Presbyterian ecumenists

 

Tentmaker pastors Lutheran-Presbyterian union church

“When we hang out with Jesus, we will learn what it means to offer ministry in the chaotic, conflicted, crumpling reality of the 21st century church,” said former moderator Susan Andrews as she introduced a panel of innovative church leaders at this summer's Big Tent gathering. One of those leaders was Edward (Ted) Hilton, an ordained Presbyterian minister now serving a union church, the Truckee [California] Lutheran Presbyterian Church (TLPC). Hilton is both TLPC's tentmaking pastor and a full time school teacher. TLPC has no building and worships at a community center. The church service "is a locally-developed hybrid of Lutheran and Presbyterian liturgy." Its web site says, "Some people wish to receive communion every week, others less often. We invite you to do what is meaningful and comfortable for you."  TLPC began 15 years ago with a vision of being a new local expression of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) in its rural resort area near the California-Nevada border; it later joined with the PC(USA). The ELCA and PC(USA) have been partners in a Formula of Agreement, adopted by the ELCA in 1997 and declared ratified by PC(USA) presbyteries in 1998.

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Relationships with other Reformed churches in the U.S.
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U.S. Reformed churches may come together over a confessional document

A project in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has intersected with a project of two other North American Reformed churches. When the Reformed Church in America (RCA) and Christian Reformed Church (CRC) synods, separated in 1857, met for the first time in joint session, they adopted jointly prepared new translations of the Reformed confessions they share—the Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, and Canons of Dort. Now the new translation of one of these, the Heidelberg Confession (which is already in the PC(USA Book of Confessions in an older translation), has been approved by the 220th General Assembly (2012) and has been sent to the presbyteries for a 2/3 majority vote to ratify. The chair of the PC(USA) committee on the Heidelberg Catechism was Neal D. Presa, the moderator of the 220th General Assembly. He says, “This is a significant and momentous occasion for these three Reformed churches in North America to come together over a confessional document that has been, arguably, the most used and translated document in the Reformed tradition.”

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) bilateral relationships

Reformed-Catholic dialogue completes work on baptism and the eucharist

"These Living Waters: Common Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Baptism," coming from the seventh round of Reformed-Catholic dialogue, was approved by the PC(USA)'s 217th General Assembly (2008); this was later ratified by vote of the presbyteries. The ecumenically historic baptismal agreement was approved by the Catholic bishops in October 2010, thereby making full official acceptance of one another's baptisms complete for the two churches based on the use of flowing water and the biblical invocation of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. See the background of concerns Catholics brought to this dialogue.

From a later stage in the same dialogue round, a document "This Bread of Life," reflects the dialoguers' positions on the eucharist. It presents each tradition's understandings concerning five themes: epiclesis (action of the Spirit), anamnesis (remembrance), the presence of Christ, offering/sacrifice, and discipleship. The paper acknowledges that "full ecclesial communion" does not exist between Catholic and Reformed Christians but that an "imperfect" communion is a reality. In this situation, the Catholic Church cannot extend an invitation to receive Communion; conversely, "Roman Catholics who attend Reformed celebrations of the Lord‘s Supper must refrain from receiving communion there, even though the Reformed liturgies of the Lord‘s Supper invite all the baptized . . . to receive at the table." Nonetheless, one of the Catholic partners said, "We may not be on the same page, but we are a lot closer . . . than we thought."

Robina Winbush, the PC(USA) associate stated clerk for ecumenical concerns, has expressed the hope that congregations might study the results of the dialogue together in a variety of settings.

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Co-chairs were Fuller Seminary president Richard Mouw, representing the PC(USA) and Catholic bishop Patrick Cooney. Robina Winbush and Martha Moore-Keish (pictured) also represented the PC(USA). Moore-Keish was also a member of the PC(USA) Sacraments Study Group that prepared a document, Invitation to Christ: A Guide to Sacramental Practices. Other Reformed members of the Reformed-Catholic dialogue came from the Reformed Church of America, the Christian Reformed Church, and the United Church of Christ. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America observed. See a history of forty years of the Reformed-Catholic dialogue.

