Justification by faith. Those three
words divided Western Christianity for
centuries, splitting apart families and
nations. Wars were fought over their
meaning. So it is with a sense of awe
and wonder that representatives of three
major Christian traditions –
Methodism,
Lutheranism and Catholicism – will
gather in a Chicago church Oct. 1 to
celebrate their fundamental agreement
on how sinful human beings are
forgiven and brought into a right
relationship with God.
Side by side, speaking in an age when
some would dismiss religion as a source
of violence and division, Bishop Gregory
Palmer, president of the
United Methodist Council of Bishops,
Cardinal Francis George, president of
the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops,
and Bishop Mark Hanson, president of the
Lutheran World Federation,
will
join other international dignitaries and
faithful in a service of thanksgiving
celebrating their common Christianity.
Bishop Sharon Zimmerman Rader,
ecumenical officer for the United
Methodist bishops, will also be there.
How big a deal is this in the grand
sweep of Christian history? “It’s of
enormous importance because
it is the first
point of conflict of the unfolding of
the breakup of the Western church,”
says the Rev. James Massa, executive
director of the Secretariat of
Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of
the Catholic conference.
“It’s of enormous importance for all of
the traditions within Christianity that
have their roots in the Western church.”
The statement
declaring the council’s fundamental
doctrinal agreement with the
Catholic-Lutheran document on
justification by faith was circulated
twice to all member churches, including
The United Methodist Church. The
statement was signed by Catholic,
Lutheran and Methodist representatives
July 23, 2006, at a meeting of
the World Methodist Council in Seoul.
In their common affirmation,
Methodists, Catholics and Lutherans said
they viewed the agreement as a sign of
their desire for a “common witness to
the world, which is the will of Christ
for all Christians.”
“I think it’s
extraordinary that it has happened,”
says the Rev. William MacDonald,
a United Methodist minister who serves
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Vonore,
Tenn. “With
Methodists joining on, I think that just
re-energized the issues.”
“We
believe in a gospel of reconciliation,”
he says.
“We have to be reconciled among
ourselves if we are to be a convincing
witness to the world.”
