Post for November 26, 2009
As I have mentioned in the past, yours truly is the Chairperson of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. Tonight was our Annual General Meeting.
In the past, the AGM was more of an extension of the Board of Directors. Certain changes to our by-laws in 2008, coupled with the creation of membership recruiting tools in 2009, has permitted us to increase our roster of members more easily and even to envisage having hundreds, if not thousands, of members some day. This AGM, therefore, was particularly important, because we are starting a paradigm shift: we are trying to make the AGM a real community-building exercise for the task of Christian unity and interreligious dialogue.
So apart from the usual business, we had two excellent presentation: one on the work of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation (with which the Centre is partnered) and one from one of our Directors on the history of French Protestantism. The exercise of working on our usual business was also useful, as I think we now can have a better sense of how to scale it up for 2010. I’m hoping to be able to send out 1000 invitations to the AGM next year, and more than that, I’m hoping to create an energized base of members ready to collaborate in the mission of the Centre all across Canada. Oh, it’s a long-term project, but slowly the right steps are being taken. Tonight was just another one of those steps, and I am happy about it.
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Post for October 20, 2009
Hey folks, I’ve been struggling with my computer ever since the VERY nasty virus it caught sometime in the last two weeks, but I just had to take some time to write about today’s important develop: the creation of a new canonical structure in the Roman Catholic Church to welcome Anglicans who wish to become Catholics but who also wish to retain an Anglican spirituality. I thought I’d offer my two cents.
While the media are treating this like a bolt out of the blue, in fact this is a response to a request made by the Traditional Anglican Communion in October 2007, i.e. two years ago! In short, they declared that they wanted to become Catholics, but that they also wanted to retain the classic Anglican approach to worship and prayer.
Frankly, I don’t see how the Pope could have refused this request. After all, we can’t very well refuse to accept people into full communion with the Church if they publicly profess the same faith.
Of course, the Pope could have said “Come on in, just leave your Anglican traditions at the door.” But what kind of a statement would that be regarding the value of traditional Anglican spirituality and worship? Contrary to what many believe, the Catholic Church is not a global monolith of one-size-fits-all spirituality, nor should it be. There are already many (albeit smaller) communities of Catholics operating under a special pastoral provision that preserves their spiritual heritage. The grand Tradition of the Church is not negotiable, but the specific traditions of time and place and culture are (within reasonable limits). To have refused to allow these believers to come into full communion with the Catholic Church on the basis of their specific traditions would have been both hypocritical (because we already welcome it) and unjust (because those traditions are not a barrier to faith and good morals).
So what are we left with? The Pope simply had to find a way to welcome these folks and at the same time preserve good order in the Roman Catholic Church, while also not destroying our ecumenical relationship with those Anglicans who choose to remain part of the Anglican Communion. Hence this new apostolic constitution, announced today. The Pope is going to allow the creation of “Personal Ordinariates”, a kind of special diocese for those Anglicans wishing to come into full communion with Rome while preserving their Anglican heritage.
The leeway given to the Ordinariates is actually quite large. For example, their priests and bishops can be reordained as Catholic priests, even if married. If unmarried, they can be reordained as bishops! They can establish seminaries for the training of future leaders. They can publish liturgical books consistent with their Anglican heritage. It is true that they are being asked to do these things in a way that is harmonious with existing Roman Catholic institutions (e.g. their seminarians should do some study alongside “regular” seminarians, their liturgical books will need to go through the same revision process that all others go through, etc.), but that strikes me as normal as part of being members of a larger Church family.
Of course, this comes at a time when the Anglican Communion is experiencing tremendous internal turmoil. It may look to some like this is a cynical attempt by the Roman Catholic Church to tempt disaffected Anglicans to “swim the Tiber”, but in fact it is not. Like I wrote earlier, this is primarily a response to the Traditional Anglican Communion (who apparently are quite happy about the whole thing), although I hear other parallel inquiries were also being made. This decision by the Pope, therefore, settles all these parallel cases in one fell swoop, this preserving that good order I mentioned before.
