The American church that might have been : a history of the Consultation on Church Union / Keith Watkins ; foreword by Michael Kinnamon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Watkins, Keith, author.

Contributor:

Kinnamon, Michael, writer of foreword.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Consultation on Church Union.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xviii, 244 pages)

Place of Publication:

Eugene, Oregon : Pickwick Publications, [2014]

Summary:

"During a forty-year period ending in 2002, leaders of major American churches tried to unite their members, ministries, and public service in a new church they named A Church of Christ Uniting. Participating in this movement were four Methodist Churches, the Episcopal Church, the nation's largest Presbyterian Church, the United Church of Christ, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the International Council of Community Churches. With a membership of close to twenty million, this church would have been spread throughout the nation more fully than any other church except the Roman Catholic. Leaders of the movement believed that this union would enable church members to experience their Christian life more fully. It would heal divisions that had existed since the Protestant Reformation 450 years earlier and displace the denominational system that was increasingly dysfunctional. By coming together in a new way, these churches could work more effectively at overcoming problems in American life-especially the challenges related to racism. Although the Consultation on Church Union (COCU) closed before converting its vision into a new form of the church, it had a significant effect on these churches and the nation. This is a story that needs to be remembered"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part One: Moving from vision to plan (1960-1970). The bold proposal

The challenge to reunion in concrete terms

Second thoughts on church union

Principles of church union

Uniting Christians separated by race

Poised on the edge of success

At last a plan of union

Part Two: Negotiating the terms of agreement (1971-1988). Responding to the nation's deepening distress

Shifting the focus from plan to process

The interdependence of unity and mission

The COCU consensus: in quest of a church of Christ uniting

Unity in diversity: churches in convenant communion

Part Three: Reshaping the ecumenical vision (1989-2002). From COCU to churches uniting in Christ

Remembering the church that never came to be

Still needed-a new church for a new nation

Appendices: "A proposal toward the reunion of Christ's church" / Eugen Carson Blake

"Response" / James A. Pike

Abbreviations of church names

COCU timeline of meetings.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9781630877446

1630877441