S. Collins Kilburn - "What's Next in Ecumenism?" Service of Christian Unity (January 27, 1980)

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-	Christian Unity worship service,	0:03
	January 27th, 1980, Duke Chapel.	0:06
	(powerful rumbling organ music)	0:15
	(soft, slow organ music)	7:58
	(organ music grows louder)	10:37
	(echoey choral singing)	14:46
	(powerful organ music)	16:09
	(echoey choral singing)	16:28
-	May I explain my presence here.	19:59
	I am not Juanita Wright.	20:02
	She was planning to be one of the presiding ministers	20:04
	for the service today,	20:09
	and was called home yesterday because of the death	20:11
	of an uncle of hers.	20:14
	She extends her greetings and offers her prayers	20:16
	for this service even in her absence.	20:19
	On behalf of those of us though here	20:23
	at Duke Chapel and the planning committee for this service,	20:26
	may I welcome you to this community-wide service of worship,	20:30
	celebrating for us and for other the week	20:35
	of prayer for Christian unity.	20:37
	We do come together toady as brothers and sisters in Christ,	20:40
	symbolizing the unity for which Christ did pray,	20:45
	that all those who believe in him might be one.	20:50
	This particular time of a week of prayer	20:55
	for Christian unity was born in the mind	20:58
	of a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the US,	21:02
	Father Paul Watson.	21:07
	Roman Catholics followed and picked up the idea.	21:11
	And finally in 1966, Roman Catholics,	21:15
	Protestants and Orthodox cooperated	21:18
	in a week of prayer for Christian unity	21:21
	that has been observed annually ever since that day.	21:23
	And so today we meet, as have others met,	21:28
	during the past week or 10 days	21:31
	with gratitude for the fulfillment of Father Watson's idea.	21:34
	And again, with the hope and the prayer	21:39
	that one day, indeed, we all may be one.	21:42
	On this special day, it is my privilege	21:47
	on your behalf to welcome the Reverend Collins Kilburn	21:51
	who, in July of this year, began his responsibilities	21:55
	as the new executive director	21:59
	of the North Carolina Council of Churches.	22:01
	Collins, we welcome you and we look forward	22:04
	to your message this day.	22:08
	Will you stand now as together we make	22:12
	our response to God and to one another?	22:14
	How good and happy it is--	22:28
	(congregation murmuring)
	Christ is the light of the world--	22:35
	(congregation murmuring)	22:39
	If God's people are silent--	22:41
	(congregation murmuring)
	Turn with me if you will to number 561,	22:46
	the reading from the soldier,	22:50
	the earth is the Lord's and let us read responsibly.	22:52
	The earth is the lord's and the fullness thereof--	23:09
	(congregation murmuring)	23:13
	For he has founded it upon the seas--	23:16
	(congregation murmuring)	23:19
	Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?	23:21
	(congregation murmuring)	23:24
	He who has clean hands and a pure heart--	23:27
	(congregation murmuring)	23:31
	He will receive blessing from the Lord--	23:36
	(congregation murmuring)	23:39
	Such is the generation of those who seek him--	23:43
	(congregation murmuring)	23:47
	Lift up your heads, o gates, and be lifted up,	23:49
	o ancient doors.	23:52
	(congregation murmuring)
	Who is the king of glory?	23:57
	(congregation murmuring)
	Lift up your heads, o gates, and be lifted up,	24:03
	o ancient doors.	24:07
	(congregation murmuring)
	Who is this king of glory?	24:11
	(congregation murmuring)
	Be seated please.	24:17
	Now as we pray responsibly, let us offer to God	24:27
	this our prayer of confession.	24:31
	Then Jesus came proclaiming the great news about God,	24:35
	and he said, "The time is fulfilled,	24:39
	"the kingdom of God is at hand.	24:45
	"Repent and believe in the good news."	24:48
	My brothers and sisters, I confess to God almighty	24:53
	and in the sight of the whole company of heaven,	24:55
	that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word and deed,	24:59
	therefore I pray to God to forgive me.	25:03
	(congregation murmuring)	25:07
	May the Father grant you forgiveness,	25:21
	give you time for changing your life,	25:25
	give you freedom and power.	25:28
	Do you not know that the son of man	25:31
	has power on earth to forgive sins?	25:33
	In his name, therefore, I say to you	25:37
	that our sins are forgiven.	25:42
	Amen.	25:46
-	Litany to Jesus the Christ.	25:58
