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Buchanan: Ecumenical Spirit Is Alive
CHICAGO, IL (May 19, 2005) - New opportunities for cooperation among
denominations are pregnant with possibilities, says John Buchanan, who
will deliver the address at the North Park Theological Seminary's
commencement service Saturday.
Buchanan is the editor and publisher of Christian Century
magazine and pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church (USA) in Chicago. He
has served on several ecumenical committees.
"The high holy days of ecumenism when we thought we would actually see
church unity have passed," says Pastor John Buchanan, but adds that he
is excited about what is taking place. The sometimes distrustful
relationship between mainline and evangelical churches is improving,
resulting in more opportunities to work together.
"I think some of the most hopeful stuff around is going on right now,"
Buchanan says. "Jim Wallis is certainly pushing us to get around the
table and talk about that which we hold in common – that is the
connection between justice and poverty. I regard that as very hopeful."
Wallis, the author of God's Politics: Why the Right is Wrong and the
Left Doesn't Get It, was a main speaker at the 2005 Covenant
Midwinter Conference in February. "Wallis has "impeccable evangelical
credentials and yet he's accessible to the mainline and more liberal
churches.
"I think there's a growing sense that we're not doing ourselves any
good, and we're certainly not witnessing to the gospel when we're
fighting each other," Buchanan says. "None of us has a monopoly on this
thing, and we need to cooperate with each other as much as possible."
Buchanan adds that an increasing ecumenical spirit is evident at the
local level. He points to the number of "mixed marriages," even between
Catholics and Protestants.
Long considered a voice of mainline churches, Buchanan hopes the
Christian Century is a place where people of different viewpoints
can discuss issues. "We're in a new climate right now where a lot of
voices come from a lot of places, and we're trying to be a place where
those conversations can take place," he says.
Expanding the news coverage in the magazine has been important for
readers, who Buchanan says don't get much news about mainline churches
in secular media. "It seems to me that the American press looks for
stuff that's saleable, sexy and dramatic, so you get a lot of coverage
of the fringes, you get a lot of coverage of the right wing, the
emergent church. You don't see a lot of news about the Presbyterians or
Methodists."
Mainline denominations have experienced losses in attendance, but
Buchanan says the church should not set increasing numbers as its goal.
Rather, churches need to focus on faithfully addressing new situations
in the world with the Gospel.
"The world has changed around us and there is in some quarters a kind of
frantic effort to recreate that world by superimposing on this new
country of ours old realities that are no more," Buchanan says. Martin
Marty calls that the "politics of nostalgia and resentment." "It's a
kind of trying to take back America," he adds. "America is a different
country than it was in 1776 or even 1876."
Buchanan states proudly that "the mainline continues to do what it
always has done best - that is to proclaim a gospel of inclusiveness,
justice, social involvement and that God is working in other parts of
the world."
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