KESTON JOURNAL Religion, State and Society ISSUE 2 1998

Ecumenism, defined by the World Council of Churches as 'the whole
task of the whole church to bring the Gospel to the whole world',
is the focus of Issue 2 1998 of the Keston journal, Religion,
State and Society. The ecumenical movement has dominated the
agenda of the western Christian world in the second half of the
twentieth century, and in this issue of RSS we try to find out
what ecumenism means to those involved and what problems arise
today in postcommunist times when the churches try to put the
concept into practice.

Several of our authors make the point that, largely thanks to the
influence of communist governments, the twentieth-century
encounter between the western (Protestant) and eastern (Orthodox)
churches never included that thoroughgoing discussion of
doctrinal differences which would have been essential for
achieving real mutual understanding. Nothing substantial happened
within the WCC to alter the centuries-old Orthodox view of the
West as 'a territory where any heresy was possible', as Flavius
Solomon points out in 'Between Europe and Tradition: Church and
Society in Orthodox Eastern Europe'. For their part, argues Gerd
Stricker in 'Stumbling-blocks between Orthodoxy and Protestant
Ecumenism', western Protestants always suspected that the
Orthodox did not accept them as full Christians.
   
Special factors in the postcommunist period have meant that the
doctrinal gulf has widened. Many individuals who were formerly
zealots for the official ideology in communist times are now
seeking new certainties in the church. In 'Barriers to Ecumenism:
an Orthodox View from Russia', Vladimir Fedorov identifies the
neophyte complex - 'the desire to display one's exceptional
loyalty to the Church, the search for one's identity, and the
seduction of nationalism and messianism' - and observes a general
movement in Eastern Europe away from ecumenism and towards
'confessionalism'.
   
In this context, the specific issue causing the most bitter East-
West church controversy has been missionary activity, seen by its
opponents as 'proselytising'. Yet proselytising activity is by
no means a consequence of 'ecumenism', as many in the East
allege. As Anton Houtepen points out in 'Evangelisation and
Ecumenism: Contradiction or Challenge?', 'The difficulties
surrounding proselytism in Eastern Europe do not stem from the
ecumenical movement, but from groups and churches who want to
remain aloof from this movement.'
   
It begins to come clear at this point that the word 'ecumenism'
is being interpreted differently in East and West. As Houtepen
observes, 'The greatest stumbling-block to ecumenism is ... the
concept of ecumenism itself.' The western understanding is that
ecumenism involves the world's churches working together.
However, in 'Reconciliation through Aid: the Catholic Presence
in Orthodox Countries' Fr Michel van Parys notes that in
maintaining their contacts with foreign churches the churches in
the communist countries of the East 'had to make concessions to
party and state pressure' so that 'the legacy of doublespeak is
that "ecumenism" has actually come to mean "compromise"'. This
is confirmed in 'Stumbling-blocks to Ecumenism in the Balkans',
where Anne Herbst quotes the view of a Serbian bishop that
ecumenists want to forge Christian unity 'through compromise,
lies and hypocrisy'.
   
However hard it may be to overcome such differences, Stricker is
surely right when he argues that the goal of ecumenism should no
longer be described in terms of 'church unity'. Instead he
proposes 'reconciled diversity'. It is a concept that has been
dismissed as too timid, as reflecting too weak a faith. Yet,
Stricker argues, in these times of deep distrust it has the
advantage of being a realistic first step, and one that is
obviously essential before further progress can be made.

Other articles in this issue:

Erich Bryner, 'Stumbling-blocks to Ecumenism'.

Basilus J. Groen, 'Nationalism and Reconciliation: Orthodoxy in
the Balkans'.

Gary D. Bouma, 'The New Europe and Church-State Relations: the
Case of the Euro-Anglicans'.

Yuli Shreider, 'The Ethics of Mutual Understanding'.

Veniamin Novik, 'Social Doctrine: Will the Russian Orthodox
Church Take a Daring Step?'

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