RESOURCING THE CHURCH FOR ECUMENICAL MINISTRy A ...

of time and capacity. Who on earth can be in touch
with 600 congregations in Pierce County; can you
hear the faint echo of the pastor wondering about
the people of the congregation that she serves?
This next observation may be a bit harsh, but from
the other side of my mouth let me say that ecumenical
organizations are where former local
pastors come to be executive directors. Their
commitment and passion for sound theological
principles remain. What may be slowly evaporating
is a love for and with the local church—not in its
ideal state, but as it is—often declining, crusty and
old. Ecumenical organizations are often led by
people knowledgeable about the church, about
questions of faith, with deep commitments to
community service and a desire to pursue just
policies. But ecumenical organizations, particularly
at the local level, spend less time engaged in faithful
dialogue and more time in delivering community
services. They are led by people who do not have the
knowledge or experience to run a nonprofit social
service organization, nor are they likely to learn to
do so. Instead, executive directors of ecumenical
agencies often hire someone, or a couple of
someones, to run the social services—which in turn
frees them up to do the “ecumenical work” of the
organization.
It’s not a matter of interest, or even desire,
but of time and capacity.
Increasingly, state and local councils of churches, by
whatever name, are decreasing in size, even closing.
Leadership seems stymied, so they invest themselves
in what they know best. Whether that is public policy
advocacy, disaster recovery efforts, or educational
programming, the leader gets busy with a myriad of
important activities and loses sight of the need to be
a leader.
In the midst of these times, there are also great
opportunities for local ecumenism. It seems that
church polity is becoming increasingly local, mostly
by practice. As congregations experience themselves
as individual congregations with limited relationships
to and with congregations who share the same
brand identity, they will either feel isolated or they
will reach out to the congregations down the block.
In such a context, congregations may be more
willing to explore their relationships with other
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churches in their neighborhoods or local
communities.
Whether that is public policy advocacy,
disaster recovery efforts, or educational
programming, the leader gets busy with
a myriad of important activities and loses
sight of the need to be a leader.
As churches are encouraged and equipped to be in
relationship with one another, they will experience
a sense of strength as they explore how they can truly
engage one another in meaningful, practical,
mutually-beneficial ways. This provides local
ecumenical organizations an opportunity to convene,
facilitate and equip local congregations for the
sense of renewal and transformation that awaits
them as they re-think what it means to be the
church, and their relationships with one another.
There are many who place ecumenism on a
continuum, with cooperation on one end and
koinonia on the other, with varying stages of
development in between. The use of a continuum
is a helpful image to hold up, and a tremendous way
to explain the different expressions of ecumenism.
But the image leaves us wanting for a number of
reasons, not least of which is the presumed
preference for activities on the koinonia end of the
continuum. But let me suggest that the line of the
continuum might bend into a circle in which we can
experience the fullness of ecumenism. Rather than
pressing each cooperative effort towards koinonia,
we celebrate in the ecumenical expression of
cooperation that is, in itself, a worthwhile relationship,
and watch expressions of ecumenism dance
with one another in surprising and unexpected
ways, allowing people of faith to grow in their
relationships with one another across denominational
lines.
After 23 years of marriage, my wife is finally coming
to realize that I am high maintenance. She discovered
that that was the beast with which she had
been wrestling while we were having dinner with
another couple. So, I asked my friend from that
couple what her first clue was that I was high
maintenance, and after a pause she said, “every one
of your shirts is starched, even your golf shirts.” So
it may not come as a surprise that some would
consider me to be “intense.” Translated, I would
Morton • Contextual and Local Ecumenism