 edited by Fr. James Loughran, SA, Director
Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute
Diverse communities of Christians have been part of the American cultural experience since the arrival of Spanish missions in the sixteenth century, and the British, Dutch and Swedish colonization of the east coast of North America in the seventeenth century: there were early settlements of Anglicans in Virginia, Puritan Congregationalists in Massachusetts, Dutch Reform congregations in New Amsterdam (New York), the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Pennsylvania, Presbyterians in New Jersey, and Roman Catholics in Maryland, in what would become the original United States of America. Diversity of Christian expression increased as the United States expanded across the continent. This diversity is enshrined as a human right and part of the American national identity.
Yet Americans also recall a sad lack of tolerance of persons within their original colonies/states who did not share the identity of the majority. Baptists were driven out of Massachusetts. Catholics were not welcomed in many places due to an assumption that they were more loyal to Rome than to America.
Slaves from Africa and freed black men and women were not welcomed to worship with white church members in most of the churches. The Society of Friends, the American Baptists, the Mennonites and the Moravians were notable exceptions in working to abolish slavery and to assist in building communities of African‑American Christian worship. From this mixed atmosphere of racism countered with a faith in the freedom offered by the gospel, African‑American churches began to emerge: the African Methodist Episcopal Church, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and the National Baptist Church. From these communities, as well as Wesleyan Methodism, the late nineteenth century Holiness tradition developed. This tradition indirectly gave root to the Pentecostal tradition in the twentieth century.
At the turn of the nineteenth century there was an evangelistic zeal throughout the young United States. Methodism valiantly brought the gospel to the rural areas of the new nation. A spiritual Great Awakening took place near the same time, supported by theologians and preachers associated with divinity schools such as Yale (Connecticut) and Princeton (New Jersey). This revival of Reform Christianity had a uniquely American orientation: to revive the faith at the beginning of the industrial revolution in the cities and in the growing migration of Americans settling the middle and west of the continent. In the Ohio River Valley this would lead to the development of a new type of evangelical Christianity among American Protestants. It would have a congregational‑based ecclesial polity, and would emphasize human independence and self reliance, hard work, personal conversion and salvation. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Baptists of Southern and rural America emerged out of this movement, along with other communities of what would be called Evangelical Christians. They would be the forbears of the early twentieth century Fundamentalists.
The small original Catholic community grew exponentially in the middle of the nineteenth century with immigration from Europe, especially from Germany and Ireland, which was then suffering a famine. Likewise, German and Scandinavian immigrant Lutherans arrived at this time, as well as other Reformed and Anabaptist communities, seeking land and opportunities that were unavailable in Europe due to war or poverty. For many Protestant Americans, the increase in Catholic population was seen as a threat to the uniquely American kind of Christianity that had been developing. But as immigration continued from Italy and Eastern Europe, and as French and Spanish areas of North America were either conquered or annexed by the United States, the Catholic community became a part, albeit separate part, of the American Christian religious scene. Orthodox immigration followed at the turn of the twentieth century, after the devastating American Civil War brought an end to slavery and a more progressive self‑reflection in the United States as a melting pot for all peoples.
By the twentieth century, ecumenical movements were beginning to take shape in the United States, as they were in Europe. American Protestants gathered to explore working together in mission and evangelization, resulting in the creation of common Christian social institutions for aiding the poor, educating the young and caring for the sick. New social organizations, such as the YMCA and the Salvation Army, contributed to this stream. The Church Unity Octave was initiated in 1908 by an Episcopal religious order of Franciscans, the Society of the Atonement, at Graymoor in Garrison, New York..
About 1910, the Episcopal bishop Charles Brent and Peter Ainsley of the Disciples of Christ began a concerted effort to address issues of Faith and Order among the churches in the United States. The Disciples had always professed Christian Unity as one of their primary goals; while the Episcopal Church, led by William Reed Huntington of New York, had co‑authored the Chicago‑Lambeth Quadrilateral (1886‑1888) over twenty years earlier as a standard confession of faith uniting the Anglican Communion, which also served to identify their minimum requirements in pursuing unity with other Christian communities.
Two world wars and an economic depression intervened, before the first North American Conference on Faith and Order was held at Oberlin College, Ohio in 1957._ This led to the establishment of a permanent Faith and Order Commission within the National Council of Churches in the United States. After the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church in the United States joined the Faith and Order Commission; no longer standing as a church apart within the American scene, it has become a very active and positive participant in the ecumenical movement.