	Jesus, you were crowned with thorns	26:03
	and crucified as king.	26:06
	Jesus, you were servant and yet the Lord of all.	26:09
	Jesus, you were master,	26:13
	and yet you called your servants friends.	26:15
	Come, Lord Jesus.	26:18
-	Come, Lord Jesus.
-	Jesus, healer of sickness;	26:23
	Jesus, savior of sinners;	26:25
	Jesus, light for the dark days, come, Lord Jesus.	26:28
-	Come, Lord Jesus.	26:33
-	Jesus, praying that your suffering would pass;	26:35
	Jesus, praying until the drops of sweat	26:39
	were like drops of blood;	26:43
	Jesus praying that all might be one.	26:45
	Come, Lord Jesus.	26:50
-	Come, Lord Jesus.
-	A reading from the Epistle to the Romans.	27:12
	What then shall we say to this?	27:17
	If God is for us, who is against us?	27:20
	He who did not spare his own son	27:25
	but gave him up for us all,	27:28
	will he not also give us all things with him?	27:30
	Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?	27:35
	It is God who justifies, who is to condemn.	27:39
	Is it Christ Jesus who died?	27:45
	Yes, who was raised from the dead,	27:47
	who is the right hand of God,	27:51
	who indeed intercedes for us?	27:53
	Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?	27:57
	Shall tribulation or distress or persecution	28:00
	or famine or nakedness, apparel or sword.	28:04
	As it is written, for thy sake,	28:08
	we are being killed all the day long.	28:11
	We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.	28:14
	No, in all these things we are more than conquerors	28:18
	through him who loved us.	28:22
	For I'm sure that neither death nor life,	28:25
	nor angels nor principalities,	28:27
	nor things present nor things to come,	28:30
	nor powers nor height nor depth	28:33
	nor anything else in all creation	28:36
	will be able to separate us from the love of God	28:39
	in Christ Jesus, our Lord.	28:43
	(soft organ music)	29:00
	(echoey choral singing)	29:06
	♪ And let thine glory shine ♪	30:29
	♪ Believe our (echoey choral singing) ♪	30:35
	(organ music rises)	33:17
-	May we stand for the reading of the gospel.	33:57
	The gospel of Luke, the 14th chapter,	34:06
	the 15th through the 24th verse,	34:09
	from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible.	34:13
	When one of those who sat at table with him heard this,	34:18
	he said to him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread	34:22
	"in the kingdom of God!"	34:26
	But he said to him, "A man once gave a great banquet,	34:29
	"and invited many;	34:34
	"and at the time for the banquet he sent his servant	34:36
	"to say to those who had been invited,	34:40
	"'Come; for all is now ready.'	34:44
	"But they all alike began to make excuses.	34:47
	"The first said to him,	34:51
	"'I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it;	34:55
	"I pray you, have me excused.'	34:59
	"And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen,	35:03
	"and I go to examine them;	35:08
	"I pray you, have me excused.'	35:11
	"And another said, 'I have married a wife,	35:14
	"and therefore I cannot come.'	35:18
	"So the servant came and reported this to his master.	35:20
	"Then the householder in anger said to his servant,	35:26
	"'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city,	35:31
	"and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.	35:34
	"And the servant said,	35:40
	"'Sir, what you commanded has been done,	35:42
	"and still there is room.'	35:46
	"And the master said to the servant,	35:49
	"'Go out to the highways and hedges,	35:52
	"and compel people to come in,	35:54
	"that my house may be filled.	35:57
	"For I tell you, none of those men who were invited	36:00
	"shall taste my banquet.'"	36:03
	This is the word of the Lord.	36:07
	Amen.	36:09
	(worship organ music)	36:10
	(echoey choral singing)	36:21
-	Good afternoon friends and fellow ecumaniacs.	37:10
	I'm a little awed, Bob, preaching in this kind of setting,	37:17
	so there's a blessing in the size of the group today.	37:21
	I think a full sanctuary	37:26
	would be more awe than I could handle.	37:28
	(chuckles)	37:32
	I thought an ecumaniac was one who was passionate	37:34
	for the cause of Christian unity.	37:38
	I read another definition yesterday.	37:40
	An ecumaniac is one who loves all branches	37:43
	of Christendom better than his own.	37:46
	(chuckles)	37:50
	The cause of Christian unity, I think we all know,	37:51
	is not an overwhelmingly passionate concern	37:54