I commend Archbishop Rowan Williams for appearing at a joint press conference to announce this new pastoral approach being taken by Rome. I imagine that there are many faithful members of the Anglican Communion who will not be happy at this turn of events, but take heart. First of all, the Traditional Anglican Communion had left you folks a long time ago, so you aren’t really “losing” anybody. Next, you have an important Papal declaration of the genuine validity of the Anglican Christian heritage — this heritage is not merely being tolerated, it is being welcomed in a way that will allow it to flourish, and this within the bosom of the Roman Catholic Church.
English spirituality has always emphasized the importance of following one’s conscience; Anglicans themselves have a well-known tradition of inclusiveness (even if we can debate what the limits of that inclusiveness should be). The Pope’s decision, announced today, is about allowing people to live according to their conscience in a way that is inclusive of their spiritual heritage. In a sense, then, this Apostolic Constitution is actually a testament to the best of the English tradition.
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Post for September 30, 2009
Part of my role as Chairperson of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism is that I am responsible to head up the Executive Committee. We were having a devil of a time trying to find a time to meet, so we settled on today at lunch at the Grand Seminary of Montreal.
Today’s meeting highlighed a particular and immediate need at the Centre: we need a webmaster. We don’t need someone to do the technical infrastructure — that we have. What we need is someone to add the actual content to our site, to make it useful for the end user. The job is more editoral than technical. Any readers out there know someone who believes in the cause and can help in this area? I’d do it myself, but I’m already a Director, the corporate Secretary, and Chairperson of the Board. I’ve got too many hats already.
The Centre is, I believe, at a turning point in its existence. The world desperately needs to be more skilled in inter-faith understanding and reconciliation, and the Centre is an acknowleged nucleus of expertise in this area. But it is a bigger boat than I expected, and turning it is taking time. Still, we have a plan for how to move the Centre forward for the next 5 years, and I am committed to staying on until my services are no longer required for that purpose.
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Post for September 3, 2009
As Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism, one of my duties is to call meetings of the Executive Committee and make sure that all our various action items are being accomplished. We were supposed to have a Board meeting this evening, but I decided to postpone to be able to have a preparatory Exec meeting instead. I have to say, it was very positive. The Board of Directors passed a 5-year budget plan at its June meeting, which gives us a strategic planning structure for the mission-critical activities of the Centre. Therer are a lot of challenges ahead, but from what I could hear, we are once again getting a grip on what needs to happen.
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Post for June 15, 2009
I had an interesting meeting with Mr. François de Gaspé-Beuabien today. He’s the Chairman of Zoom Media, a major advertising-channel provider. The meeting was in the context of my work with the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism, of which I am the Chairperson. He is willing to offer major support to “get our message out”. The meeting was frank and direct, which is exactly how I like them. I’m hoping it can lead to some major fruit.
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Post for March 30, 2009
I got a new job today: as of a little after noon I am the acting chairperson for the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. After a period of exemplary service our prior chairperson resigned today, and I got put in her place. The Centre is facing some major challenges ahead, so please pray for me.
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Post for July 22, 2008
I began my day today with a new function: after a (surprisingly long) visit to the bank I am new a signing officer of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. My signature is needed for any cheque over $500 (except for common recurring expenses). Why me? Because I am the Treasurer of the Centre, so in reality this change should have happened a long time ago. I am hoping to get a new financial system in place soon (development is progressing) and this is part of the renewal of our fiscal control mechanisms.
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Post for March 18, 2008
As I’ve mentioned before, I am actively involved in the work of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. Today the Centre received a special guest: Bishop Bagrat Galstanian, the Armenian Orthodox Primate of Canada. Bishop Galstanian was accompanied by Deacon Hagop Arslanian, his assistant and representative for ecumenical affairs. The visit was very cordial, with a number of questions being raised around the table (not the least of which was the ordination of women, something that the Armenians do not do).
