Orthodox Recommit Themselves to NCC, Recommend Changes
CHICAGO, Nov. 13, 1998 ---- In a report to the National Council of Churches (NCC) annual General Assembly about a special consultation held in October, the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox members of the NCC recommitted themselves to the NCC and recommended several changes to increase and improve their involvement.
"Many of you know that among the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, there have been some questions about our participation in the ecumenical movement and in the NCC," said Bishop Dimitrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, who presented the report from the Inter-Orthodox Consultation to the NCC General Assembly. The consultation was held October 5-6 and brought 32 participants from the nine Eastern and Oriental Orthodox member communions to discuss Orthodox concerns and to deliberately investigate solutions for them.
The consultation and its outcome are particularly important on the eve of the World Council of Churches Assembly in Harare, to which some Orthodox churches, including the Russian Orthodox, have deliberately chosen to reduce or possibly even not send their delegations.
Bishop Dimitrios said that thanks to the consultation, initiated by the Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, NCC General Secretary and the Rev. Gabriel Habib, NCC Consultant in International Affairs, the Orthodox recommitted themselves to the NCC and the ecumenical movement. "We realized that our participation in the ecumenical movement is a divine imperative," Bishop Dimitrios said. "We cannot choose to not be a part of this movement."
As part of that recommitment, the participants "affirmed our need to be more responsible," he said. "We benefit morally, spiritually and materially" from the ecumenical movement, but "our churches do not contribute as much as we receive."
"We cannot continue to talk as if we are not participants," Bishop Dimitrios said, using "us" and "them" language. "’They’ are ‘us’!" he said. "We must become more and more familiar with the NCC" to be better involved, he added.
"This consultation was needed not only because the Orthodox Churches have been raising questions about their involvement in the ecumenical movement for several years, but because there is an ecumenical crisis worldwide," said Rev. Habib. "This crisis is not due to the ‘Orthodox attitude,’ as is sometimes suggested, but to a decrease in confidence of all churches in the ecumenical ideal. We thought it was appropriate that the Orthodox churches in America come together to reflect on this."
"The most important thing to come out is their commitment to continue more effectively in the NCC and the ecumenical movement," said Dr. Campbell. "Through this kind of participation and their common witness in America and ‘Western culture’, the American Orthodox have a unique contribution to make toward Orthodoxy worldwide," he explained.
These points were made in the "affirmations" section of the document, which is followed by two sets of specific recommendations. One set of recommendations is addressed to the Orthodox Churches and the other to the NCC.
Among the recommendations made to the NCC are:
"I hope the consultation will be followed up on properly from both sides and not be only a one-time event," Rev. Habib cautioned. "There has already been an encouraging sign. I was told that the leadership of the Oriental Orthodox churches visited the chair of the Eastern Orthodox Standing Committee, Archbishop Spyridon, to promote unity."
"I don’t know if you realize how much you have promoted unity among the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox church bodies," Bishop Dimitrios told the NCC.
One year away from the NCC’s 50th anniversary, the recommitment was welcomed by vigorous applause from the delegates, who voted to receive the recommendations "with gratitude."
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