In 2004, our church celebrated the 200th anniversary of The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery, a document that established our basic direction as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and marked our fundamental identity as a people of unity, reconciliation and oneness. It is important, therefore, to understand some of the background of this document as we claim our identity as a Christian unity movement for the world of the 21st century.
It was Barton W. Stone (1772-1844), a Presbyterian minister in the young frontier state of Kentucky, who had helped bring a major "sacramental revival" to his Cane Ridge church in 1801. In that revival he experienced several denominations working together (Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists) to bring the Gospel to the mission field of the rapidly expanding nation. Stone became convinced that he no longer wanted to be a defender of "partyism." He desired instead to be a servant of the one Church of Jesus Christ.
Alienation soon developed between Barton Stone and the rigid Calvinism of some Kentucky Presbyterians. In the resulting dispute, Stone and four other ministers withdrew (or were expelled) in 1803 from the Synod of Kentucky and immediately constituted their own "Springfield Presbytery." It was only nine months later, however, that these ministers, deciding that their intention was not to form another "party" contributing to the further division of the Body of Christ, began a process and initiated a movement for re-uniting all Christians. And so it was that, on June 28, 1804, these ministers met again at Cane Ridge and drafted a dramatic proposal, The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery, calling for the union of all Christians in America.
The first item of that document set forth a bold new ecumenical principle that has shaped the vision that marks the identity of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to this day: "We will that this body [the Springfield Presbytery] die, be dissolved, and sink into union with the Body of Christ at large, for there is but one body and one spirit, even as we are called into one hope of our calling."
We forget how bold and dramatic the words of that document sounded in 1804: to die,...and sink into union with the Body of Christ at large. It was - and is - a vision that places its ultimate trust in a resurrection faith: dying, and being raised to a new life in Christ. Disunity and division were a scandal to the Gospel. Unity, oneness, and reconciliation were not secondary themes to the message and witness of the New Testament Church; indeed, they stood at the very heart of the Church's preaching and proclamation.
The message of our movement was, and is, simple and understandable: We are called to oneness in Christ. There, the emphasis was, and is, upon (1) unity-with-diversity, (2) the freedom of the individual, and (3) a valuing of a reasoned faith.
The insight of the six signers of The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery and their willingness "to die,...and sink into union with the body of Christ at large," reflected the same truth found in the John 12:24: "unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."
I believe that we, as the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), need today to name, and to claim, and to re-commit ourselves to this core value of our life and witness as a people of an Easter faith and a Pentecost vision of the one Church, gathered by God's grace at a common table of Holy Communion, and sent forth to proclaim God's gift of wholeness and reconciliation to our divided, fearful and broken world.
The opening phrase in the Mission Imperative Statement for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) declares, "In our quest to embody Christian unity, led and empowered by the Holy Spirit..." Unity has been our quest for 200 years - not for ourselves alone; not only for the sake of the Church and its witness; but for the sake and salvation of the world, in order to glorify God!
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Dear Friends of Christian Unity,
Over the past six weeks there have been several new developments within Churches of Christ Uniting (CUIC) that I want to share with you - both as an update on this important ecumenical commitment in the life of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and as a vivid example of the way that the ecumenical movement seems to be moving these days.
First, the steps in movement forward:
But, there also have been steps in movement backward (or perhaps, to the side):
A 'mini' plenary is thus being proposed to look at where things stand; to assess where and what CUIC should be doing in the next period; and, to seek God's guidance into the future of this relationship that (from my vantage point in having worked with COCU for most of its 40 years of "consulting about church union" and with CUIC in its five years of "seeking to manifest our full unity in Christ in the areas of mission, especially in seeking to overcome racism, and ministry") is essential to the calling of the church in our nation to witness to God's gift of authentic community based upon full reconciliation and justice for all persons in Christ.
When many Disciples think about the movement of the "ecumenical movement" -- which, admittedly, is not a huge crowd on most days! - they often imagine a movement that is linear: advancing pretty much from point A (the place of division) to point B (a place of growing unity and oneness in our life as Christians and churches). Unfortunately, that is not always, if ever, the way things go. It is, rather, more of a dance: a couple of steps forward, a couple of steps backward, and some steps to the side.
My prayer for the "on-going movement of CUIC" is that God will be at work to enliven our dance; to direct all of our steps to greater faithfulness; and, especially to encourage us to take all of our partners more seriously in where they are, and where we have too often stumbled or stepped on feet that have already endured too much pain.
It's the dance of ecumenism.
Robert Welsh