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WHEN CHURCHES JOIN

1. Why Congregations Join Together

(This section considers the basis of the imperative toward Christian unity)

Christian unity is both something that is given and something that is to be achieved. It is a given reality because God makes us one people. As the writer to the Ephesians put it, there is 'one body, one Spirit, one hope held out in God's call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all who is over all, through all and in all.' Since we are children of the one Father, acknowledging one Lord and receiving one Spirit, we are members of one family whether we like it or not. Just as we are not always delighted with our human families, we cannot pretend that we can always and easily give God thanks for our brothers and sisters in Christ. But we are given to each other by God, and we are called to be grateful and to begin to live as one family should.

Consequently, having been given that unity we are now called to give it shape and substance, to 'spare no effort' (quoting Ephesians again) 'to make fast with bonds of peace the unity which the Spirit gives.' It is therefore true that the all-important thing is our 'spiritual' unity, but it is quite wrong to see this as something other than, and somehow superior to, visible unity. Genuine unity is spiritual not in the sense of something intangible, but as something given by the Spirit of God. Christians are called upon to incarnate that, to give it flesh and blood, in quite down-to-earth terms, not least in the regard we have for each other and the way we treat each other.

How we make real the unity that the spirit gives must be answered in specific situations and by those immediately involved, and will differ from time to time, from place to place, and with denominational identity. This document provides details of various models of denominational co-operation, especially at the local level; but within that variety, four general principles can be seen to operate.

First, the unity that the Spirit gives is unity in diversity. To be one people, members of one body (to use a recurring New Testament metaphor) is also to have differences, and these are not to be tolerated merely, but to be welcomed because only when the several parts are different and fulfilling different functions can the whole be what it ought to be. Christian unity therefore involves accepting our diversity and making use of it - diversity not only across denominational boundaries but also across social, racial, national and cultural and age barriers. Christian unity involves accepting our differences without allowing them to cause division.

Second, unity requires that we do separately only those things that for conscience sake we cannot do together (to quote the influential Lund formulation of 1952.) We are coming close to the point of doing together what conscience will no longer allow us to do apart, but there is far more that we could be doing together, locally and nationally, with a clear conscience. The documents that follow illustrate what can effectively be done together at local level without cutting across, indeed with the approval of, church authorities and regulations.

Third, unity is not just for the sake of the church, but for the world that is God's good creation. Although the immediate impetus toward developing ecumenical co-operating partnerships may have been recognizing the practical difficulties in 'going it alone', especially in remote and rural areas (UCA Assembly, July 2000), an undeniable mandate for any congregation's existence is to witness in word and deed to the saving grace of God, made known in Jesus Christ. When churches co-operate, this witness is enhanced not just because there are more people and resources then available, but because the very fact of the co-operation bears witness to God's grace that makes us one in Christ. Nothing weakens our witness more than the accusation that we 'talk the talk' of God's reconciling love for all, but do not 'walk the walk' of reconciliation with each other.

Fourth, unity means more than just tolerating, recognizing and accepting one another. It means actively supporting one another in the work that we do for the sake of God's reign. That can be put briefly enough, but it takes all the resolve we have to put it into practice, and all the insight we have to see ways in which this may be achieved. What follows are guidelines and models which enable us to build on the insights and achievements of others.