	of many people today.	37:58
	If somebody did a poll	38:01
	and asked American citizens	38:03
	what are the five most urgent problems	38:07
	that you feel pressing on your life,	38:09
	not many would list church unity	38:13
	as number one, or as number five.	38:20
	It's not a hot topic of conversation today.	38:24
	It might be important, therefore, on an occasion like this,	38:29
	just to recognize and to celebrate as we recognize it	38:35
	the enormous historical import of the ecumenical movement.	38:41
	These things are known to many of you,	38:47
	not so well known perhaps to our younger friends	38:51
	in the choir.	38:54
	In 1944, the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple,	38:58
	who was one of the great leaders, of course,	39:03
	of the movement said that the rise	39:06
	of the ecumenical movement is the greatest event	39:08
	in modern church history.	39:10
	A bit later in 1955, Martin Marty, who's a historian,	39:13
	said that while some of the fires of the excitement	39:18
	have died down, still in the perspective of history,	39:22
	the 20th century will be marked	39:26
	as a decisive turning point in the history of the church.	39:30
	It will be marked as the ecumenical century,	39:33
	just as the 1st century we note as the founding	39:36
	of the church, the 12th century is the time	39:40
	of the development of the medieval synthesis,	39:43
	the 16th, of course, the century of the reformation,	39:45
	the 19th century, the time of expansion	39:50
	and missionary outreach.	39:53
	So in that train, the 20th century will be marked,	39:55
	as we look back, as the ecumenical century	40:01
	and as the beginning of a new era in Christianity.	40:04
	Now a striking things about these statements	40:09
	is that they were made before Pope John XXIII,	40:14
	before the Second Vatican Council,	40:22
	before the decree on ecumenism.	40:25
	In short, before the largest body in Christendom	40:29
	took the ecumenical plunge.	40:34
	And of course, that triggered a radical change	40:37
	and was a great boost for the cause of Christian unity.	40:42
	We felt it certainly here in North Carolina.	40:46
	Many of you know that really the most significant thing	40:52
	that's happened in the North Carolina Council of Churches,	40:56
	in recent years, has been the movement	41:00
	of the Roman Catholic communion's diocese in our state	41:04
	into membership in the council.	41:08
	Well the point here is simply	41:12
	that we 20th century Christians	41:16
	have participated in something of a miracle.	41:19
	We have witnessed and been a part	41:22
	of a major turning point of the Christian church.	41:26
	We have been swept into a movement,	41:29
	and some of you help create a movement	41:33
	from division toward dialog,	41:37
	from isolation to communion,	41:40
	from competition toward cooperation.	41:44
	And we ought not to lose sight	41:48
	of the marvel of this happening.	41:50
	The marvel of it stands out when we	41:54
	just notice briefly what went before.	41:57
	Previous church history, particularly since the reformation,	42:02
	was a history of division and fragmentation	42:05
	and quarreling and splintering apart.	42:08
	As Robert McAfee Brown said,	42:11
	"Protestantism was a many-splintered thing."	42:13
	Indeed it was and is.	42:17
	Remember in 1954, not very long ago at all,	42:21
	the World Council of Churches held an assembly,	42:27
	worldwide assembly in Evanston, Illinois,	42:29
	invited Roman Catholic participation.	42:32
	And the Vatican would not even send an observer	42:36
	to the meeting,	42:40
	out of its reluctance to be identified	42:43
	with other branches of Christendom.	42:45
	And remember not so long ago	42:48
	the almost total lack of communication	42:51
	between black churches and white churches	42:54
	here in our own part of this country.	42:57
	We've come a long way.	43:01
	We can borrow some words from Martin Luther King	43:04
	that he used about the Civil Rights movement	43:07
	in race relations to summarize this.	43:10
	"We ain't what we ought to be," he said,	43:16
	"we ain't what we're gonna be,	43:19
	"but thank God we ain't what we used to be."	43:22
	Well where do we go next	43:27
	in the movement for Christian unity?	43:30
	There's no doubt that the excitement of the early years	43:33
	has pretty well died down.	43:38
	There's no doubt that the thrill that comes	43:41