Within the Christian communities in the United States, the first half of the twentieth century was characterized by efforts at reconciliation, new developments and new divisions. In the schools, seminaries and churches of mainline Protestant and Episcopal communities, scholarly biblical criticism and new ways of thinking about human nature and sin, about social justice and equality, were beginning to be accepted. For many Southern and rural American Protestants, who either identified themselves as Evangelical or part of the new Pentecostal movements, there was a call to return to the fundamentals. This included acceptance of the Book of Genesis as factual history. They were wary of an ecumenical movement that would include church bodies that went beyond the fundamentals in the development of doctrine.
While these divergent developments led to a growing division between theological and cultural “conservatives” and “progressives”, there were also movements towards unity within certain American Christian communities. The United Church of Christ (1957), The United Methodist Church (1968), the Presbyterian Church USA (1983) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (1987) brought together previously divided communities within the same traditions. Meanwhile, the Catholic Church’s ecumenical involvement contributed to the prolific amount of work carried out through bilateral dialogues within the United States, as well as the conciliar dialogues of the Faith and Order Commission. The United States Lutheran‑Roman Catholic Dialogue produced a joint statement on Justification by Faith that became much of the basis for the International Lutheran-Roman Catholic Joint Statement. Bilateral relations between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox bishops (SCOBA) in the United States have also enhanced international Orthodox‑Catholic relations. Episcopal‑Lutheran dialogue has led to full communion in celebration of the Eucharist, joint recognition of orders and sharing of ministry between those churches (Called to Common Mission). The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) has similar full communion relations with the Moravians, the Reformed Church in America, the Presbyterian Church USA and the United Church of Christ, as a result of bilateral dialogue.
Bilateral and multilateral ecumenical work in the United States has led to convergence and even consensus on doctrinal matters which have been the cause of our separation; but issues of gender and of social and sexual ethics remain divisive or have become divisive within Christian communities of faith and between the churches and communities. Differing judgements regarding the role of women in the church, and in particular, the ordination of women, have resulted in new obstacles between long‑standing partners. In the area of human sexuality, especially concerning same‑sex relations, there has been a polarizing of positions within society at large and within Christian churches. Churches have also responded divergently on questions of war and peace; and have fostered different approaches to interreligious relations. Churches united with ecumenical partners on one set of issues find themselves at odds on other emerging issues; churches with little ecclesiological common ground find themselves brought together in responding to highly emotive ethical questions.
There are other issues which do draw Christian churches together, and where there is a sensed need to work more closely in conjunction with each other. Racism, though no longer sanctioned by law or generally overt, nonetheless remains America's unhealed scar. The legacy of the enslavement of Africans in the United States for 250 years, ending only with a very bloody Civil War, did not free America of racism. Neither did the granting of full equal rights for all in 1965. The churches have ecumenically done much to combat racism within and outside of their structures, yet racial tensions linger. At the same time, the ethnic/racial groupings of American churches have contributed positively to the American Christian fabric of life and also contribute to the ecumenical movement with their diverse gifts and interpretations. It is also because of this history of pain and struggle that commemorating the Martin Luther King Holiday during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity takes on a special importance in the United States.
Fighting poverty has been one area in which the churches and communities in the United States seem to be coming to consensus for cooperation, joint action programs and joint appeals to the political system. Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT, 2006) is currently discussing poverty and ecumenical approaches for combating poverty.
Finally, while Americans are highly self‑descriptive as Christians and/or people of faith, as the statistics demonstrate, there is also a growing cultural divide politically in the United States between secularism and religion. The churches see a growing need to work as one in holding back what is perceived to be a growing secularism, similar to that present now in Europe. This seems to be more of a mobilizing concern for Catholics, Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians, Orthodox and historically African‑American churches than to mainline Protestant Christians; but most would agree that secularism has led to a faith crisis among many people.
Part of the ecumenical health among Christians in the United States is the proliferation of ecumenical organizations: Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT) is the newest hope for a large, ecumenical consortium for all Christian churches and communities in the United States. It came into being on March 30, 2006. Its 36 member communities include groupings into five families: Evangelical/Pentecostal, Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Racial/Ethnic. The fifth family of Racial/Ethnic became necessary in the American context in the light of the history of racial inequality. CCT is engaged in four tasks: (1) to celebrate a common confession of faith in the Triune God, (2) to discern the guidance of the Holy Spirit through prayer and theological dialogue, (3) to provide fellowship and mutual support, and (4) to seek better understanding of each other by affirming our commonalities and understanding our differences.