The good bishop invited us all to go an visit him sometime at his own Montreal headquarters, and I plan to take him up on his offer.
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Post for March 7, 2008
In my post of February 25 I mentioned how the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism recently held its annual general meeting, and how it was not easy to organize. One of the steps I proposed recently to the Board of Directors was to have an ad hoc committee take a look at how we can increase the membership in the Centre and streamline the requisite processes. I’ve been taking care of the legwork for those meetings, and today was another one. The committee met over lunch at the Cathedral residence, and I’m really pleased with how things are turning out. A consensus is emerging on how to open up the Centre to greater participation which at the same time preserving is purpose and core values.
I realise that must sound terribly boring to some, and in some respects it is to be honest. Having committee meetings is *not* the purpose of the Centre, nor is it the purpose of my priesthood. That being said, given that we are trying to get things in place to allow people to work together better to promote good things like Christian unity and mutual understanding between adherents of different religions, it is part of the process, and if I can help make it happen, so much the better.
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Post for February 25, 2008
Today was an important day for the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism: we had our annual general meeting, at which I presented the audited statements for the last fiscal year, as well as a resolution for the appointment of new auditors for the next fiscal year.
This AGM was a long time in preparation. We had to get in contact with old members from years past, and try and obtain a quorum within the context of our by-laws. It was not easy, and we are not quite out of the woods yet — a key amendment will need to be made to our by-laws shortly to facilitiate the holding of future AGMs. That being said, I am confident that the Centre is on the road of good corporate governance.
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Post for February 11, 2008
Today I had a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism (of which I am the Treasurer). I had asked for this meeting in order to discuss a plan I had put forward on December 12, 2007, to help the Centre reorganize its membership register. It may seem like a trivial thing, but not having a well-organized register could eventually have serious consequences if not tended to. Happily, the plan continues to move along, and I am confident that we’ll have everything under control by the spring (certain delays are legally necessary, so that everyone is properly notified of the proposed changes).
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Post for December 12, 2007
This evening was a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism (of which I am the Treasurer). I made a presentation at the meeting, discussing the current state of our Membership Register and how it can be renewed. My plan was accepted 100%, unanimously! So I must confess, I am very pleased with myself. I had worked hard on it, sifting through 30 years of meeting minutes to try and get a solid grip on where we were with membership issues. But it has paid off, and I feel that yet one more piece of the ongoing work of renewal for the Centre is happening.
At some point the Canadian Centre of Ecumenism will be soliciting new memberships, and when that happens I’ll be sure to post something. If you have a particular passion for promoting Christian unity or inter-faith dialogue, keep us in mind!
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Post for November 16, 2007
As I believe I’ve mentioned in the past, I am the Treasurer of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism. My main goal in this post is to establish a more effective system of financial governance regarding the activities in the Centre. Things already work fairly well — we’ve never had any problems with our auditors, for example, — but I want to move us to a system of departmental accounting. This will allow us to craft budgets that are truly representative of the Centre’s activities, rather than just grouping of cost centres. As well, we are going to shift our endowment fund to a slightly more aggressive investment stance (going after a higher return), and establish a policy regarding expense authorizations. This is all work I’ve done before for other organizations, so I don’t see a particular difficulty in doing it — although I do need to find the time! Still, I think it will be worth it. If we can get this done right, it will provide effective financial oversight and at the same time unleash the creative energies of the staff and volunteers to accomplish the mission of the Centre. And that would be awesome.
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Post for December 15, 2006
Not only was the Pope’s recent visit to the Patriarch of Constantinople a smashing success, he is now receiving a most unique visitor: the Archbishop of Athens. And the rumour mill seems to be pointing towards a possible meeting with the Patriarch of Moscow sometime in 2007. Exciting times ahead on the ecumenical front, my friends!
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Post for May 28, 2006
The Anglican Church throughout the world continues to lurch through its current crisis over sexual issues, and it was recently brought to my attention that there has a new development: the release of the St. Michael Report regarding the blessing of same-sex unions.