	with launching out into a new adventure	43:44
	and breaking new ground, but that's pretty well moderated.	43:46
	There's no doubt that we've lost momentum.	43:53
	We're, more or less, at a plateau state	43:57
	in the movement for Christian unity.	44:01
	Where we go next, I'm not sure.	44:07
	But where to look for clues to the future	44:10
	is to look to the past.	44:15
	And so I want now to review the major roots	44:17
	of the ecumenical movement.	44:24
	These are familiar to most of you,	44:27
	but there's value in remembering roots	44:29
	and in reflecting on their implications.	44:32
	The first root, of course,	44:37
	is the International Missionary Movement.	44:39
	It's always somewhat arbitrary to put a date	44:46
	and a place on the beginning of any historical movement,	44:49
	but if we had to do that, I think everyone would agree	44:54
	that the date would be 1910	44:57
	and the place would be Edinburgh, Scotland,	45:00
	where various missionary societies from across the world	45:01
	gathered for the first time on a large scale	45:06
	to compare notes, to consider ways	45:09
	of collaborating and cooperating.	45:13
	That meeting eventually led to the formation	45:18
	of the International Missionary Council,	45:21
	which for long years was the principle ecumenical group	45:24
	on the world scene.	45:27
	And you say, "So what?"	45:30
	Well we can say so what because we're not aware	45:32
	of the vacuum that was there before,	45:36
	that before there was no network of association	45:40
	or communication, no ties whatsoever	45:42
	between the various groups of Christians in the world.	45:46
	The great concern, the great passion of Christianity	45:50
	in the 19th century was the missionary outreach thrust,	45:53
	spreading the gospel to all the corners of the Earth.	45:58
	And there was considerable success in that effort.	46:02
	But eventually the people most directly involved in that	46:04
	became keenly aware that the divisions	46:10
	were blunting, thwarting the mission,	46:15
	and indeed giving the lie to the character of the mission.	46:18
	They thought, how can we preach Christ as one	46:25
	who draws all men together as he draws into himself?	46:29
	We ourselves are not drawn together by that Christ	46:33
	or by the gospel.	46:37
	How could the Western churches justify	46:43
	importing divisions that had come out of Western culture	46:46
	into lands and areas where those divisions	46:51
	and those differences had no relevance, or interest;	46:55
	or as one writer said, "Why should a convert in Hong Kong	46:59
	"have to identify herself as a Canadian Baptist?"	47:02
	One of the classic stories in the history of this part	47:08
	of the ecumenical movement	47:13
	is the story about Bishop Azariah	47:16
	who was an Indian Christian who became a church leader	47:18
	and a missionary and a bishop of the Anglican communion.	47:23
	He told a story to his colleagues and peers	47:27
	at one of the world conferences in the 1930s	47:30
	about how a leader of untouchables in India approached him.	47:35
	And this leader had called upon the millions	47:41
	of untouchables who were under his influence	47:44
	to renounce Hinduism and to seek for a new religion	47:49
	that wouldn't carry with it the caste system	47:54
	and the stigma and the oppression of the cast system.	47:56
	And this leader said to the bishop,	48:01
	"Many of my followers are drawn to Jesus.	48:04
	"But when Christianity is mentioned,	48:09
	"they remind me of the many divisions within the church."	48:12
	"And they say to me, 'We are united in Hinduism	48:18
	"'but in Christianity we become divided'"	48:23
	And the bishop had to confess,	48:27
	there's nothing I can really say to him	48:29
	that would be an effective response.	48:31
	And he said to his colleagues,	48:34
	"Unity for you in the West may be a matter of keen interest.	48:37
	"To us, it's a matter of survival."	48:43
	How could churches, alienated from each other,	48:45
	present a gospel of reconciliation?	48:49
	That was the question that triggered	48:52
	the ecumenical movement on the world scene.	48:57
	Well what about now?	49:00
	Context is very different now, obviously.	49:02
	But similar questions, though raised in a different context,	49:07
	will move us toward unity today and tomorrow	49:12
	if we exercise by those questions.	49:16
	How can we offer the world	49:20
	a demonstration of human solidarity	49:24
	and a word about human solidarity	49:28
