Panel Presentation on The Church: Towards a Common Vision

Father Alexi Smith, Chairperson of the Southern California Ecumenical Commission, asked panelists in what ways we agree with the document of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order Commission, The Church: Towards a Common Vision (TCTCV),¹ and whether there are areas with which we disagree. I thank Father Alexi for his friendship and support in the monthly meetings of the Southern California Faith and Order Commission, where I am able to share a perspective as a representative of the Christian Science Church.

Before commenting on the document specifically, a story from 1 Kings 18 of Elijah and his work to eliminate the Baal prophets came to mind as I was preparing for this panel. I realized that regardless of our affiliation with various communions, we come together at this conference (and in the spirit of koinonia) to fight together the Baal prophets of today—whether secularism, materialism, nationalism, etc.—with the Christian values we all hold dear. This is the spirit of ecumenism that the North American Academy of Ecumenists (NAAE) and TCTCV represent.

Points of Agreement

As for areas of agreement, Christians have two foundational points on which we unite: the primacy of the scriptures, and of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. TCTCV launches its sixty-nine points on the first of these platforms, the scriptures. It lays an unmistakable biblical foundation with its introductory statement, “For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”² Were Paul with us today, he might have amended his comments to describe the one body as having “Catholic or Orthodox, Lutherans or Christian Scientists,” yet we could still each bear witness, regardless of religious affiliation, to drinking “of one Spirit.” By its many scriptural quotations throughout the sixty-nine paragraphs, we are constantly reminded of this common source for our guidance and inspiration.

A second way the document contributes to our quest for Christian unity is by articulating the overall mission of the church. By highlighting koinonia, or communion (as Paragraph 1 defines it),³ we are reminded that all are made in God’s image and likeness,⁴ with the inherent ability to experience our unity first with God and then, because of the Creator, with each other as the Almighty’s offspring and thus, our brothers and sisters. This is, in fact, the mission of the church—to bring this healing perspective to a world sorely in need.

Paragraph 2 builds on this mission and witness by explaining how we are all empowered by the Holy Spirit to follow in the Master’s footsteps of healing, by being a community of witnesses, worshipers, and disciples. These are such fundamental reminders of our individual and collective mission as Christians.⁵

“Koinonia” has many meanings, but, in the context of Christian unity, perhaps one of the strongest is the friendship of communion with those of differing faith communities. Because we are in this fundamental relationship with each other—provided by God—relationships are being developed with mutual regard, “advanced by ecumenical encounter.”⁶ As stated in the 1982 WCC Faith and Order document, Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry, consensus is that “experience of life and articulation of faith necessary to realize and maintain the church’s visible unity, rooted in the communion built on Jesus Christ and the witness of the apostles.”⁷

We appreciate how the adaptability of Paul’s preaching was emphasized in the document, such as the way the Apostle used the Athenians’ own philosophers when speaking at Mars Hill.⁸ This indicates the ongoing need for sharing the Good News with tremendous diversity. Likewise, in Paragraph 12, we are reminded that the church has always, from its earliest days, had great variety in its worship practices, communion rituals, and ecclesiological insights found in the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. This reminds us to celebrate such diversity, not shrink from it.⁹

Another way that TCTCV unifies is the reminder...