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Alison Elliot on models of ecumenism

November 20, 2005

Dr Alison Elliot, Convener of the Scottish Churches Forum and former Moderator of the Church of Scotland's General Assembly, was the keynote speaker at this year's ecumenical conference held jointly by the Kirk and ACTS at St Leonard’s-in-the-Fields and Trinity, Perth. This is an extract from a summary of her address. The whole document can be downloaded as a pdf, and includes a full account of the day's proceedings plus an interim report by Mairi Munro of the Ecumenical Audit.

Following a discussion by delegates of barriers to ecumenism, Dr Elliot drew out three models of ecumenical relating – Bob the Builder, Jamie Oliver and the Famous Five!

1. Ecumenism as a fixing of institutions in order to be able to use resources better. This is often seen in terms of demolition, a taking down of walls cf. Ephesians 2:14. Walls and buildings enclose. They represent a cosy way of relating. The Church Without Walls Report in the Church of Scotland had encouraged a thinking beyond the walls. On the other hand, walls can create a sheltering, creative space where hostility can be quietened e.g. Iona Abbey. Space needs boundaries. “Good fences make good neighbours”. Is it possible to let go of hostility and keep the wall? Alison felt that with a churches together model of ecumenism it was possible to keep benign walls, though there was a question whether this was good in itself or simply as a staging post. Is it a cop-out or a true vision? It was important to move in the direct of gain rather than loss. This can be captured more in worship than in assemblies. By sharing worship with other traditions you learn what is valuable in your own. She wondered what the URC had gained by their unions? Were they just another denomination?

2. “If we could see the feast we would come.” Modelling the feast is what the church is called to do. “Visible unity” can be understood as manipulating the appearance of unity rather than asking what this unity is about. The Lund Principle (not to do anything separately that can be done together) and the El Escorial principles (balancing numbers of men to women, ordained to lay, and an agreed proportion of young people in ecumenical gatherings) provide a valuable discipline. Disciplines are important for stamping the space, but it is not the same as unity. It is a means whereby large churches are held to account by smaller ones. Rowan Williams had said at a conference on unity in St Albans that apart we say, “Don’t listen to him, listen to me!” Together we say, “Don’t listen to me, but to Christ there as well as here!” This puts the emphasis on ‘as you and I are one’ (John 17) rather than the previous phrase, ‘so that they may be one’. It is about attraction. This is more difficult than constructing a process of unity. It is not about repairing the damage of the past.

3. It is about setting out on an adventure of discovery. There are several strategies for discovery. One is to explore the past, not as an ecumenism of return, but to identify insights that may have been lost. Acting together is another strategy. We will find it difficult but difficulties should be seen as opportunities for better understanding. We can learn from the spirituality of people who do not speak the same language as we do. One weakness with ecumenism is that the focus has been too concentrated on the churches themselves rather than the faith they express.

The spirit of the present, the ghosts of the past and beckoning of the demands of the present – very exciting!