The St. Michael Report includes a study guide, so that local groups can reflect on the document and forward their responses to the Canadian Anglican church for consideration at the General Synod in 2007. I wonder if it would be useful to convoke an on-line Catholic discussion group to consider the matter. Obviously whatever the Anglicans decide will have important repercussions for the ecumenical movement in this country. Perhaps we can charitably offer a few reflections stemming from the Catholic tradition. Anybody out there who might be interested in jumping in on such a discussion?
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Post for April 20, 2006
I attended my first meeting of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism (yes, I’m on the board of that too). It seems I’ve joined the Centre at a turning point in its history: the current Director has resigned to become a professor in Nigeria, the financial situation is not pretty, and the by-laws are about to go through a process of review (something which hasn’t happened in 30 years, apparently). The Centre has to take a global look at its mission — something I fit well with, because I am a systems thinker.
On the way home, I started wondering what my own vision of ecumenism is. I share with you the following ideas.
Why bother?
The disunity found in the Christian world is a threat to the credibility of the Gospel. This realisation was what prompted the start of the ecumenical movement in the first place, flowing as it did out of the missionary movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. If we are serious about accomplishing the mission Christ has given us in the world today, a concern for Christian unity has to be part of our spiritual mindset.
The standard of unity
Jesus set the bar high when, during the Last Supper, he prayed to his heavenly Father in these words:
I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me. (John 17: 20-23)
Jesus himself first pointed out the problem of disunity with regards to the credibility of the Gospel, but notice how he does not propose unity merely as some sort of marketing tactic. Instead he sets, as the standard of Christian unity, the unity of the Persons in the Trinity! Yikes! And yet, it must be possible. Every person who has received the Holy Spirit is a child of God by that very fact, sharing in the very “DNA” of the Father and Son. So the start of the path to Christian unity is for us to be constantly renewed in the presence and action of Holy Spirit in us. And since the Holy Spirit is generally understood to be the substantial, living Love between the Father and the Son, to be fully alive in the Holy Spirit means to be living the fulness of Christian love and charity. Genuine love is both the means and the standard of Christian unity, and Jesus himself said that the world would know we were really his disciples by how we love one another.
The measure of unity
It is very significant that Jesus prayed this prayer during the Last Supper. According to Tradition, it was during this supper that Jesus instituted the sacraments of Eucharist and Holy Orders, both of which are sacraments of unity. On a personal level, Jesus already taught us that, if we know we are a cause of a lack of love with a neighbour, we need to be reconciled with that person before we offer our gift at God’s altar. But this also works on the level of Church communion: we will know that unity has been achieved between Christian confessions when we can properly “approach the altar” together as well. In practical terms, inter-confessional unity can be said to be achieved when (1) the members of each church are generally permitted to receive communion in the church of the other, and (2) when the ministers of each church are allowed to substitute for each other for the same spiritual functions.
How do we get there?
The best roadmap to Christian unity, in my opinion, was the Decree on Ecumenism, published in 1964 by the Second Vatican Council. Yes, I know, this is a document coming from just one church, but consider these points: this was the largest gathering of Christian leadership *EVER* in the history of Christianity, and it included participating observers from every major Christian denomination (and who, I might add, were heavily consulted in the preparation of the Declaration). Surely the Holy Spirit was in there somewhere, and if so, we should pay close attention to what He said.
What does this roadmap contain? Read it for yourself:
The term “ecumenical movement” indicates the initiatives and activities planned and undertaken, according to the various needs of the Church and as opportunities offer, to promote Christian unity. These are: first, every effort to avoid expressions, judgments and actions which do not represent the condition of our separated brethren with truth and fairness and so make mutual relations with them more difficult; then, “dialogue” between competent experts from different Churches and Communities. At these meetings, which are organized in a religious spirit, each explains the teaching of his Communion in greater depth and brings out clearly its distinctive features. In such dialogue, everyone gains a truer knowledge and more just appreciation of the teaching and religious life of both Communions. In addition, the way is prepared for cooperation between them in the duties for the common good of humanity which are demanded by every Christian conscience; and, wherever this is allowed, there is prayer in common. Finally, all are led to examine their own faithfulness to Christ’s will for the Church and accordingly to undertake with vigor the task of renewal and reform.