	when, within the family of faith itself,	49:32
	we do not manifest that solidarity?	49:34
	How can we be a sign of the unity of humankind,	49:38
	or make witness too the unity of humankind,	49:43
	when we can't achieve it within the circle of faith?	49:47
	Insofar as we are concerned,	49:54
	mainly to maintain our ecclesiastical houses	50:00
	and to adorn them and to enhance them,	50:08
	then the movement toward Christian unity	50:11
	is not going to have much interest.	50:14
	Insofar as we are concerned that the gospel	50:17
	penetrate the world,	50:22
	insofar as we are concerned to present a gospel	50:25
	of reconciliation to the world,	50:29
	then we're going to feel the pull and the drive	50:33
	and the necessity to draw together.	50:37
	As one writer says, "The ecumenical spirit of the past	50:42
	"was not born in the coziness	50:46
	"of denominational living rooms,	50:51
	"but in breathing, elbowing contact with the world."	50:54
	That's where we want to be if that's	51:01
	where we're going to be.	51:04
	Then as we move out, we will move together.	51:07
	A second root of the movement	51:12
	can be labeled life and work,	51:17
	if we use the language of the World Council of Churches.	51:19
	For today, I want to use the language	51:22
	of the United States and speak of the social gospel.	51:25
	This root has been especially important	51:30
	in this country and in this state.	51:33
	Just before and just after the turn of the century,	51:38
	prophetic leaders like Washington Gladden	51:43
	and Walter Rauschenbusch and Josiah Strong and others	51:46
	were stirred by the social problems that came	51:51
	with urbanization and with industrialization.	51:55
	Poverty and congestion in the cities,	52:01
	growing gap between the rich and the poor, class conflict,	52:04
	the indifference to the economic system to these problems.	52:09
	And out of that situation there grew this conviction	52:15
	familiar to all of us here now,	52:18
	that the church has a mandate to address social conditions,	52:23
	that collective salvation as well as personal salvation	52:27
	is promised by the gospel.	52:31
	And so the social gospel was born.	52:34
	As Rauschenbusch put it,	52:40
	"It's not a new gospel, but it's the old gospel	52:42
	"intensified and enlarged."	52:46
	Now ecumenical settlements developed,	52:51
	quite logically, along with this growth of social conscious.	52:56
	And the line of reasoning was inevitable.	53:01
	That in the church, if we are to respond	53:05
	to the huge and the menacing, complex	53:10
	social, political and economic scene,	53:14
	then surely we need to join forces.	53:17
	Surely we need to close ranks,	53:20
	to lock arms and to march together into those battles.	53:23
	It should be no surprise, therefore,	53:31
	that the early leaders of ecumenism in the United States	53:36
	came from the ranks of the social gospel movement.	53:42
	Now I guess I learned that when I was at Duke,	53:46
	I'm sure I did, but I relearned it recently	53:49
	when I went back and reread some church history.	53:51
	And it struck me fresh that it was the same people	53:54
	who were concerned at the response of the problems	53:57
	of society that created the early ecumenical structures.	54:00
	The Federal Council of Churches,	54:03
	which was the precursor the National Council,	54:05
	organized in 1908, was dominated by the folks	54:07
	who had this passion for social redemption,	54:11
	along with other things too.	54:14
	And Sydney Austrum, the church historian,	54:16
	in his section on the formation	54:20
	of the Federal Council of Churches,	54:23
	the heading he uses is	54:27
	"The institutionalization of a social gospel."	54:29
	That's the caption he gives to the that discussion.	54:32
	One of the first projects was the investigation	54:37
	of a steel strike in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.	54:40
	One of the first major reports was on the church	54:43
	in modern industry.	54:46
	That report affirmed the right of workers to organize,	54:48
	condemn the 12-hour day	54:51
	and condemn the seven-hour week	54:54
	as a disgrace to civilization.	54:56
	And the meeting where that was,	54:59
	the Federal Council came together,	55:02
	reached a peak in the singing of the hymn	55:04
	by the Methodist leader, Frank Mason North:	55:07
	Where cross the crowded ways of life?	55:11
	Where sound the cries of race and clan?	55:14