 

An important insight into the workings of the dialogue partners is reported: ". . . we learned what the nature of a dialogue is. It is not just comparative theology. We accepted that the other believed what they believed in good faith. As a result we never felt the need to ask, ‘Why do you believe what you believe?’ Rather we clarified our doctrine with each other so that we could find convergences, then we were able to explore the differences to see if they were church dividing.'”

 

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Recent Presbyterian dialogues and agreements in the U.S.

International dialogues The PC(USA) understands itself to be in international dialogues through the World Council of Churches and, especially, through the Reformed conversations carried on by the World Commuinion of Reformed Churches (previously WARC). Lutheran-Reformed agreementx The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has a full communion agreement with the Reformed Church in America, the United Church of Christ, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America commonly identified as the Formula of Agreement. As a recent paper, "The Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace" from the PC(USA) theology and worship office, says, the agreement "sets off ways in which [our] walls can become porous without dissolving the boundaries that distinguish the four denomination." (page 2) A meeting of Formula of Agreement partners in 2009 led to a decision to convene a conversation on the hermeneutics of human sexuality beginning in November 2011 in Chicago, with two additional meetings to follow in 2012. Episcopal-PC(USA) agreement An agreement that includes eucharistic hospitality was adopted by Presbyterians, through the General Assembly in 2008 and by subsequent vote of the presbyteries, and by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in 2009. See an Episcopal article and overview. See the PC(USA)-prepared frequently asked questions written before the agreement was approved. New dialogue concerning liturgy, worship, and sacramental theology has begun, with a next meeting set for May 2011. Moravian-PC(USA) agreement A covenant relationship with the Moravian Church in America, Northern and Southern Provinceswas adopted by Presbyterians through the General Assembly in 2008 and by subsequent vote of the presbyteries. Moravians voted affirmatively in 2010. See the "An Invitation to the Table" document. See also the PC(USA)'s frequently asked questions and a Moravian briefing sheet. Bilateral results Additionally, the results of more bilateral dialogue are beginning to bear fruit. Some of these results are in the form of covenant agreements through which each church maintains its own autonomy and individual polity but is open to possibilities for greater witness and mission in joint relationship. (Note that all bilateral ecumenical agreements require adoption by both churches before they can become determinative in the relationship.): • Korean Presbyterian-PC(USA) With the Korean Presbyterian Church in America—A covenant relationship was adopted by the PC(USA), through the General Assembly in 2008 and by subsequent vote of the presbyteries. See frequently asked questions. • Cumberland-PC(USA) With the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America—Strengthened relationships culminated in concurrent General Assemblies in 2006. • Catholic-Reformed With the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (including, on the Reformed side, the Christian Reformed Church in North America, the Reformed Church in America, and the United Church in Christ)—A formal Common Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Baptism (p.5) was approved by Presbyterians at the General Assembly in 2008 and by subsequent vote of the presbyteries; it was approved by the bishops in 2010. The CRC, RCA, and UCC adopted the agreement this summer. Further dialogue has resulted in an agreed document on the eucharist yet to come before the respective ecclesiastical bodies; see above. A new bilateral • Seventh-day Adventist-PC(USA) With the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA)—Authorization to participate in formal dialogue, to begin in the fall of 2010 and to extend over a four-year period, approved by the General Assembly in 2010. Topics for discussion will include the law, atonement, prophecy, Sabbath, social justice, religious liberty, worship and communion, and education of clergy with an intent to better understand one another and explore ways to approach the Table together. The next meeting will be in November 2011. (Before formal authorization, three exploratory conversations were held annually from 2006.) [See a March 2011 RNS news story about the growth of SDA.] Churches in correspondence The PC(USA) understands a category of relationships known as "churches in correspondence." See the list of these churches. See the PC(USA) Ecumenical Relations web pages for more information.

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