Ecumenism. Our English word comes from the Greek meaning “the whole world”. Ecumenism has become a church word used to describe the efforts of various Christian denominations working together in cooperation. The ecumenical movement has been around in one way or another for many years but picked up speed after World War II.
Christian churches have finally recognized they have more in common than they have differences. Of course, what we most have in common is Jesus Christ. My understanding is that at one time all that was needed to qualify as a Christian church for membership into the World and National Council of churches was to agree to a statement such as “We believe, teach, and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior.” Many decades ago, one such group, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was denied membership because they could not say that.
Certainly, it is better that we churches work together in common mission than in our separate tunnels. We can do more and can learn from each other. I have served as a pastor during very ecumenical times and am the better for it. Interestingly, I am also a better Lutheran for it.
While I would agree we might have too many churches (Hey, put your stones away and let me finish!), ecumenism seems to have morphed from cooperation, understanding, mission, and growing into a life line tossed into churches and denominations to for survival. Too often the survival we seek is not survival of the mission of Christ proclaiming the Good News into all the world but simply institutional survival. While the church like all movements needs a degree of institutionalization to live out its mission, it exists for the mission, no simply for survival so there is always a church.
There are concerns today; great concerns. The graying of our congregations, the shortage of clergy. It is now more expensive to operate as a church not just because of inflation but because more is expected of churches.
Too often we focus on what we no longer have. That is, of course, a downer, but it is also non-productive. Why don’t we look at what we do have? We have committed members and partners. There are young people in churches, especially ours. We have facilities underused and ripe for outreach ministries to the neighborhoods in which our churches are located. We have what is constitutive of the church: The Good News of Christ. Why not start from there. Who is in need of this news?
We are actually in a situation the church has been in before. The early church began with a handful of unqualified people in a pagan empire. They must not have spent much time with head down complaining about their small force among such a powerful force. They had something their world needed and they took it out into the world.
When our nation was born, in 1776 approximately 17% of the nation’s population was churched. The churches got busy. By 1960, the end of the church’s growth spurt following World War II, 60% belonged to a church. Today about 25-30% attend church regularly.
This is not news meant to depress. This is information to motivate us. The mission field is vast! While the “nones” are the fastest growing group today, that is those who say they have no religious affiliation, they are not usually anti-Christian. They are many times anti-church. Many like Jesus but dislike how the followers of Jesus treat people and live. This provides a soil that is rich for planting and growth.
We often hear young people are not interested in church and faith. I have read they cannot be reached. First of all, many of them can’t return to church as they have never been there in the first place. Second of all, prior to the pandemic campus ministry in our own denomination, the ELCA was growing for a few years in a row. Young people can be interested, and they can be reached.
Many decades ago, Lutherans who moved into a new community looked for a Lutheran church. Likewise with Methodists, Catholics, Presbyterians and others. That is not true anymore. True this means we may lose some long-time Lutherans. It also means the field is wide open. We are no longer restricted to target “our own.” We can find “our own” in many different flavors of the faith. Personally, that is what makes churches in the Western US exciting to me. There is that wonderful diversity of background unafraid to grow, unafraid to do things differently.
You now have a lot of opportunities to do things differently. What might that difference look like? What needs surround the area around University Lutheran/Lutheran Campus Ministry that are not being met and could be served by ULC/LCM? What needs might need a stronger shot in the arm or a different expression?
God will be at work here to make things new. God is not looking at what used to be or what has been lost. God looks at what could be. Start looking around at what you DO have. Run with it and see who might need it. Mission is the church’s call, not survival.