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"Church
with a Future"
Ecumenical Consultation by Michael Penn Moore, Chair, Ohio Conference UCC/EKU Working Group |
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Our Conference’s ecumenical partner in Germany, the Evangelical Church of Westphalia, has initiated a process of major reform—in its structure, its mission, its life. Spurred by a financial crisis nearly two years ago, the EKvW, as it is known, sought to do more than simply react to present conditions. A proposal was drafted to take concrete steps to remain “A Church with a Future.” The undertaking is an ambitious one. The church is primarily funded by the state through income taxes, and increasing numbers of people are electing to leave the church and eliminate the tax (typically eight per cent of income). In addition, the rebuilding of the former East Germany, the increase in unemployment, and continuing social programs for which the church is responsible, all make significant demands on the material and human resources of the EKvW. The church is also determined to address the growing secularization within its own life, the sense of distance between members and larger church structures, the crushing demands placed on its clergy (and the ironic need to deny ordination to many for lack of positions), the challenges of globalization, and more. To help get a sympathetic yet objective view of its work to date, the EKvW invited representatives from churches all over the world to attend a consultation and offer their analysis of the reform process. In addition to persons from Canada, Argentina, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Congo, the Philippines, Namibia, Colombia, Hungary, and India, there were three UCC representatives: Charles Barnes of the Indiana-Kentucky Conference, Ohio Conference Minister Ralph Quellhorst, and Michael Penn Moore, who heads the Conference EKU-UCC working group.
The international visitors were divided among five study areas, dealing with reform of the church’s image, the role of the pastor, professional-volunteer relations, denominational structure, and the issues of mission, ecumenism, and global responsibility. Each group visited representative ministries and offices, then drafted proposals for change and presented them for group discussion and review. Halfway through the process, the consultation was expanded to include district Superintendents of the EKvW as well as other German pastors. The proposals offered by the visitors were challenging, but the principal host of the event, Dr. Ulrich Moeller of the Ecumenical Office, insisted that the observers must tell the truth as they saw it, not merely say what they thought the EKvW would want to hear. The EKvW was challenged, among other things, to:
The consultation was an
intensive one, with sessions beginning right after breakfast each
morning and continuing until ten in the evening.
The logistics—hosting people from so many places, managing
press coverage of the event, and recording virtually every word and
image on CD—were all handled with German efficiency and punctuality. Other regional churches in Germany are watching this effort at reform with the greatest attention. Even if the content varies from one area to another, the process can be highly instructive for churches on both sides of the Atlantic. |
