RESOURCING THE CHURCH FOR ECUMENICAL MINISTRy A ...

prefer to spend more of my time in pursuit of
koinonia, the more intense form of relationships
one might say—a celebration at the Eucharistic Table
where we truly share our God-given love for one
another, where there is a mutual understanding of
our deepest hopes and fears, emptiness and desires.
But, alas, not belittling comments earlier today, but
on a more practical level, the Communion that
most of us share each Sunday at local Disciples
churches where we go is usually short of such an
experience.
A bit of a secret for you all. Today is my 29th
anniversary of staying sober. But in 29 years of
continuously going to recovery meetings, I have
experienced the rather extraordinary relationships
one can have with another human being. The
tragedies and disasters that can befall any of us are
openly and honestly explored for possible insights
and learnings, the celebrations and blessings
recognized as absolute miracles. As one recent
friend is fond of saying, “There is absolutely no way
that someone like me can travel from a freezer box
on Pacific Avenue and end up where I am today.
Absolutely no way. Yet here I am, thanks be to God.”
That sort of caring for one another, joining in our
journeys, traversing our troubles, living high on life
together, is something that we in the Church could
learn a little bit about.
What the current literature of our day tells us about
people’s spiritual yearnings is that more than
anything, people desire relationships—trusting,
meaningful, respectful relationships. It is paramount
that our congregations hear that good news
and identify one, or maybe two, of God’s gifts to the
church that will provide people with avenues
towards such relationships. Not the mechanics of
small group ministry, but gifts from God, or
charisms.
Let me apply such thinking to ecumenism, or
Christian Unity as lived out in the local community.
Remember that in the Pacific Northwest there are
but 35% of the people who even claim any religious
affiliation. Yes, 35%. Unlike Minnesota where I
spent the last 15 years, where 65% claimed to
regularly participate in a religious congregation. It
was Dr. Patricia Killen, Provost of Pacific Lutheran
University at the time, who penned what has been a
very popular book called The None-Zone, playing off
of the recent polls that report a growing, even a
majority of people in the Pacific Northwest who are
Morton • Contextual and Local Ecumenism
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claiming “none” as the category for their religious
affiliation.
A board member of Associated Ministries, Dr.
Kathy Russell, has been a close colleague of Dr.
Killan’s, so she brought the three of us together. For
more than two hours we explored the two charisms
Associated Ministries would like to lift up for the
community. Two charisms that are God’s gifts to and
for the ecumenical movement: 1) the gift of unity
(read “relationships”) and 2) the gift of dialogue.
While these gifts are not exclusively to the ecumenical
movement, it has been the ecumenical
movement that has spent more time, energy and
resources living into them than any other expression
of the Church.
First, the church is a center for the
community who gathers for worship and
fellowship. Some sociologists would call this
the bonding of the community.
Through the gift of unity and dialogue, Associated
Ministries will develop community-based dialogues.
That is to say, we will develop relationships
amongst churches in local communities throughout
Pierce County. In North Tacoma, the West Slope of
Tacoma, East Side of Tacoma, South Tacoma,
different parts of Puyallup, communities within the
City Lakewood, University Place, Firerest, rural
communities of Sumner, Graham, Eatonville.
Where there is interest and energy, we will bring
clergy and lay leaders together, strengthening
relationships in the local communities, and invite
people in those relationships to explore the topics
and issues that are of most concern to their
particular community through dialogue. Genuine
dialogue: expressing commitments to firmly held
beliefs, while listening deeply and intently with
respect to the other. In more secular worlds one
might think of this as civic engagement.
As congregations of all denominational stripes are
increasingly living into a congregational polity, it
seems that we are going to have to explore what it
means to be the church today. Let me share my latest
way of describing the church. It seems to me that the
church is the center for the community in two ways.
First, the church is a center for the community who
gathers for worship and fellowship. Some sociol-