MONTANA SYNOD ELCA
  • Home
  • Faith Formation
    • Faith Formation
    • Lay Pastoral Associates
    • NRIT >
      • Jessica Crist Scholarship Fund
  • Montana Synod Information
    • Montana Synod Information
    • About
    • Staff
    • Directories
    • Changing Climate Taskforce
    • Stewardship and Mission Support
    • Synod Council
    • Gift Policy
    • Clusters
    • Staff Blogs >
      • Laurie Jungling - From the Bishop Blog
    • Ecuminical & Interfaith Partners
    • Partner Ministries >
      • WELCA News
    • ELCA >
      • ELCA Statements
  • 2023 Assembly
  • Congregations
    • Congregations
    • Future Church
    • Transitions
    • For Congregations
    • Disaster Response Resources
    • Constitution
    • Sexual Misconduct Policies
  • Leaders
    • Leaders
    • Coaching in the Montana Synod
    • For Rostered Leaders
  • News & Events
    • News & Events
    • 2022 News Archive
    • 50-40-10 Women's Ordination Anniversaries
    • Events Calendar
    • Archive >
      • 2021 News Archive
      • From the Bishop Blog - Jessica Crist
      • Synod Assembly Archive
      • Quincentenary
      • South Africa 2015
      • Bolivia Recap Blog
    • Multimedia
  • Contact Us

Ecumenical Imperative 3

11/20/2017

1 Comment

 
"Catholics and Lutherans should again commit themselves to seek visible unity, to elaborate together what this means in concrete steps, and to strive repeatedly toward this goal." Ecumenical Imperative 3.
 
It is one thing to have high-level theoretical conversations on what we ought to do. It is quite another actually to do these things. This Ecumenical Imperative, one of the 5 that resulted from Lutheran-Catholic work on the Reformation commemoration, asks us to go public, to be visible, and to keep on working at it. 
 
Seeking visible unity is not accomplished by a single act--whether it is an ecumenical worship service, a joint statement or 2 congregations working together on a fundraiser for the poor. Seeking visible unity is a process. It involves setting goals together, and working together towards them.
 
At the 2016 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, Catholic Bishop Denis Madden, Co-Chair of the Catholic-Lutheran Dialogue Committee, responded to the gift of a chalice with the statement: "I look forward to the day when we can drink from this cup together," setting a goal of Eucharistic sharing.
 
What goals are we willing to set as Lutherans and Catholics in the quest for visible unity? I would certainly agree with Bishop Madden that we want to be able to come to the table together. But what steps can we commit to between now and then? These are things we need to agree upon together. Visible unity takes 2 partners, and both must have ownership of the process. 
 
Our Reformation 500 service in the Helena Cathedral was certainly a stunning example of visible unity. So was the service honoring the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, at the Cathedral in 1999, as was the 10th anniversary celebration in 2009 in Great Falls. We have taken some other steps. In 2012, Bishop Warfel and I did a road trip and had Lutheran-Catholic dialogues in 5 cities--Havre, Great Falls, Lewistown, Billings, Sidney. In October of 2017, we did a joint Bishops's Convocation, and jointly considered the 5 Ecumenical Imperatives.
 
What might you do in your community? How might you work towards visible unity? January 18-25 is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.* In many communities there is a joint ecumenical service. Is this a time to promote greater understanding between Catholics and Lutherans? How might that happen? The 2018 theme, “Your Right Hand, O Lord, Glorious in Power, comes from Exodus 15: 6. Each year, Christians from a different part of the world prepare the resources. For 2018, a group of Christians from the Caribbean have prepared the resources. They write:
 
“The prophets repeatedly remind Israel that their covenant demanded that relationships among its various social groups should be characterized by justice, compassion and mercy. Reconciliation often demands repentance, reparation and healing of memories. As Jesus prepared to seal the new covenant in his own blood, his earnest prayer to the Father was that those given to him by the Father would be one, just as he and the Father were one. When Christians discover their unity in Jesus, they participate in Christ’s glorification in the presence of the Father, with the same glory that he had lived in the Father’s presence before the world existed.”
 
Jesus prayed that his followers would be one. When he prayed that prayer on the night of his betrayal, his earthly followers numbered, at the most, in the hundreds. He prayed in the presence of his dozen disciples that they would be one. Now Jesus’ followers number in the millions, billions. His prayer remains.
 
The third imperative challenges us to come up with concrete steps towards visible unity, and to keep on trying.
 
Jessica Crist, Bishop
 
*Resources for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity are available by ordering them from the website of the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute. http://www.geii.org/
1 Comment
getintopc link
12/7/2017 12:58:45 pm

very well done, the color tones are amazing but i can use some soft colors, anyway keep it up
have a nice day xoxo
Cathy Williams

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Bishop Jessica Crist

    Bishop of the Montana Synod of the ELCA
    2007-2019

    Archives

    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014

    Categories

    All

1221 24th Street South - Great Falls, MT 59405-5034  [Phone] 406.453.1461 
© 2023 Montana Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
  • Home
  • Faith Formation
    • Faith Formation
    • Lay Pastoral Associates
    • NRIT >
      • Jessica Crist Scholarship Fund
  • Montana Synod Information
    • Montana Synod Information
    • About
    • Staff
    • Directories
    • Changing Climate Taskforce
    • Stewardship and Mission Support
    • Synod Council
    • Gift Policy
    • Clusters
    • Staff Blogs >
      • Laurie Jungling - From the Bishop Blog
    • Ecuminical & Interfaith Partners
    • Partner Ministries >
      • WELCA News
    • ELCA >
      • ELCA Statements
  • 2023 Assembly
  • Congregations
    • Congregations
    • Future Church
    • Transitions
    • For Congregations
    • Disaster Response Resources
    • Constitution
    • Sexual Misconduct Policies
  • Leaders
    • Leaders
    • Coaching in the Montana Synod
    • For Rostered Leaders
  • News & Events
    • News & Events
    • 2022 News Archive
    • 50-40-10 Women's Ordination Anniversaries
    • Events Calendar
    • Archive >
      • 2021 News Archive
      • From the Bishop Blog - Jessica Crist
      • Synod Assembly Archive
      • Quincentenary
      • South Africa 2015
      • Bolivia Recap Blog
    • Multimedia
  • Contact Us