An Ecumenical Prayer for the Gifts of Various Churches

Recently, I came across a most interesting ecumenical prayer composed early in the ecumenical movement by the Federal Council of Churches, U.S.A. It is entitled: “Prayer of Thanksgiving for the Gifts of the Various Christian Churches.” The full text of this prayer is provided here and can be found in the New St. Joseph People's Prayer Book. I have not seen other ecumenical prayers expressing the same level of enthusiasm for the diversity within Christianity. It makes me wonder how Christian ecumenism has developed from that time until now.

Let us give thanks for the gifts and graces of each great division of Christendom:

For the Roman Catholic Church: its glorious traditions, its disciplines in holiness, its worship, rich with the religious passion of the centuries; its noble company of martyrs, doctors, and saints;

We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name.

For the Eastern Orthodox Church: its secret treasure of mystic experience; its marvelous liturgy; its regard for the collective life and its common will as a source of authority;

We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name.

For the great Protestant communions; We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name. For the Congregationalist jealousy for the rightful independence of the soul and of the group;

We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name.

For the stress in the Baptist Churches upon personal regeneration and upon the conscious relation of the mature soul to its Lord;

We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name.

For the power of the Methodists to awaken the conscience of Christians to our social evils; and for their emphasis upon the witness of personal experience, and upon the power of the disciplined life;

We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name.

For the Presbyterian reverence for the sovereignty of God and their confidence in his faithfulness to his covenant; for their sense of the moral law, expressing itself in constitutional government;

We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name.

For the witness to the perpetual real presence of the inner light in every human soul borne by the Religious Society of Friends and for their faithful continuance of a free prophetic ministry;

We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name.

For the Lutheran Church: its devotion to the grace of God and the word of God, enshrined in the ministry of the word and sacraments;

We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name.

For the Anglican Church: its reverent and temperate ways, through its Catholic heritage and its Protestant conscience; its yearning concern over the divisions of Christendom, and its longing to be used as a house of reconciliation.

We thank you, O Lord, and bless your holy name. Amen.

Discovering the Limits of My Ecumenical Horizon

In the United States, it is not uncommon for Christians from many different traditions and backgrounds to have regular contact with one another (e.g., in the workplace, through parachurch organizations, and other partnerships). Through such meetings Christians can be inspired by the insights and practices of their fellow believers. Unfortunately, these meetings can also be discouraging when the two parties misunderstand or even dispute with one another.

Many of us have experienced both the joy and disappointment of inter-Christian encounters. On the best of days, we are able to seek out common ground with our brothers and sisters in Christ, focusing on the positive elements of our churches. One bad days, we may find ourselves on the defensive or feeling judged for our particular Christian backgrounds. It is in these moments, both good and bad, that we need to remember the limits of our ecumenical horizons.

Personally, I would like to bring the different theological convictions of my fellow Christians into one coherent story. I would love to unite the beauty of Orthodox worship, the unity of Catholicism, the love for scripture in the Lutheran, Reformed, and Wesleyan traditions, the life in the Spirit of Pentecostals and charismatics, and the desire for peace in Anabaptism. I long to bring these wonderful gifts together, but I cannot. It is hard enough for me to hold them together in my own ecumenical vision let alone for others. It is only in the fullness of God’s wisdom and timing that all of His people will be one flock again. I do not know the day or the hour of this, nonetheless I must live in hopeful expectation of it and prepare for it.

Through discovering the limits of my ecumenical horizon, I learn valuable lessons about trust and obedience. I am invited to renew my belief in Christ’s prayer for His followers “that they may all be one” (John 17:21). Christ’s prayer will come to fulfillment one day! In addition, I am called to rediscover the little things that I can do “with great love” (as Mother Teresa would say) in service of the unity of God’s people. Though I am limited, God is more than able to use the small contributions of His followers for His greater purposes. This is particularly true when we line ourselves up with His loving vision for the Church and the world.