Ecumenical Angst

I am a big believer in ecumenism and am sure that we can do more together than we can apart. Thatcham has always been a town where the churches work well together. However, in the space of a couple of days I have twice had my faith in ecumenism rocked.

As a town we are going through a number of changes with ministers from various churches leaving and some new ones starting (not always quite enough to replace those leaving). This has led to a re-evaluation of what the churches in Thatcham do ecumenically. Some of this re-evaluation has been productive - trying to get a focus back on mission and not just repeating the events we have done for the last however many years. However, some of it has seen denominations retreating back into their comfortable shells. It has been mainly the larger churches who have felt that they are happy for other churches to help out with activities that they are doing, but are now reluctant to get involved in anything else. They seem to be suggesting that their mission is more important, or that ours lacks value or worth. I hope this isn't just sour grapes as I belong to a smaller church that now finds itself somewhat on the sidelines. I believe that the mission of the Church should be varied, celebrating the gifts of the many and being of benefit and value to the whole community. This broad mission can often only be possible when churches work together so we can unite similar gifts of people across all churches. Sadly, it is moving now to being the position that only events that have a clear preaching of the gospel is of any worth.

What has angered me more is speaking to a couple of youngsters I know who attend a different church. When they found out that I had just got back from a Scout St George's Day parade which happens to be held in the local Catholic Church (although presided over by an Anglican vicar), the younger boy (aged 7) told me that I should never go into a Catholic Church as they don't believe what normal Christians believe. Now there are a number of beliefs that many Catholics hold that I would disagree with, but I also accept that I don't hold a monopoly upon the truth either. And for a church to indoctrinate children into thinking that all Catholics are bad I find horrific. However old we are, faith should always be approached in dialogue. We must always be open to new ideas and we must bring the children of our churches up to be people open to new ideas, new ways of seeing God. This did remind me of Jesus' warning about trying to take a speck out of someone else's eye...

I am still an ecumenist. I still believe that we can do more together than we can apart. I don't want to see the end to denominations as I believe they often offer something slightly different, they give rise to a slightly different expression of God. But at the moment my ecumenism is a bit more of a struggle than it has been in previous years. Still, must keep on...