When such actions are undertaken prudently and patiently by the Catholic faithful, with the attentive guidance of their bishops, they promote justice and truth, concord and collaboration, as well as the spirit of brotherly love and unity. This is the way that, when the obstacles to perfect ecclesiastical communion have been gradually overcome, all Christians will at last, in a common celebration of the Eucharist, be gathered into the one and only Church in that unity which Christ bestowed on His Church from the beginning.
Notice the boldness of the second paragraph? It says that if we follow the roadmap of the first paragraph, the end result will be a common celebration of the Eucharist — the measure, as I have already pointed out, of Christian unity. That hopeful tone just sounds to me like the voice of the Holy Spirit.
So what about the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism?
There is a lot more in the Declaration than the brief bit I copied, but even now we have a good place to start to look for what kinds of activies the Centre can focus on. These would be:
- Promotion of mutual understanding
All Christians are responsible before God to make sure we do not bear false witness against our neighbours. Ecumenically speaking, however, this can only be avoided if we truly get to know the perspective of the “other” (something mentioned in the Declaration in point #9). The Centre could help all churches “acquire a more adequate understanding of the respective doctrines of our separated brethren, their history, their spiritual and liturgical life, their religious psychology and general background” (point #9 again) by organizing conferences, symposia, festschiften, and so on.
- Organization of dialogue opportunities
While there do exist certain “official” dialogues between the various churches, these often lack a certain focus. In many cases it is unofficial groups, like Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT) or the Groupe des Dombes that are able to make the most progress in overcoming theological barriers. Eventually some sort of official decisions would need to be made by the church hierarchies regarding concrete acceptance of the results of such dialogues, but in the meantime the Centre could contribute quite a bit by organizing “groups of theological interest”, always seeking some deeper unity behind the questions which divide. The latter must always be at least possible, thanks to the basic moral principle that humans are always seeking the good, even when what we happen to be affirming at the moment might be a deficient good. What is the “particular good” that the doctrine and practice of the “other” seeks to affirm? If we look for the particular goods behind the various statements, we often find ourselves discovering a deeper unity behind the differences — even if that is simply the discovery of the basic humanity of the other, and the common quest for the fulness of life.
- Joint charitable action and work for social justice
Christians are called to animate the temporal order with the Spirit of Christ, and this is a practical mission that can already be shared on a broad level by the various Christian churches. #12 of the Declaration mentions several possible areas of cooperation:
This cooperation, which has already begun in many countries, should be developed more and more, particularly in regions where a social and technical evolution is taking place be it in a just evaluation of the dignity of the human person, the establishment of the blessings of peace, the application of Gospel principles to social life, the advancement of the arts and sciences in a truly Christian spirit, or also in the use of various remedies to relieve the afflictions of our times such as famine and natural disasters, illiteracy and poverty, housing shortage and the unequal distribution of wealth.
With regards to work for social justice, the differences in the moral theology of the different Churches sometimes makes this hard to accomplish. Almost without exception, however, Christian churches agree that the principle of religious freedom should be respected, in that no one should ever be *coerced* with regards to religious beliefs and practice. Surely the defense of the right of freedom of conscience, under attack in many parts of the world, can be a way for Christians to work together, extending then further to pro-life work, work for economic justice, and so on. The Center for Ecumenism could slowly develop an “active agency” arm to work for all these aims, and thus pave the way for Christian unity.
