Plausible Ecumenism
An Ecumenical Roundtable Discussion
Introduction by James M. Kushiner
In New York City on January 15, 1999, Touchstone held “Plausible Ecumenism: An Ecumenical Roundtable Discussion.” Participants met to consider several questions: What do you see as the current state of movement towards orthodox ecumenism with respect to your tradition and how has your tradition contributed to the current state of visible disunity? What hope do you have for the future? What needs to happen next, over the next forty years?
The daylong roundtable began with a keynote paper by Touchstone Senior Editor S. M. Hutchens (read by James M. Kushiner since the author’s flight to New York was cancelled due to bad weather). Six speakers then gave presentations on the suggested questions, as follows: Thomas S. Buchanan (Eastern Orthodoxy), Richard John Neuhaus (Roman Catholicism), Jonathan Jenkins (Lutheranism), David Mills (Anglicanism), Craig Higgins (Reformed), and Kevin Offner (Evangelicalism). Reverend M. Scot Sherman, Senior Pastor of Intown Community Church (Presbyterian), Atlanta, Georgia, moderated our roundtable.
The keynote paper, “The Fellowship of Loneliness,” by S. M. Hutchens, is included in the following pages. Not included is the presentation by Richard J. Neuhaus, since he spoke from notes and the sessions were not taped; but a summary of his remarks is provided.
Our Plausible Ecumenism roundtable, while a smaller and shorter meeting, carried on some of the work begun in our 1995 conference hosted by Rose Hill College in Aiken, South Carolina, called “Not of This World: A Gathering of Traditional Christians.” (The plenary papers and half of the responses are published in Reclaiming the Great Tradition: Evangelicals, Catholics & Orthodox in Dialogue, James S. Cutsinger, editor, InterVarsity Press, 1997. Conference tapes also are available, advertised on page 40.)
Conferences such as Rose Hill and our roundtable in New York City last January, we believe, are examples of what Richard Neuhaus at Rose Hill called a “new ecumenism,” an ecumenism flourishing outside of official ecumenical agencies, generally occurring among traditional Christians, often at the grass roots level.
The Fellowship of Loneliness
by S. M. Hutchens
“Ecumenical orthodoxy” or “mere Christianity” as we define it at Touchstone is a symbolic attempt to describe, in loosely theological terms, Christian fellowship in Christendom’s present state of division. If we are truly of Christ’s fellowship, then our prospects for success, eschatologically speaking, are assured, and much of what we do amounts to being a penitential exercise for the good of a divided soul, to be kept up until we reach an orthodox agreement, or the Parousia, or until hell freezes over, whichever comes first.
Those of you who have read some of my writing will recognize which of these I am inclined by temperament to think will unite us, but I take comfort in the fact that I have been wrong before on issues that involve the grace of God moving among men. I can remember telling a Latvian friend that the Soviet Union would loose its grip on his country when hell froze over. Well, Latvia is free—free, at least, as Latvians can make it, and Hutchens is wrong again, so hope remains alive.
Frontier Ecumenism
James M. Kushiner is the Director of Publications for The Fellowship of St. James and the former Executive Editor of Touchstone.
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