The National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, founded in 1950, states in the preamble to its constitution that it is a community of Christian communions, which, in response to the gospel as revealed in the Scriptures, confess Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God, as Savior and Lord. These communions covenant with one another to manifest ever more fully the unity of the Church. Relying upon the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, the communions come together as the Council in common mission, serving in all creation to the glory of God. The National Council counts 35 Christian communions as members. These represent a diverse group of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African‑American and Living Peace churches. Through Church World Service and a number of social justice and political concerns committees, the NCCCUSA has a strong and historic record in ecumenical efforts for the advancement of human rights.
The Faith and Order Commission (USA), which began its work in 1960, is a commission of the National Council. Following the model offered by the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council, this commission separately includes members who are not also members of the Council: Roman Catholics, some Evangelicals and some Pentecostal and Holiness Christians.
Churches Uniting in Christ (CUIC) was formed as the successor to the Consultation on Church Union (COCU) in 2002. The nine member churches that formed COCU in 1960 moved from an era of consulting to starting to live their unity in Christ more fully by a process of mutual growth by achieving eight marks together: mutual recognition of each other as authentic expressions of the one church; mutual recognition of members in one baptism; mutual recognition that each affirms the apostolic faith; provision for the celebration of the Eucharist together (sometimes called the COCU or now CUIC Liturgy); engagement together is mission, particularly in combating racism; an intentional commitment to promote unity in opposing all forms of marginalization or exclusions of any persons; a form of continuing mutual accountability and consultation on decision making; an ongoing process of theological dialogue. The nine member churches of CUIC are: the African Methodist Episcopal Church, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Episcopal Church, International Council of Community Churches, Presbyterian Church USA, United Church of Christ and The United Methodist Church. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, beginning with the historic Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott of 1956, with the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King, Jr as its first President, has worked ecumenically among the historic African‑American churches as well as the predominately white churches that have joined with one another in ecumenical efforts to rid American society of racism.
The National Association of Evangelicals, founded in 1942 and numbering over 60 denominations and communities as diverse as the Mennonite Brethren Churches, the Assemblies of God, the Salvation Army and the Church of God (Holiness), supports an ecumenical fellowship and voice for Christians in the United States who would describe themselves as believers in scriptural inerrancy, missionary zeal and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is the largest ecumenical body of Christians commonly called evangelicals and Pentecostals in the United States. The NAE states as its mission: to extend the kingdom of God through a fellowship of member denominations, churches, organizations, and individuals, demonstrating the unity of the body of Christ by standing for biblical truth, speaking with a representative voice, and serving the evangelical community through united action, cooperative ministry, and strategic planning.
Several churches or families of churches in the United States also have offices for coordinating ecumenical activities.
Of note as well on the American scene, have been the valiant grassroots efforts of local, county, state and regional councils of churches. In many local communities across the United States, almost all the churches and their pastors or ministers participate in these councils: Protestants, Anglicans, Orthodox, historically African‑American and Catholics. Closely related to the grassroots as well, are the men and women engaged by their local, state and national church communities as directors of ecumenical programming or ecumenical officers/staff. They have formed vital networks within their national churches and between their churches to foster ecumenical dialogue. Every year, in a different city, they sponsor the National Workshop on Christian Unity and promote the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in their home localities.
Finally, there are consortia of seminaries and religiously‑founded colleges and universities that promote, and sometimes require, cross‑registration of students studying for ordained ministry as a way of supporting reception of the work of the ecumenical movement. Every major metropolitan area has such consortia. The work of faculty in universities must be acknowledged, particularly that of Temple University in Philadelphia, which publishes The Journal of Ecumenical Studies.
Among recent trends within Christianity in the United States is an Emergent Church Movement, which resists institutional forms of authority. Engaging in this movement are young persons, predominantly men between the ages of 25 to 35, who converse about Christian faith and have created a network and community over the internet. Its reluctance to engage in systematic theology makes it a challenge to the visible unity of the church; but here too, a conversation on the value of the ecumenical movement has been initiated.
From very local to national levels, Christians in the United States appreciate the value of praying together for the needs of the poor, the sick, those struggling with faith and for the nation itself, including the safety of its armed forces. Aside from the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, many Christians gather ecumenically for prayer on Thanksgiving Day (November), Watch Night (New Year's Eve), Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, the World Day of Prayer (March) and the National Day of Prayer (May). There is a deep sense of fellowship at such moments, in which often the Holy Spirit helps all to set aside divisions and suspicions to create important moments of unity and trust.
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