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That ALL may be ONE
Perceptions and Models of Ecumenicity
Harding Meyer, Wm.B.Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1999 156p
Review by Ray Hoekzema
As stated clerk of our Reformed Churches from 1982-1994 and now as
president of the NSW Council of Churches, I have always been interested
in ecumenical activity. Ecclesiastically speaking, I’m interested in how
the other ‘half’ lives. Hence, this title in Eerdmans’ catalogue caught
my attention.
Since it is God who assembles the One Church, we need to acknowledge
that He creates it as belonging to Himself as “people of God”, “Body of
Christ” and “Temple” of the Holy Spirit. The basic ecumenical conviction
is that the unity of the church is “God’s will” and the ecumenical
indicative is that it is “God’s gift”.
The book is both broad and detailed in its analysis of the subject
matter and is divided into two main parts. Firstly, Understanding of the
Unity of the Church and how this is realised through the various means
of wide and close fellowship. At the outset, Meyer points out that
Christians and Churches bring their own ecclasiastical traditions and
their own understanding of the unity of the church into the ecumenical
movement. That in itself brings about something of a confrontation, but
it is considered to be of manageable proportions within the ecumenical
movement.
Driven by the fact that “essential unity” of the church is the One
Church, we have a common starting and reference point. The aim of the
ecumenical movement is to let the unity become ‘visible’, in order that
the world may believe. It is the ecumenical imperative. The book has
obtained a lot of its analysis from World Council of Churches sources,
going back over many decades. In that sense it has little to say about
the history or the development of the Reformed understanding of
ecumenicity. However, it makes the point that the churches of the
Reformation and the Anglican churches reject the demand for strong
uniformity and affirm the possibility of diversity. The quest for unity
and diversity is dealt with at some length, but it acknowledges that the
pure preaching of the gospel and the faithful administration of the
sacraments are the basis for the true unity of the Christian Church.
The second part of the book deals extensively with “Models of Union”,
such as ‘federation’ which is considered a first step to union;
‘intercommunion’, an interim step; and ‘organic union’ as the ideal. It
speaks of mutual recognition and various concepts of church fellowship,
i.e. doing things together. The book is insightful and particularly
valuable for those who have a depth of interest in ecumenical activity
and a desire to see church-unity progress and become more visible than
what it has been so far.
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