The End Times is begun with Bishops to vote on joining new ecumenical forum

The End Times is begun with U. S. Bishops of the Roman jurisdiction of the Catholic Church to vote on joining new ecumenical forum

Bishops to vote on joining new ecumenical forum

By Jerry Filteau
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops faces a major ecumenical decision when the bishops gather for their fall meeting in Washington Nov. 15-18.

They will be asked to vote on joining Christian Churches Together in the USA, a new, broadly based ecumenical forum for fellowship, dialogue and joint witness.

"The purpose of Christian Churches Together is to enable churches and national Christian organizations to grow closer together in Christ in order to strengthen our Christian witness in the world," says a 25-page background report on the proposal that was sent to all the bishops before the meeting.

"CCT-USA would be a forum for Christian dialogue. As an organization it would not be able to speak on behalf of any participant without its agreement," the background material says.

Since the Catholic Church entered the ecumenical movement with the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, Catholic churches have joined national councils of churches in 70 countries. One of the most significant exceptions in the world has been the United States.

The report says that in the 1960s the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, as the USCCB was then called, "commissioned a study of possible membership in the National Council of Churches. The report, which was published in 1972, observed that if the NCCB were to join the NCC as it was constituted at that time, the Catholic Church, because of its size, would dominate the organization."

"Nevertheless the U.S. Catholic bishops have had a generally cooperative relationship with the NCC over the years," it added. The Catholic Church participates in the NCC's Faith and Order activities.

The NCC's 36 member denominations -- mainly from the Orthodox and historic Protestant families plus a few historic racial/ethnic churches -- represent about one-third of U.S. Christians.

One of the chief membership aims of CCT -- which has been supported from the start by the NCC -- is to have significant participation by the Catholic Church, the evangelical/ Pentecostal and historic racial/ethnic churches as well as the Orthodox and historic Protestant churches.

Unlike the NCC, which has highly structured departments and extensive staff at its New York headquarters, CCT is envisioned as operating with minimal staff -- one professional and one support person -- and a steering committee composed of three representatives from each of the five church families plus several at-large members.

"CCT is not a new mega-organization of churches but primarily a forum for participation, cooperation and interaction," says the report to the bishops.

It will have an annual General Assembly, and business between assemblies will be conducted by the steering committee.

CCT began with an invitation sent out to a number of church leaders in the summer of 2001 by Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore; the Rev. Robert Edgar, NCC general secretary; the Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, general secretary of the Reformed Church in America; and Bishop Tod D. Brown of Orange, Calif., then chairman of the bishops' Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.

In response to the invitation 27 church leaders met Sept. 7-8, 2001, at St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore to explore the idea of a broader structure under which the wide diversity of Christian churches could come together to strengthen their unity in Christ and empower their witness and mission.

There was unanimous agreement on the value of such an entity and the need for all five major families of Christian churches to be included among the participants. The group adopted the name Christian Churches Together in the USA and appointed an interim steering committee to organize further meetings with wider participation and chart the initial phases of development.

Other major meetings took place in April 2002 in Chicago, in January 2003 in Pasadena, Calif., and in January 2004 in Houston, with the number of church leaders involved expanding along the way.

At the Houston meeting, with more than 25 churches already in the process of joining CCT, it was decided to hold the organization's inaugural meeting in 2005.

"Since by the summer of 2004 a significant number of evangelical and Pentecostal groups had agreed to participate, the foundation of this new entity hinges entirely on the USCCB's decision in this matter," says the report sent to the bishops.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, has strongly encouraged USCCB membership in CCT.

In a June letter to Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, Calif., current chairman of the Committee on Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs, Cardinal Kasper wrote that "one of its strongest points is the effort to bring into discussion those Christians such as evangelicals and Pentecostals who are among the fastest growing Christian communities, and who have not been sufficiently involved in the ecumenical dialogue."

The cardinal called the CCT "a fresh and creative initiative to broaden the ecumenical table" and suggested it would likely contribute as well to the Vatican's own ongoing efforts to build stronger relations with evangelicals and Pentecostals.

The CCT organizational plan says the organization "welcomes churches, Christian communities and national Christian organizations that:

-- "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as God and savior according to the Scriptures.

-- "Worship and serve the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

-- "Seek ways to work together in order to present a more credible Christian witness in and to the world."

The plan calls for an annual three-day General Assembly "for fellowship, prayer, theological discussion and discernment of potential areas for common witness."

Delegates at the assembly "will consist of recognized senior leadership or designated representative of each participant group plus an additional representative for each five million members -- or fraction thereof -- in their church or association of churches," the plan says. With some 67 million U.S. Catholics, the Catholic delegation would be the largest single group at the assembly with 15 members -- 14 based on membership plus the designated leader.

In addition to the church bodies, national Christian organizations can form up to 20 percent of the membership of the CCT and of its General Assembly. Such organizations will also be represented on the steering committee by at-large members, selected in accord with criteria to be established by the committee.

The plan calls for all decision-making in the CCT to be by consensus. "Only when all members present either say 'yes' or agree to 'stand aside' will the body move ahead on any action. One 'no' vote is sufficient to stop any proposed action," the plan says. It also specifies that all five church families must be represented in any such vote.

As a broad forum for Christian dialogue, however, the CCT could serve as a place in which churches can develop new relationships and form coalitions with other denominations to address issues of common concern.

Father Arthur Kennedy, executive director of the bishops' Secretariat for Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs, told Catholic News Service that, under the proposal being presented to the bishops, the ex officio head of the Catholic delegation to the General Assembly would be the chairman of the Committee on Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs. He said the USCCB president would appoint the other delegates in consultation with the committee. The committee chairman would also automatically be one of the three Catholic members of the CCT steering committee.

The report estimates that the annual cost to the USCCB for membership in the new body will be about $12,000 to $15,000.

More information about the CCT is available on its Web site of: http://www.christianchurchestogether.org

To Change the Nation and the World