Introduction

In the year 2000, the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA commenced a study group to focus on “The Authority of the Church in the World.” In line with the Faith and Order mission “to call the churches to the goal of visible unity…and to advance toward that unity that the world may believe,”[2] the study group’s goal was to develop an understanding of 1) what the churches commonly believe about the authority of the Church in the world, and 2) how the churches can more effectively witness to Christ in the world today. The document that resulted after 8 years of work, “The Authority of the Church in the World,” is available on the NCC website.[3]

As their work began, study group members noted many challenges facing the Church’s affirmation of its authority in the world. A primary challenge observed was a skepticism within society of authority itself. Others were based on current philosophies – materialism, relativism, post-modernism – that tend to marginalize the central Christian narrative of salvation in Christ. At the same time, it was noted that many of today’s moral and social issues contribute to internal church divisions and raise missiological challenges. In light of these observations, and others, it was apparent to study group particpants that “at stake is the ability of the Church itself to proclaim, in word and deed, the good news of Jesus Christ in the midst of a fractured society.”[4]

The group concluded that a study of “authority” could indeed effectively aid the communions in witnessing to the good news of Jesus Christ with authority, and to do so together. To begin the study, members from twenty-two various traditions wrote short papers exploring the way “authority” was understood and practiced within their own Christian communions. Though the authors wrote as faithful and informed adherents of their traditions, none of the papers were tp be considered “official.” Nevertheless, their essays are honest and insightful presentations of the current and/or historical conceptions, practices, and purposes of authority in their particular communions.

The collection of these twenty-four essays serves as a study aid for the final convergence document. These papers—each with a unique focus—reveal the complexity of the topic, some concentrating on authoritative structures within a communion and others highlighting the authoritative witness to Christ in society. The distinctive character of each essay presumably reflects the diversity of the Christian landscape, but most assuredly also reflects the personal perspectives of the authors (as in, for example, the different foci of the three Roman Catholic papers). Two themes are common to the majority of the essays: the centrality of Christ to the meaning of “authority” and the understanding of authority as rooted in the Church’s work in the world.

Nearly every paper asserts that the Church has authority only because Jesus Christ, as the sole source of authority, has given the Church such authority. The Great Commission (Matthew 28) and Christ’s own establishment of the Church through His calling of the disciples were commonly cited as the ways in which Christ has granted this authority. However, an equally strong theme is that Christ grants authority to those who do His will and follow His example of life and salvific work. For example, the paper written from the Friends’ perspective states that “the Church has no authority other than the truth of Christ its Lord...” The paper written from the Orthodox perspective affirms that “fidelity” to the Gospel message of the crucified and risen Christ is the basis for the Church’s authority. Authors from several perspectives explicitly qualify that only to the extent that the Church is faithful to Christ and His teachings does it possess authority.[5]

Each essay also deals with the work and witness of the Church in and to the world—an essential element for exploring how the Church can practically exercise its authority in a society that distrusts authority. Many papers express that the work of the Church in and for the world is essential to rightly exercising its authority, i.e. in being a faithful witness to Christ. This perspective was affirmed by those from various communions, including Church of the Brethren, Mennonite, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Religious Society of Friends, United Methodist, as well as by those from Asian Protestant and Latino Catholic traditions. These papers stress the importance of social holiness and of serving people’s needs as a response to Christ’s will. Various methods in which communions engage the world are also noted.

In other communions, the idea of social holiness is not integral to the understanding of the Church’s authority. While not dismissive of such work in society, Episcopal, Evangelical, and Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod writers maintained that authority was given to the Church for a specific purpose—to proclaim the Gospel and make disciples. While work in the world must be carried out, the Church’s domain lies primarily in baptizing, making disciples, and forgiving sins (Matthew 28 and John 20).

These two perspectives on work and witness are not intended to be understood exclusively. Collectively, the form a continuum of viewpoints on this matter. For example, in the essays from Baptist and Reformed Church in America authors, explicit proclamation of the Gospel and social outreach are understood to complement each other. Additionally, the essay from a Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod viewpoint should be noted for a unique Lutheran conception of “two kinds of authority through which God works in the world in different ways and for different purposes.”

In considering the authors’ respective treatments of these themes, readers will find it interesting to consider various questions raised in the papers:

? Where does the authority of the Church primarily reside? In the institution? In Christ? In the individual believers?

? How is authority defined? Is the authority of the Church to be legal/canonical or to be mission driven?

? What place do official documents and/or creeds have in establishing the way each communion defines its authority?

? Why is the individual believer vs. institution especially crucial for some communions’ views of authority?

? In what ways does cultural identity—for example Asian, American, or Latino(a)—shape one’s view of authority?

? How is authority connected to responsibility and faithfulness to Christ’s will?

Most striking in my perspective is that none of the papers is an attempt to convince society of the Church’s authority per se. The papers are not apologetic attempts to defend the Church’s authority to the outside world. This is so even though the overall work of the study group was certainly motivated by perceived threats from contemporary society. The papers focus less on proving to the world that the Church has authority and more on how it understands the nature of its authority and what can be constructively done with such authority. Unlike historical attempts to confront challenges through negative polemical arguments, this positive approach signifies a confidence in the Church’s people and structures to rightly understand and exercise its authority.

In the end, this collection of papers does more than simply represent the multifaceted way in which authority is understood as the churches witness to Christ. These papers instead promote understanding between communions and draw out common themes among them with regard to “the Authority of the Church in the World.”

[1] Ms. Mecera is a Master of Arts student at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. She serves as the Elenie K. Huszagh Intern at the NCC, where she works on Faith & Order and Interfaith Relations issues.

[2] The complete Worldwide Faith and Order Mission statement reads, “To call the churches to the goal of visible unity in one faith and in one eucharistic fellowship expressed in worship and common life in Christ, and to advance toward that unity that the world may believe.” There is also a separate Faith and Order USA mission statement. National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA: Faith and Order Commission Handbook [Internet] ( New York: Faith and Order Office, 2008, accessed 14 January 2009); available from <http://www.ncccusa.org/pdfs/FaithandOrderHandbook.pdf,> 16.

[3] “The Authority of the Church in the World,” [Internet] (New York: Faith and Order Commission, National Council of Churches, 2007, accessed 20 January 2009); available from <http://www.ncccusa.org/pdfs/newAOC.pdf,> 2.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Note especially the Friends and Evangelical perspectives.

The Authority of the Church in the World: A United Church of Christ Perspective, Rev. Dr. Susan E. Davies