LETTER FROM THE ECUMENICAL MODERATOR
christian normality
MURDOCH MACKENZIE
september 2001
Dear Friends,
CONVERGENCE - THE RETURN TO CHRISTIAN NORMALITY
As many of us know as from 1st September, with the encouragement of the Roman Catholic Diocese, the Methodist Circuit, United Reformed Church District, Baptist Connexion and Anglican Milton Keynes Deanery are converging as a Mission Partnership. This means that they will implement the 1952 Lund Principle of acting together in all matters except where deep differences of conviction compel them to act separately. In this way we will put into action the words which we say at each celebration of the Eucharist: ' We who are many are one body because we all share the one bread. '
This should be a matter of rejoicing and not one of surprise. This is the way the Church is meant to be and as Pope John Paul II says in his encyclical 'UT UNUM SINT' the movement for Christian unity is not some sort of appendix which is added to the Church's traditional activity but is 'an organic part of her life and work, and consequently must pervade all that she is and does' (Ut Unum Sint Section 20). At the end of July I had to speak at the World Methodist Council Conference on the theme of Common Faith: Common Witness and did so under the title: ' People Not Paper ' a copy of which is available from the office for anyone who wants one.
In the course of preparing the material I was reminded of section 31(a) in 'God's Reign and Our Unity' -- the Anglican-Reformed Report of 1984, much of which was written by Lesslie Newbigin, who was undoubtedly one of the greatest Christian missionary theologians of the twentieth century. It is a paragraph on which we would do well to ponder as we survey not only the wondrous Cross but the Christian scene in Milton Keynes and the rest of England:
' Some affirm that concern for unity deflects attention from the more urgent business of evangelism, and they (correctly) point out that groups less interested in unity are often amongst the most successful in achieving numerical growth. To this it must be replied that if the Church were an end in itself then it would follow that multiplication of numbers would be the criterion by which priorities should be judged, but if the Church is a sign and first-fruits of the reconciliation of all things in Christ, the fruit of evangelism should be communities reconciled to one another in Christ.
If men and women are not being drawn into the one body, we must ask whether in fact their growth in Christ is not being stunted. "Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love" (Ephesians 4:15-16). The mere multiplication of cells, unrelated to the purpose of the body, is a sign not of life and health, but of cancer and death. '
Thus let us rejoice in our new-found unity as we prepare for our first joint Assembly to be held on 30th October at 7.30 pm at Christ Church Stantonbury. Anyone is welcome to come along that night to share in the celebrations. Even if you are not an actual member do come as an observer to give glory to God and to commit yourself to our common mission as Christ's people in Milton Keynes.
Grace and Peace !
Murdoch MacKenzie
CONVERGENCE - THE RETURN TO CHRISTIAN NORMALITY
As many of us know as from 1st September, with the encouragement of the Roman Catholic Diocese, the Methodist Circuit, United Reformed Church District, Baptist Connexion and Anglican Milton Keynes Deanery are converging as a Mission Partnership. This means that they will implement the 1952 Lund Principle of acting together in all matters except where deep differences of conviction compel them to act separately. In this way we will put into action the words which we say at each celebration of the Eucharist: ' We who are many are one body because we all share the one bread. '
This should be a matter of rejoicing and not one of surprise. This is the way the Church is meant to be and as Pope John Paul II says in his encyclical 'UT UNUM SINT' the movement for Christian unity is not some sort of appendix which is added to the Church's traditional activity but is 'an organic part of her life and work, and consequently must pervade all that she is and does' (Ut Unum Sint Section 20). At the end of July I had to speak at the World Methodist Council Conference on the theme of Common Faith: Common Witness and did so under the title: ' People Not Paper ' a copy of which is available from the office for anyone who wants one.
In the course of preparing the material I was reminded of section 31(a) in 'God's Reign and Our Unity' -- the Anglican-Reformed Report of 1984, much of which was written by Lesslie Newbigin, who was undoubtedly one of the greatest Christian missionary theologians of the twentieth century. It is a paragraph on which we would do well to ponder as we survey not only the wondrous Cross but the Christian scene in Milton Keynes and the rest of England:
' Some affirm that concern for unity deflects attention from the more urgent business of evangelism, and they (correctly) point out that groups less interested in unity are often amongst the most successful in achieving numerical growth. To this it must be replied that if the Church were an end in itself then it would follow that multiplication of numbers would be the criterion by which priorities should be judged, but if the Church is a sign and first-fruits of the reconciliation of all things in Christ, the fruit of evangelism should be communities reconciled to one another in Christ.
If men and women are not being drawn into the one body, we must ask whether in fact their growth in Christ is not being stunted. "Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love" (Ephesians 4:15-16). The mere multiplication of cells, unrelated to the purpose of the body, is a sign not of life and health, but of cancer and death. '
Thus let us rejoice in our new-found unity as we prepare for our first joint Assembly to be held on 30th October at 7.30 pm at Christ Church Stantonbury. Anyone is welcome to come along that night to share in the celebrations. Even if you are not an actual member do come as an observer to give glory to God and to commit yourself to our common mission as Christ's people in Milton Keynes.
Grace and Peace !
Murdoch MacKenzie
