Home --> About Us --> Centennial Celebration
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
(Click on any image to enlarge it.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
Frank Jennings was personally influenced
by the two international ecumenical conferences of 1937 — Life
& Work in Oxford, and Faith & Order in Edinburgh. He used
his report to the Annual Meeting that year to bring the Edinburgh
mandate home: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| “We desire that this Conference
should summon members of the Churches to such penitence that not only
their leaders, but the ordinary men and women who hear their message,
may learn that the cause of Christ’s unity is implicit in God’s
word, and should be treated by the Christian conscience as an urgent
call from God.” |
|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
In subsequent years, annual meetings
featured regular presentations on Christian unity as a theological
imperative. The Council actively promoted national and global ecumenism.
Forrest L. Knapp, General Secretary from 1953 to 1969, continued to
nurture this emphasis. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the 1970s, after much self-searching, the churches expressed their purposes and goals for the Council in a landmark paper entitled Odyssey Toward Unity. The context for this project was described in these prophetic words: “The ecumenical movement has serious problems; it is in
a state of crisis. In other words, we stand at a decisive juncture,
a crucial moment, at which decisions and commitments made today
will determine the progress or regression of ecumenical relations
for decades to come!” |
|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
Odyssey was indeed a watershed for the Council. Published in 1977, just two years into James Nash’s term as executive, it continues to guide the Council 25 years later, as well as to be widely used beyond Massachusetts. “Ecumenical commitment is not an occasional option for the
Christian; it is a perennial obligation. Ecumenism rests on the
firm foundation of the Gospel of reconciliation.” |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
“The vision of the one church as a conciliar fellowship of
churches in full communion with one another adds significantly to
the awesome task of councils of churches. It is a call and a judgment.” |
|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In 1990, Orthodox, Protestant and Roman Catholic representatives took the ideas in Odyssey and applied them to the practical questions of local church life. They answered the question: “Ecumenical Accountability: What are our responsibilities to and for each other?” In 2000, the Board undertook a complete revision of the Constitution. Our current purpose statement reads: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||