Episcopal Press and News

Search the Episcopal Press and News

Year

All 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962

Enter search query

Ecumenical Officers Board Charts Future

Diocesan Press Service. November 12, 1975 [75410]

EVANSTON, IL - The EDO, a national network of Episcopal Diocesan Ecumenical Officers, will attempt to achieve a high profile during the 1976 General Convention if the plans made by its executive board, meeting at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, November 10-12, are implemented fully.

In the light of the expense involved, the Rt. Rev. Philip A. Smith (New Hampshire), liaison from the Executive Council's Ecumenical Program Committee, asked, "Is this trip necessary?" He had questioned the value of the board's decision to establish and man a "Diocesan Ecumenical Officers' Center" in the Convention exhibit hall. "I see it," replied the Rev. Dr. John H. Bonner (Chattanooga, TN), the executive board's chairman, "as a place for information for deputies on all topics that have ecumenical overtones, and a center for visitors and observers to become informed on the place and time for open hearings and meetings as well as a refreshment location."

All objections to establishing the Center were dropped when it was observed that funding for the Center would come from private individuals and voluntary diocesan offerings and that more than half of the needed amount was already in hand. The 19-member board approved the decision unanimously.

The board also laid plans for an Ecumenical Evening at the Convention, an inter-denominational service of Proclamation, Celebration and Commitment to be held at a non-Episcopal church site on a date not yet named. The Presiding Bishop, the Rt. Rev. John M. Allin, will be asked to participate, as well as the leaders of the Lutheran, Orthodox, Roman Catholic and other church jurisdictions. The event will focus on a world view of ecumenism, highlighted by a charge from the world Church to the Episcopal Church.

The crowded two-days of meeting in Evanston reflected a long look ahead by the executive board of the EDEO. Included on the agenda, in addition to the General Convention design, were final decisions with regard to the annual meeting of the EDEO, to be held February 23-25, 1976, in Memphis, TN; preparations for the National Workshop on Christian Unity - 1976, to be held in Memphis on February 25-27; a report from the Rev. William A. Norgren, Assistant Ecumenical Officer on the Executive Council staff, on the International Eucharistic Congress to be held in Philadelphia, PA, August 1-8, 1976; a look at the up-coming meeting of the World Council of Churches in Nairobi, Kenya; and a detailed review of a national survey on the status of ecumenism taken from diocesan Ecumenical Officers across the Church.

The executive board, in addition to Bishop Smith, Dr. Bonner and Father Norgren, is composed of its secretary, Mrs. Lee Winchester, Jr. (Germantown, TN); the national Ecumenical Officer, Peter Day; the chairman of the Joint Commission on Ecumenical Relations (JCER), the Rt. Rev. John H. Burt, (Ohio); a liaison person from Executive Council's Program Committee, Bishop Smith; representatives from JCER's Committee on Local Ecumenism, the Very Rev. C. Allen Spicer, Jr. (Easton, MD), Mrs. Alex Drapes (Great Falls, MT) and Mrs. Robert M. Steptoe (Martinsburg, WV); members at large Mrs. Phebe M. Hoff (Richmond, VA) and the Rev. Canon Robert L. Clayton (Manchester Center, VT); and one Provincial Coordinator from each of the domestic provinces of the U. S.

Provincial Coordinators are: Province I, the Rev. William B. Lawson (Lynn, MA); Province II, the Rev. Harry B. Whitley (Paterson, NJ); Province III, the Rev. Elwyn D. Brown (Rockville, MD); Province IV, the Rev. Thomas F. Hudson (York, SC); Province V, the Rev. R. C. Nevius (Hayward, WI); Province VI, the Rev. Robert V. Burrows (Denver, CO); Province VII, the Rev. Canon Curtis W. V. Junker (Oklahoma City, OK); and Province VIII, the Rev. John A. Langfeldt (Indian Village, NV). Every member of the board was in attendance at the November 10-12 meeting.

