Christians together in harmony?

NEWS ANALYSIS
Next week the Catholic bishops discuss membership of a new ecumenical body and are expected to agree to proceed. But as Martin Newland found, other denominations are voicing their own doubts.
OVER the past several weeks evangelical Christians from many denominations have been expressing their concern at plans for the formation of a new trans-denominational body to replace the British Council of Churches as a servicing agency for ecumenism throughout Britain.
The Inter-Church Process, which for the past five years has been exploring ways of bonding the churches into a relationship of mutual support and understanding, reached its climax last January when participating denominations were asked to give their assent to a series of structures at national, intermediate and local level to bind them together in a "hitherto unprecedented relationship" (Catholic Herald January 27).
These structures centre on a national ecumenical body, to be known as Churches Together in England (CTE) which is to replace the BCC and which is to include for the first time full Catholic participation. Denominations engaged in the Inter Church Process were asked in January to say yes or no to the "instruments" by which these new structures for unity would be set up. They have until September to make their decision.
The chances are that the mainline denominations, the Catholics and the Anglicans, will have no problem with the proposals. From a practical point of view, both groups have a history of being able to maintain a high profile in the nation's religious scene, with their bishops readily listened to, agencies which give them an air of professionalism and competence. With this base and their numerical strength, these two denominations will dominate the new assembly, smaller groups fear.
Evangelical Christians are thus less inclined to pledge themselves to a project which in their eyes may well just raise further the Catholic and (High) Anglican national profile.
The Baptists are to vote on April 19 whether to endorse the CTE proposals. Last week the Baptist Union Council recommended by a majority vote that Baptists should "participate in the proposed ecumenical bodies for England and Ireland as a full member."
"We shall have in our contingent some heartfelt misgivings about committing ourselves to the Inter Church Process," said Douglas Sparks, Assistant General Secretary of Baptist Union. "Some of our churches will say that it is practically and theologically impossible to work with other Christians in this way. Many believe that any ecumenical venture with Catholics automatically has to entail consenting to Catholic beliefs and practices."
It is not just the numerical superiority of other denominations that makes the evangelicals uneasy, however. They are also concerned that their theological and doctrinal beliefs, which entail a healthy distrust of the episcopal office, and obedience to a fundamental interpretation of scripture, could be diluted by traditional Catholic and High Anglican beliefs.
The most strongly articulated fears so far expressed concerning the Inter Church proposals have come from the Evangelical Alliance, an organisation which claims to represent one million evangelical Christians from all denominations. A statement last week from EA said that "the proposals put forward by the Inter Church Process deserve more than an unconsidered reflex action from the evangelical churches."
EA are seeking a theological underpinning for the project, one which they say must be based on "the inspiration and authority of scripture." The organisation also believes that, despite assurances to the contrary from CTE's architects, the proposals are bent not just on a practical cooperation in ecumenical initiatives, but also on "organic unity," which entails the repective dogmatic positions of the churches involved.
"It is impossible to separate doctrine from social concerns," said Dr David Samuel, Director of the Church Society which represents the evangelical wing of the Church of England. "All practical ventures undertaken by churches of different denominations presuppose a doctrinal basis. For the C of E evangelicals this doctrinal basis is summed up in Article 19 of the 39 Articles that the church is a place where the gathered faithful assemble to hear the Word of God and where the sacraments are duly administered. 1 wonder if this new ecumenical assembly, with its High Church Anglican and Roman Catholic membership, will respect the Church of England's historic basis in scipture. 1 wonder also if it will accept the evangelical belief that bishops are not entirely indispensible."
This is the basis of Evangelical fears about the Inter Church Process: that ecumenical venture presupposes some doctrinal give and take, even if such an ecumenical venture is taken up with practical and social concerns as has been stressed so far by its architects. "With any ecumenical endeavour, a lowest common denominator has to be found. We are afraid that in this process the true evangelical voice will not be heard, a voice that is based on the authority of scripture, and on obedience rather than consensus," said Dr Samuel. With a realisation of evangelical concerns about the Inter Church Process comes the rather worrying scenario that the Churches Together in England structures will be unrepresentative of large sections of the Christian community. The Baptists have allowed for dissent by stipulating that individual churches may opt out of the Inter Church proceedings without in any way sacrificing their membership of the Baptist Union.
However, the majority view in Evangelical circles is that the new initiative should be given a try.
"It is incumbent upon us as Christians to do everything we can together," said Douglas Sparks of the Baptist Union. "People who are frightened of tying themselves more fully to Catholics or Anglicans can never be reasoned out of their fears, they have to take the plunge, experience relations with other denominations and realise that they have a human face. In my opinion this can only be achieved by pledging ourselves to the Inter Church Process."