	Above the noise of selfish strife,	55:17
	we hear thy voice, o Son of man.	55:20
	And the reporters say that the faces of the delegates	55:23
	there that, from 33 denominations in this country,	55:28
	that tears were coming from most.	55:32
	Well how could the churches address the principalities	55:36
	and the powers of this new urban industrial world	55:39
	if they spent most of their energies on sectarian	55:44
	competition or on internal ecclesiastical affairs?	55:48
	That question was a force for unity in 1900 and thereabouts.	55:53
	If we exercise by today,	55:59
	it's a major source of unity today.	56:03
	The problems we face today are more grave and staggering	56:05
	than those Gladden and others faced earlier.	56:11
	They're overwhelming.	56:17
	I find a little help from Russell Baker.	56:21
	He says, "Really, the only way to get through	56:25
	"the daily newspaper is to	56:28
	"ask the question as you read,	56:31
	"is this Christ is really worth understanding?"	56:34
	There are so many.	56:38
	And he says, "You've got to learn to distinguish	56:40
	"between the important and the merely urgent.	56:43
	"You really don't have time to be with the merely urgent.	56:46
	"You've gotta fare it out the important."	56:50
	Well in the face of staggering, complex,	56:52
	menacing situations, the strong temptation, of course,	56:57
	is to withdraw, to retreat.	57:01
	And this temptation, as we all know,	57:05
	is strong in the churches today.	57:08
	At the same time, there's a strong disposition	57:11
	on the part of others to respond positively	57:16
	to the critical human and social needs	57:21
	that press upon us	57:24
	and to reach out	57:28
	in concert with others while making that response.	57:33
	It's a familiar story, we've all had the experience.	57:37
	That differences in ecclesiastical tradition,	57:41
	historical doctrinal differences	57:46
	tend to become small and less significant	57:48
	when we're faced with starving Cambodians	57:52
	or boat people, or the energy crisis	57:56
	or the nuclear war issue,	57:59
	or here in North Carolina, the persistence of poverty	58:03
	among migrant farm workers,	58:07
	a persistence of racism, overcrowded prisons;	58:09
	the highest per-capita prison population	58:13
	of any state in the nation.	58:17
	Some of our doctrinal differences don't seem	58:20
	too terribly important when together we face	58:22
	some of these urgent hurts of the world.	58:26
	And we know that effective response	58:31
	requires collaboration and solidarity.	58:34
	What does the future hold?	58:40
	I don't know.	58:42
	But I know that as churches put	58:44
	these pressing human needs near the top of the agenda,	58:49
	it would be hoping too much maybe to have them at the top,	58:54
	but near the top of the agenda.	58:57
	If they do that, if the Methodist conference	58:59
	and the Episcopal diocese and the Roman Catholic diocese	59:02
	and the Lutheran senate, as they began to put	59:06
	those concerns at the top of the agenda,	59:08
	we will move together more surely and more emphatically.	59:11
	While all of the roots of ecumenism are intertwined,	59:17
	of course, but we can, for purposes of discussion,	59:20
	identify one more, and that would be the doctrinal	59:27
	or the theological root.	59:31
	Now these other two roots could be labeled pragmatic.	59:35
	And the missionaries and the social gospelers	59:42
	were caught up in pragmatic concerns,	59:45
	that is, how to make the mission more effective,	59:49
	how to make the impact more certain,	59:53
	how to do the task.	59:56
	Explicit theological questions	1:00:00
	were, at first, avoided.	1:00:04
	The fear was that discussions of doctrine	1:00:11
	or theology might accent differences	1:00:16
	and make cooperation a greater problem.	1:00:20
	And one of the mottos was	1:00:25
	doctrine divides but service unites.	1:00:30
	I don't think we believe that anymore.	1:00:35
	May have been true at one time.	1:00:37
	We perhaps developed more consensus on doctrinal matters.	1:00:40
	In any case, joint action implies some common belief.	1:00:46
	And very soon in the movement there developed	1:00:52
	a group of people who wanted to give special attention	1:00:55
	to these doctrinal matters,	1:00:58
	and who stressed the theological imperatives for unity.	1:01:01
	These pioneers identified with the faith and order stream	1:01:08
	of the ecumenical movement,	1:01:12