The theme adopted by the executive board for the February EDEO meeting is to be "Christian Unity at the General Convention." Specific agenda items were not included in the recommendation of Mrs. Steptoe, agenda chairman, but it was generally agreed that the matter of crossordination and church membership would surface during the plenary sessions and workshops.

"There have been no answers on these questions since our last meeting in San Diego (December, 1974); but you can bet that we'll be asked about them in Memphis," said Dr. Bonner.

A report on the activities of JCER will be made by Bishop Burt at the Memphis meeting. The Rev. John B. Coburn, president of the House of Lay and Clerical Deputies and Bishop-elect of Massachusetts, will deliver the main banquet address.

In his report to the board on the current activities of JCER, Bishop Burt covered the bi-lateral dialogues Episcopalians are now conducting with the Lutherans, the Council of Churches Uniting (COCU), and the wider Episcopal fellowship as well as ARC (the Anglican-Roman Catholic Consultations). "We are in a sort of euphoria of dialogue with the Roman Catholics," he said, "and it is important to remember that there are other branches of Christendom with which we hope to relate." Recent joint statements of agreement between Anglicans and Roman Catholics have been published by ARC on the Purpose of the Church and the Ordination of Women.

Looking to the Nairobi meeting, Bishop Burt said that we must wish our delegates well, but we must be prepared to interpret the results of the meeting for our people. "Especially," he added, "we must discover how the implications of the issues at Nairobi affect our own General Convention."

"I am sure," he concluded, "we will hear much criticism from the Third World at Nairobi. We may even be forced to defend the conciliar movement."

In additional items of agenda, the executive board of the EDEO: *heard a report from Peter Day on the Status of the 1976 Ecumenical budget. In spite of a cut of $10,000 from the overall Ecumenical allocation, EDEO's share for the coming year will be increased from $4,400 to $10,000. This means, Day added, that other ecumenical items will have to be pared accordingly.

*decided on how EDEO's budget would be expended. $6,000 will be used for executive board expenses. The balance will be divided among the chairman's expenses, the annual meeting costs and provincial coordinators' expenditures.

*appointed Father Langfeldt, with the assistance of Father Nevius, to design the arrangements of the Diocesan Ecumenical Officers' Center at the General Convention.

*approved changing the name of the Provincial Representatives to Provincial Coordinators.

*heard Mrs. Winchester's report on the physical facilities available for the Memphis meeting. Calvary Church, Memphis, will be the hosting parish, but it is receiving assistance from the Roman Catholics, Lutherans and Southern Baptists in making preparations.

*received a report from each of the Provincial Coordinators on the results of a questionnaire on ecumenism sent to each diocese. The reports revealed that there is considerable grass-roots activity in ecumenical affairs, but the efforts are spotty. More coordination is needed; more assistance to the diocese is desired. Funding ecumenical activities is a serious problem. Each area surveyed, it was discovered, literally dictates the kind of ecumenical relations the Episcopal Church is able to achieve.

*directed a committee chaired by Mrs. Drapes to examine and evaluate the diocesan replies to the questionnaire. The information will be used in budget-building and to "give other dioceses courage" to attempt ecumenical activities already begun by other innovators.

*met one evening with senior seminarians of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary to exchange information and share insights of the ecumenical scene.

*heard an account of the plans for a day during the International Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia when Episcopalians will be involved in the design and execution.

*discussed methods of distributing the Diocesan Ecumenical Officers' Handbook to concerned key people.

*heard announcement of the dates for future ecumenical events: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - January 18-25, 1976 Women's World Day of Prayer - March 5, 1976

In the closing minutes of the November meeting of EDEO's executive board, the differences in the approach of the Episcopal Church with the Roman Catholic and Protestant bodies was noted:

Said Father Norgren, "With the Roman Catholics, once they receive the Eucharist from us, we have achieved unity; the ecumenical movement ends. With the Protestants, Eucharist in only one phase; for them, merging is more significant."

The EDEO executive board will next meet immediately prior to the annual meeting of the Episcopal Diocesan Ecumenical Officers' meeting in Memphis, February 23, 1976.