- The promotion of ecumenical spirituality and common prayer
The term “spiritual ecumenism” refers to the thirst for holiness and accompanying change of heart that comes from a genuine brush with God. And this spiritual ecumenism is, in many ways, the heart and soul of the ecumenical movement itself, because a sincere and humble desire for holiness can be easily recognized across denominational boundaries. Each community of Christians contains “hidden saints” whose greatest desire is to live in communion with God at all times, and these persons, given the chance to share their journey together, would be a powerful force for growth in unity. The Centre could organize “spiritual seminars” where an ecumenical spirituality is promoted, organize ecumenical retreats around particular spiritual disciplines, and even promote “field trips” between Christian communities, to give these “hidden saints” a chance to discover one another. One the connections are made, the Holy Spirit would take over from there I am sure.
One final point the Declaration made with regards to the road map is “the task of renewal and reform” in each particular church. In all honesty, I think this is an area where the Centre cannot really have a directive role, simply because nobody likes being told by outsiders and strangers what their problems are and how they need to change (and besides, there is just too great a risk of giving bad advice anyway). Nevertheless, there is something the Centre could do, to act as a “catalyst” for this process of renewal and reform.
To “renew” something means, literally, to “make new something which has become old”. The Centre could promote a greater study of the ancient treasures of the Christian tradition, through Patristic and historical studies, and thereby stimulate a process of renewal within the churches.
The term “reform” is something which is generally understood, but which is also generally controversial, in that it there must always be a careful discernment between true “reformation” and false “deformation”. Still, even here the Centre could make a genuine contribution, by having an on-going study program of the great reformation movements in the history of the Church. What motivated them? What made some successful, and why did some seem to flop? From this could come a vision of what “reform” really is, and help members of churches discern better between true and false reform.
How do we pay for all this?
The answer: it depends! In the past the Centre for Ecumenism has depended on contributions from the major Christian denominations, and this should definitely continue as a sign of their commitment to the ecumenical project. The Centre has also raised some revenue by means of the programming it offers, such as journal subscriptions, as well as through services rendered (such as professional consultations on inter-faith topics). Things like a seminar or a symposium could be set up to pay for itself, depending on only a modest success to break even. But ultimately, however, a broader base of support needs to be established for all this work, meaning that participation in the work of ecumenism needs to extended more effectively to the “ordinary” Christians in the pews on a weekend. There are only two ways to do this: to go broader, and to go deeper.
To go broader means to extend the visible presence of the Centre beyond the city of Montreal. If this is truly a “Canadian” centre for ecumenism, some sort of “chapter” system should be established so that the Centre is truly operative throughout the nation. Each chapter could be responsible, among other things, to make a particular contribution to the overall budget of the Centre, helping assure its ongoing viability.
To go deeper means to go more deeply into the hearts of people who are themselves devoted already to the service of the Lord. I am thinking here of the “hidden saints”, as well of that special class of “person of vision” who is able to see the big picture and is willing to support it if a concrete plan is put forward. These kinds of people are often willing to financially contribute a worthwhile project or organization — in fact, the enjoy doing so. And the more the “ordinary Christian” is exposed to a positive experience of ecumenisn, the more the spirit of ecumenism settles in peoples’ hearts. Beyond that, we just don’t need to be afraid to ask!
And what about structure?
This is actually the easiest question of all — once the rest has been settled! A clear vision and mission, combined with a realistic appraisial of available resources, should lead to a clear and relatively simple organizational structure. I’m glad to know that the members of the committee reviewing the Centre by-laws want to start by reviewing the mission of the Centre, because structure really should flow from mission rather than simply be cooked up from theoretical models. Unity of mission leads to unity of purpose, which is far more valuable than org charts.
Of course, behind this is the question of the mission of Christ (i.e. just why *did* he come to Earth?), and behind that is the ultimate question of all: what is salvation? This is, in my honest opinion, THE KEY THEOLOGICAL QUESTION of the 21st century. Whoever the Centre hires to be its next Director had better have a good sense of what this question means, or else we’ll just have a caretaker and not a real leader at the helm. Please keep us in your prayers.
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