Called to be the One Church; A response from the Scottish Churches.

Called to be the One Church.

The ‘Called to be one church’ text was adopted by the World Council of Churches 9th Assembly which met in Porto Alegre, Brazil in February 2006. The full text can be found at

http://www.wcc-assembly.info/en/theme-issues/assembly-documents/1-statements-documents-adopted/christian-unity-and-message-to-the-churches/called-to-be-the-one-church-as-adopted.html

The churches of the World Council were invited to respond to the document and in Scotland a working party was established through the ACTS Faith Studies Network to do so. The response below was affirmed by the Member Churches of ACTS at its Members’ Meeting on 19th November 2008. The response has been forwarded to the Faith and Order Commission within the World Council of Churches.


A response from the Scottish Churches.

At the request of the Church of Scotland, the Faith Studies Network of Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS) established a working group to consider the ‘Called to be the One Church’ document. The group’s remit was two fold a) to prepare a joint response to the document from Scotland’s churches and b) to develop material which would make ‘Called to be the One Church’ accessible to local congregations. In many ways the response has emerged from the task of developing materials for local congregations. The following churches chose to participate in the working group: Church of Scotland, Methodist Church, Salvation Army, Scottish Episcopal Church, United Free Church of Scotland, United Reformed Church. It was a particular matter of regret to members of the group that the Roman Catholic Church decided not to participate in the group. This response has been received and affirmed by the Members’ Meeting of ACTS.

Whilst raising valuable questions for the ecumenical journey, a key concern of the group was how to enable local congregations to engage with the issues in Called to be the One Church which are presented in a classical Faith and Order manner and vocabulary. The group was greatly assisted by three younger people (two in training for ordained ministry and one who is a church youth and children’s worker) who joined the group at its second meeting. Our approach to the text is now three fold and potentially interlocking. The first strand is a more traditional study process which will encourage consideration of the document through the headings of Visible Unity, The Creeds; Baptism and Mission. The questions in section 14 of the document will be woven through these sections. The second strand is material which will enable children and young people to engage with the document through the headings of Unity, Gifts, Baptism and Mission. The third strand will begin with the question, ‘Who am I?’ and will go on to explore the identities of other Christians and our shared common identity through a practical community based project. The resource material for the three strands will be available on the ACTS website and is intended to be launched at the Week of Prayer 2009.

During discussions the importance of ecumenical formation and opportunities for passing on the ecumenical vocabulary to others were noted. The group were encouraged that the Scottish Churches Sponsoring Body for Local Ecumenical Partnerships had identified ‘Called to the be the one Church’ as a tool for ecumenical formation for both clergy and lay people and that there had been a proposal made to the Church of Scotland Ecumenical Relations Committee that a workshop for young people be held, which is based around ‘Called to be the One Church’ which will enable participants to engage with ecumenism in the 21st century.

If ‘Called to be the one Church’ is an invitation to the churches to renew their commitment to the search for unity and deepen their dialogue then we would highlight the following initiatives where we see this taking place.
• The publication, ‘Baptism: Catholic and Reformed’ undertaken by the Joint Commission on Doctrine of the Church of Scotland and Roman Catholic Church in Scotland which explores our common baptism and the challenges and opportunities this presents.
• The ongoing discussions being held between the Methodist Church, Scottish Episcopal Church and United Reformed Church arising out of the failure of the Scottish Churches Initiative for Union (SCIFU) process. For further information visit http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=opentogod.content&cmid=2093
• The deepening relationships between Scotland’s traditional churches and Black and other ethnic minority churches. This work is being developed in a racial justice context.
• A growing number of opportunities to work with churches who are not in membership of the formal ecumenical instruments i.e. in relationships with the Scottish Parliament and the preparations for Edinburgh 2010.

The invitation to renew our commitment to the search for unity and deepen our dialogue is reflected in the aims of ACTS: to seek unity, growth of understanding and common action. It is the hope of the group that through engaging with the ‘Called to be the One Church’ document, the churches locally and denominationally will once again take up this invitation, ‘so the world may believe’.

The Members’ Meeting is the opportunity for the member churches of ACTS to engage together around the three aims of the ecumenical instrument: unity; growth of understanding; common action.