	stressed that the Scriptures gave no warrant	1:01:14
	for different denominations or sects.	1:01:17
	That on the contrary, everything that the New Testament	1:01:21
	teaches about the church assumes	1:01:24
	the essential unity of the church.	1:01:25
	They have quoted and put before us	1:01:31
	the words of Paul, "Is Christ divided?"	1:01:34
	And called our attention to the fact that Paul	1:01:37
	affirmed again and again, "You're all one in Christ Jesus,	1:01:39
	"you are one body in Christ.	1:01:44
	"There is one body, one spirit, one Lord, one faith,	1:01:45
	"one baptism, one God and father of all."	1:01:49
	These theological affirmations, they've been assumed	1:01:54
	all along, but they have been elevated	1:01:57
	and have fueled the movement toward unity.	1:02:04
	Now in America, ecumenism has been heavily pragmatic.	1:02:07
	That is, we have stressed the practical advantage	1:02:14
	and the practical necessities	1:02:18
	of working together around certain tasks.	1:02:20
	Just now, most of the pressure for ecumenism	1:02:27
	is coming from that angle.	1:02:32
	Most of the support for councils of churches	1:02:34
	come from that line of thought,	1:02:38
	the pragmatic, practical line of thought.	1:02:41
	The faith and order people, however, are saying	1:02:44
	that we need to move closer and deeper,	1:02:47
	out of fidelity to the gospel itself.	1:02:51
	We need to move from cooperation toward covenant.	1:02:56
	Cooperation is sufficient, the Christian family.	1:03:04
	From cooperation toward covenant.	1:03:08
	From collaboration toward communion.	1:03:11
	Organic union of the churches may not be	1:03:17
	in the foreseeable future, but still we need to give	1:03:19
	attention to bring our institutional life	1:03:23
	more in line so that it reflects what we say we believe	1:03:27
	about Christ and about the church.	1:03:32
	Well how much heed will we give to these voices?	1:03:38
	I don't know.	1:03:43
	And it's apparent to you now that I don't know	1:03:45
	what comes next in the movement toward Christian unity.	1:03:48
	I'm sure that common convictions, that is,	1:03:54
	theological convictions, are needed to buttress	1:03:57
	and to strengthen common actions.	1:04:00
	The ecumenical movement is not simply a humanitarian effort.	1:04:03
	That at its heart, there is the gospel,	1:04:08
	and theological convictions are needed	1:04:11
	to fuel it and to hold it together.	1:04:14
	At the same time, I know that common actions	1:04:18
	will enable us and help us in identifying	1:04:22
	and affirming common convictions.	1:04:26
	God speaks to us	1:04:30
	from the agony of a fiercely divided,	1:04:33
	savagely divided world.	1:04:38
	He also speaks to us in the words of ancient texts.	1:04:43
	So then you are no longer strangers or sojourners,	1:04:49
	but fellow citizens with the saints	1:04:53
	and members of the household of God.	1:04:57
	Amen.	1:05:01
	(calm organ worship music)	1:05:30
	♪ Praise the Lord ♪	1:05:38
	♪ Praise the Lord ♪	1:05:41
	♪ His works are marvelous ♪	1:05:44
	♪ By his grace and his might ♪	1:05:51
	♪ He (murmurs) ♪	1:05:59
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:06:06
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:06:12
	♪ Praise the Lord ♪	1:06:19
	♪ Praise the Lord ♪	1:06:23
	♪ His works are marvelous ♪	1:06:27
	♪ Praise the Lord ♪	1:06:35
	♪ Praise the Lord ♪	1:06:38
	(echoey choral singing)	1:06:42
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:07:04
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:07:09
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:07:12
	♪ By his grace, by his might ♪	1:07:20
	(echoey choral singing)	1:07:27
	♪ Praise the Lord ♪	1:07:35
	♪ Praise the Lord ♪	1:07:38
	♪ His works are marvelous ♪	1:07:42
	♪ By his grace, by his might ♪	1:07:48
	♪ He (murmurs) ♪	1:07:55
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:08:03
	♪ By his grace, by his might ♪	1:08:16
	♪ He (murmurs) ♪	1:08:22
	♪ We shall (echoey choral singing) ♪	1:08:29
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:10:36
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:10:52
	♪ Hallelujah ♪	1:11:09
-	Would you please join me in a litany for unity?	1:11:31
	We ask the Lord to deepen our understanding of all things	1:11:36
	which are essential for the unity of those	1:11:40
	who are scattered in the service of the kingdom,	1:11:42
	that all may be one.	1:11:46
	(congregation murmuring)
