asian ecumenical history, Christian women have found ways to organize themselves and create structures that give them the space to articulate their concerns and contribute their theological and leadership skills to the church and society. Asia's complex context has played a pivotal role in framing the contributions of women to the ecumenical movement, while the ecumenical movement in Asia has played a key role in helping define feminism, feminist theory, and feminist theology for this continent, contributing to national‐level initiatives in each Asian country as well as to regional and to World Christianity. At the same time, ecumenical women in each nation of Asia have linked with secular women's efforts and with women of other faiths to bring transformation in the lives of women, to challenge violence in all its manifestations, and to demand justice and dignity for all women and men.     

Observations on Pentecostal Participation in Formal Ecumenical Dialogue

As analysis of the implications of global Pentecostalism for ecumenism continues, we can learn much by examining the formal ecumenical dialogues in which Pentecostals have participated. Among these dialogues, both between Pentecostals and other Christian traditions and between Oneness and trinitarian Pentecostals, the Catholic–Pentecostal dialogue is especially instructive. As Pentecostals continue to dialogue, they should employ the methodology of lex orandi, lex credendi, reflect on the requirements and responsibilities of their dialogue participation, and return to previous topics in their dialogues that may be ripe for reconsideration.     

The Ecumenical Movement in Asia and Emerging Challenges: The Christian Conference of Asia at 60 and Beyond

As the Christian Conference of Asia marks the 60th anniversary of its founding in 1957 at an Asian church leaders’ consultation in Prapat, Indonesia, this contribution seeks to analyze the contemporary challenges facing the ecumenical movement in a situation characterized by a lack of coherence and coordination. In a continent where the number of Christians is profoundly small, division makes Christian witness even more difficult and fragmented, and less effective. In such a situation, concerted efforts for dialogue and communication with mutual accountability should be a priority, in order to address the emerging challenges more efficiently. The specific responsibility and role of the ecumenical movement in Asia is to search for the expression of the common faith of the Asian churches through engagement in a pluralistic Asia, and to work for visible unity despite doctrinal differences and confessional barriers. The need to revitalize the ecumenical movement in Asia and regain the ecumenical vision of Asian churches should be a priority for all those who are concerned with the common witness and future of the ecumenical movement in Asia.     

Pentecostal Dynamics of African Initiated Churches

This essay is a historical consideration of the body of churches known as African Initiated Churches (AICs). The key research questions I am investigating are whether this church can be classified as Pentecostal and how it employs transnational networking in its mission strategy. I have approached this question by exploring the Pentecostal dynamics and transnational networking of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church as an example of an AIC. To this end, I analyze the Pentecostal and transnational nature of an international ecumenical conference organized by the church in London in 2017. This essay is written from the perspective of someone who was born and raised within the church movement, but has also studied the movement as part of African Christianity. The originality of this essay is in its analysis of the transnational nature of the international ecumenical conference.     

The World Council of Churches and churches in China: partnerships and diaconia

ABSTRACT

Between 1956 and 1991, Chinese church leaders, and Protestant churches active from the formation of the World Council of Churches, experienced a dramatic break in their relations with the international ecumenical movement. This paper will focus on the ecumenical relations between the WCC and the churches in China after 1978, when reforms and the opening up of the country under Deng Xiaoping provided new opportunities for the renewal of ties. The China Christian Council resumed its official ties with WCC in 1991 but between 1978 and 1991, new expressions and new modes of ecumenical relations had already emerged. Central to these ties were the upholding of the Three-Self Principles and the practice of the ‘ecumenical sharing of resources’ influenced by the outcome of the WCC’s El Escorial meeting (1987). These ‘post-colonial’ partnerships contributed substantially to making Christianity better appreciated in China and were important channels for the practice of ecumenism in a rapidly transforming China.