By Cynthia B. Astle, DisciplesWorld contributing writer

DALLAS (6/26/09) — The malaise afflicting ecumenism today stems from the movement's focus on human relationships rather than on believers' common relationship through Jesus Christ, John H. Thomas said June 14 in the 10th Stalcup Lecture on Christian Unity.

Outgoing president and general minister of the United Church of Christ, Thomas presented the lecture, "Polar Star or Shooting Star: Ecumenism's Challenge Today," at East Dallas Christian Church to a crowd of about 100 listeners, including the lecture series benefactors, Joe A. and Nancy Vaughn Stalcup.

Thomas said he traces the malaise of the worldwide ecumenical movement, which seems to have retreated from the progress made half a century ago, to three factors:

1) Ecumenists tried to bridge differences among Christian churches solely through the means of friendship. These friendships collapsed when confront by the sharp ideological confrontations and moral differences that exist among churches.

2) Ecumenists have "learned to settle for less," since congregations of many different communions regularly cooperate on mission projects and there's no longer overt animosity or prejudice between denominations.

3) Most of all, Thomas said, ecumenists have lost sight of the fact that "our brokenness as the body of Christ is sin." As denominations today are tending to retreat into reclaiming their historic identities, "disunity has become respectable," he said.

These three factors have combined to stall efforts to bring Christian churches together into one body of Christ that can witness to the world, Thomas emphasized. He said it's time to deal with the realities that Christian denominations still have sharp divisions over the nature of the church, the apostolic faith, vexing moral issues such as the acceptance of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, and viewpoints on the sacraments.

"Christ must be our polar star," Thomas asserted. "The ecumenical movement draws Christians into relationship with those who feel totally 'other' to us. Yet our unity in Christ is more powerful than human friendships that fail. We seek koinonia [community] because we share in common our submission to Christ, who is at work among us."

Thomas warned strongly against "settling for what is, rather than longing for something more."

He added that the ecumenical movement is seeing a regression today. "Our ecumenical colleagues are spending more time with their confessional relationships — the Lutheran World Federation, the World Methodist Council, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the Baptist World Fellowship — than with the World Council of Churches or the National Council of Churches. What we have is the institutional unity of the self-centered church instead of unity based on our mission to the world.

"Our brokenness no longer scandalizes us," Thomas said.

Thomas criticized the regression in Christian unity as a sign that denominations which began as movements to renew the church have become "institutions of preservation" for maintaining "over-cherished pasts."  He said he believes the global movement for unity can revive if Christians will "get beyond the shock of unfriendliness" and persist in resolving their doctrinal and ecclesial differences, no matter how difficult such conversations may prove.

"We are called to be the friends of those whom Christ chooses," the lecturer said.

In closing, Thomas quoted Roman Catholic theologian Elizabeth Johnson's interpretation of the apochryphal Book of Wisdom, in which she says believers are to be "friends of God and prophets."

"The church is called to be a wisdom community of the friends of God that encircles the globe and stretches into space," Thomas said.

Robert K. Welsh, president of the Disciples' Council on Christian Unity, introduced Thomas as a Christian leader of "deep spirituality and keen, insightful intellect." Welsh noted that the speaker had etched himself into the memories of many some years ago at the inauguration of an ecumenical anti-racism campaign in Memphis, Tenn. Gathered on the balcony of the former Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Thomas was the only speaker who approached the podium by taking off his shoes, signifying that he regarded the spot where King died as holy ground, Welsh said.

The Stalcup Lecture was followed by a brief worship service highlighted by the musical performances of the combined choirs of East Dallas Christian Church and the Cathedral of Hope, along with the cathedral's orchestra, as an expression of the ecumenical partnership that exists between the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ. The Cathedral of Hope is known as "the world's largest gay church" and affiliated with the United Church of Christ in 2006.

The Stalcup Lecture is a major event for the Council on Christian Unity and Disciples-related Brite Divinity School. It occurs biennially "because that's all we could afford to endow," benefactor Joe A. Stalcup joked at the June 14 event.

Ordained in 1950, Stalcup served in professional ministry between 1976 and 1997. Both he and his wife, Nancy, have been active in various lay ministries throughout their lives, and are strong advocates of Christian unity and the priesthood of all believers. In support of an informed, well-equipped laity who can witness to the Christian faith in the world, they also sponsor the Stalcup School of Theology for the Laity, a series of monthly lectures held at Brite featuring noted professors and theologians.