	We pray that God may help us to discern	1:11:50
	the means and the forms of service	1:11:53
	which are appropriate for Christ way,	1:11:55
	that we may serve as coworkers with God	1:11:58
	for the coming of the kingdom,	1:12:01
	that all may be one.	1:12:03
	(congregation murmuring)
	We pray that the whole Christian community	1:12:07
	may humbly search for authentic communion,	1:12:10
	and that the unity of the church	1:12:13
	may be realized in a way that glorifies God alone,	1:12:16
	that all may be one.	1:12:20
	(congregation murmuring)
	We pray that in all the churches, charity may grow.	1:12:23
	We look forward to the way of full communion,	1:12:28
	that all may be one.	1:12:31
	(congregation murmuring)
	We ask for one spirit and one mind,	1:12:35
	open to the witness of faith	1:12:38
	and other Christian churches.	1:12:40
	We pray that we may be ready to build one place	1:12:43
	in which we may experience the spirit of God,	1:12:48
	that all may be one.	1:12:51
	(congregation murmuring)
	Would you now join me in praying the Lord's prayer?	1:12:55
	Our Father who art in Heaven,	1:12:59
	hallowed by thy name,	1:13:02
	thy kingdom come, thy will be done	1:13:04
	on Earth as it is in Heaven.	1:13:08
	Give us this day our daily bread,	1:13:10
	and forgive us our trespasses	1:13:13
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	1:13:16
	And lead us not into temptation,	1:13:20
	but deliver us from evil,	1:13:22
	for thine is the kingdom,	1:13:25
	the power and the glory forever.	1:13:27
	Amen.	1:13:30
	(uplifting organ music)	1:13:32
	(echoey choral singing)	1:14:15
-	Those of us who planned this service	1:17:26
	thought that it might be well	1:17:28
	for us to symbolize our unity by joining hands	1:17:31
	and the singing of the first stanza of the hymn	1:17:34
	familiar to all us: "Blessed by the Tie that Binds".	1:17:37
	So let me invite you now to move across the aisle,	1:17:40
	join hands with those near you.	1:17:43
	For this benediction which has been suggested to us,	1:17:46
	a benediction based on the be attitudes.	1:17:51
	Let us receive these words from the word of God.	1:17:55
	Remember thy servants, Lord,	1:18:07
	when comest thy glorious reign.	1:18:10
	Blessed are the poor in spirit	1:18:14
	for the heavenly kingdom is theirs.	1:18:17
	Blessed are they that do mourn,	1:18:20
	for their Lord shall wipe away their tears.	1:18:22
	Blessed in God are the meek,	1:18:27
	for their heritage shall be the Earth.	1:18:30
	Blessed are they that seek righteousness.	1:18:34
	In that great day, their thirst shall be quenched.	1:18:37
	Blessed are they that show mercy,	1:18:42
	for God shall be merciful unto them.	1:18:45
	Blessed are the pure in heart,	1:18:49
	for in that day shall they see their God.	1:18:52
	Blessed are they that make peace,	1:18:57
	for they shall be called children of God.	1:19:02
	Blessed are those who suffer for him,	1:19:06
	the righteous on the kingdom of heaven.	1:19:10
	Blessed are ye whom men revile,	1:19:15
	for this world shall persecute you for me.	1:19:19
	Rejoice, be ye glad in God,	1:19:24
	for in heaven great is your reward.	1:19:29
	Amen.	1:19:34
	(uplifting organ music)	1:19:36
	(echoey choral singing)	1:19:47
	(powerful organ music)	1:20:22

Item Info

Title:

S. Collins Kilburn - "What's Next in Ecumenism?" Service of Christian Unity (January 27, 1980)

Description:

Sermon start time: 37:10. Sermon end time: 01:05:02.
Achieving Christian unity must begin with Christians laying aside minor preferences and uniting around Christ's gospel message to the world. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: "Insofar as we are concerned mainly with maintaining our ecclesiastical houses...the movement toward Christian unity is not going to have much impetus."

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https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4ws8j20m

Date:

January 27, 1980

Speaker:

Kilburn, S. Collins

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Duke University. Chapel

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UA.17.01.0003 RR-1071
ref7354_xi3
uachapelsermaud
duke:320549
dcrau001950
ark:/87924/r4ws8j20m
d6516abd-abed-4cdd-afbf-4dab51d155f6

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S. Collins Kilburn - "What's Next in Ecumenism?" Service of Christian Unity (January 27, 1980)

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