Dallas, Texas (June 14, 2009) - John H. Thomas, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, offered a challenging "fresh look" at the meaning of the "polar star of unity" for Disciples in his address at the 10th Joe A. and Nancy Vaughn Stalcup Lecture on Christian Unity.   The lecture, Polar Star or Shooting Star: Ecumenism's Challenge Today, held at East Dallas Christian Church, included an honest critique of the ecumenical movement today as Thomas drew upon his 18 years of leadership within the ecumenical movement, both in the US and internationally.

In addressing the question, "What are we to make of the fact that the ecumenical movement today often feels listless, that ecumenical institutions that have sought to embody it are often weak and frighteningly threatened, and that church after church has once again grown preoccupied with its own confessions, traditions, and commitments so that even ecumenical engagement becomes an opportunity to defend who we are and have been rather than discover together who we might become?," Thomas offered three responses:

1) the happy dream of Christian friendship as the foundation of unity has smashed headlong into the hard realities of sharp theological differences that endure, moral conflicts that persist, and arrogant assertions of truth that offend;

2) we have learned to settle for the significant but partial ecumenical accomplishments that have been achieved, rather than see them as the foundation for the ecumenical vocation that yet lies before us; and,

3), we have lost sight of the truth that our brokenness is sin, a denial of God's gift and design. Disunity has grown respectable, a status quo that fails to scandalize or convict, and therefore does not cry out for conversion.

As he looked to the future of the ecumenical movement, Thomas concluded that the challenge to the ecumenical movement today is not simply organizational, or failures in leadership, or the financial crises in the mainline churches. Rather, "at the core is a spiritual and theological challenge. . . . It means confession and repentance, an acknowledgement that what we're dealing with is not just inconvenience or embarrassment, but sin."

"We are called to be the friends of those whom Christ chooses," Thomas said.

A highlight of this year's Lecture was a worship service that included the combined choirs of East Dallas Christian Church and the choir and orchestra of the Cathedral of Hope, a congregation affiliated with the UCC.

The biennial Stalcup lectureship is presented jointly by the Council on Christian Unity of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Stalcup School of Theology for the Laity at Brite Divinity School. Brite president, D. Newell Williams, stated that "the Stalcup School of Theology for the Laity and the School's partnering with the Council on Christian Unity to present the Stalcup Lecture on Christian Unity are both signature expressions of Brite's mission to educate women and men to lead as witnesses to God's reconciling and transforming love and justice."

The 11th Stalcup Lecture will feature Sharon E. Watkins, General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), on June 12, 2011.

To hear a podcast of John Thomas' lecture, go to: http://www.brite.tcu.edu/stalcup-lecture/

For more information on the lecture, contact either Eilene Theilig at e.theilig@tcu.edu, or Robert Welsh at rwelsh@ccu.diciples.org.