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Baptist Alliance, UCC, Disciples, Deepening Ecumenical Friendship BALTIMORE, MD, July 26, 2002 -- At the half-way mark in the current round of ecumenical conversations involving the Alliance of Baptists, the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), members of the joint dialogue team have reached agreement on the nature of the ongoing relationship they plan to recommend to all three bodies next year. Although several models of potential partnership have been explored, the team agreed during its last meeting, held May 7-8 in Baltimore, to recommend an ongoing relationship built on a "deepening ecumenical friendship" between and among the three participating bodies. The decision followed a brief presentation during the closing session in Baltimore by Robert K. Welsh, ecumenical officer of the Disciples of Christ. In his remarks, Welsh pointed to the passage in the Gospel of John (15:12ff.) in which Jesus declared to his disciples: "You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father." Welsh is one of two Disciples representatives who have participated as observers in the current round of talks involving the UCC and the Alliance of Baptists. Both these bodies, whose representatives have been talking since 1997 about the shape of an ongoing ecumenical relationship, invited Disciples participation in formal actions last year. Following the May meeting of the dialogue team, Welsh stated: "Based upon our participation as observers in the past two dialogue sessions ... Disciples are encouraged to look at the possibility of becoming full partners in this dialogue that offers such promise for the future of the ecumenical movement." He said his board would consider the matter when it meets in November. UCC Ecumenical Officer Lydia Veliko and Alliance of Baptists Executive Director Stan Hastey, co-conveners of the dialogue team, welcomed Welsh's willingness to pursue the possibility of Disciples involvement as a full partner in the talks. Noting that Disciples and Baptists are finding each other locally in the same way Baptists and UCC folks have done, Veliko observed: "The dialogue between the Alliance of Baptists and the UCC is such a vital one because it touches at the heart of local ecumenical energy and efforts. The work of the local, regional, and national leaders on behalf of the relationship between the Alliance and the UCC is done for the sake of the mission and ministry of the congregations. This is an ecumenical development to celebrate, not least because it models an intentional commitment to brothers and sisters in Christ." Hastey agreed, saying: "These conversations are gaining momentum, not because our evolving friendship was dreamed up in a conference room in Cleveland, Indianapolis or Washington," referring to the cities where the UCC, Disciples and Alliance are headquartered. "Rather, our ecumenical friendship is evolving naturally, as like-minded people from these three bodies find one another in their own communities," he elaborated. "It seems our task is to encourage and facilitate such encounters, always remembering that God's Spirit moves where it will and that we must hurry along to catch up with what God is already doing in the churches." Two additional sessions in the current round of talks have been scheduled, both to be held in Baltimore and hosted by the UCC's Central Atlantic Conference -- Oct. 30-31 and Jan. 16-17, 2003. -- end -- 02-74 Council on Christian Unity |