It's the Great Communion, Charlie Brown

thanks Selina B Campbell via twitter for the image idea.

As stated in a previous post, Great Communion will be celebrated this Sunday October 4, 2009 within some Restoration Churches in honor of the bicentennial of Thomas Campbell’s Declaration and Address [paraphrase]. We also recall a similar Great Communion celebration for the 100 year anniversary of its publication in 1909.

The most well remembered portion of the document is the 13 propositions, nearly half-way in. The first of which is often quoted in its entirety:

“That the Church of Christ upon earth is essentially, intentionally, and constitutionally one; consisting of all
those in every place that profess their faith in Christ and obedience to him in all things according to the Scriptures, and that manifest the same by their tempers and conduct, and of none else; as none else can be truly and properly called Christians.”

The scope of D&A is the Church universal, the focus is Christ. Thomas Campbell constantly points beyond himself, and beyond any movement he is given credit for founding. The document is by no means a “constitution” for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) nor for any other of the Restoration Churches. Quite explicitly, Campbell again points beyond himself and beyond the present document calling the New Testament, not the Declaration and Address, the constitution for the church (prop 4).

Rev. Ken Collins puts it quite well in a recent email. “Our denominational name contains ‘Christ’ not once, but twice. We have taken His name. Twice. Have we taken it in vain?…We are the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), not the Campbell Church (Disciples of Stone).”

Celebrating The Declaration and Address undoes it; celebrating the man who wrote it dishonors his intent. It is interesting to note that the first Great Communion was celebrated in the context of the schisms which split the Restoration Movement in the first place – in 1906 the United States religious census listed the Churches of Christ as a separate entity. What might be the result of this second Great Communion celebration? Hopefully there will be no desire for a tricentennial celebration for Campbell’s Declaration & Address, that perhaps his hope will be attained – that we will “Sink into the universal church”[Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery]  and Christ’s prayer will be answered “That they may be one.” (John 17:11)

In the meantime, let us avoid the contradiction of celebrating a document that was not meant to establish a new denomination and a man who would rather have us focus on Christ.

[CORRECTION: I wrongly attributed The Declaration and Address to Alexander Campbell. It was written by Thomas Campbell. I made the corrections in this post.]

Background

Sunday Oct 4, 2009 is World Communion Sunday in which Christian congregations all over the world will celebrate The Lord’s Supper as a sign of our unity in the feast. On the same day, The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is celebrating Great Communion Sunday which is meant to bring together the three strands of The Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement: Church of Christ, Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

At first I thought that these two events were separate, that Restoration Churches were celebrating Great Communion Sunday (GCS) instead of World Communion Sunday (WCS). However, GCS appears to be set within the context of WCS as a way for Restoration Churches to strive for more explicit unity within their realm of influence, that is among congregations of similar historical background. GCS has additional meaning in that 2009 is the bicentennial of Campbell’s Declaration and Address and the centennial celebration of a similar GCS which marked the one hundred year anniversary of Declaration and Address. The document called for visible unity among all Christians.

Liturgy

Following is a responsive reading which will be used for the GCS service at a church in my region:

Leader:  Every person has the right to private judgment.
People: O God, we thank you for our freedom to be different from each other and to be blessed by those who are different from us.
Leader: The scriptures will be the sole authority; no human creeds or inventions.
People: O God, thank you for speaking to us through your word so that, in freedom, we may work out our salvation and together be guided in our mission.
Leader: The sectarian spirit is evil; bitter jarrings and janglings of party spirit, clashing human opinions should be at rest; restore unity and peace.
People: O God, in your love, forgive us for harsh judgments, inhospitality, and harmful divisions.  Let the peace of Christ heal your church.
Leader: The Bible alone for our rule; the Holy Spirit for our teacher of truth; and Christ alone as our salvation.
People: O God, as we pray over scripture, pour out your Spirit so that we may look to our Lord Jesus Christ to live fully and faithfully His prayer that we may all be one.
Leader: We pray in His name,
People: Amen.

The liturgy continues with more themes about individuality and prayers which invoke Campbell’s Declaration and Address.

Comment

Then I wondered how all this informs my concerns stated earlier. I can finally put my finger on it: the extreme focus on individuality. Yes, we are individuals, but the whole point of corporate worship is that we come together as one Body to worship our one Lord, Jesus Christ. Not to emphasize our individuality, but to emphasize our unity. Not to mention, this is a responsive reading, meaning the congregation is given this text to read…together. Does anyone else see the irony here? I can’t help but imagine The Borg from Star Trek doing this responsive reading: “We are the Borg, We are individuals, We have freedom. Resistance is futile.” The fact that this is a corporate responsive reading is an affirmation that the individuality called for within itself is untenable. It is a paradox. Namely the call to unity in…what is it that unites us?

I must also question the timing. Why celebrate Great Communion Sunday on the same day as World Communion Sunday with the risk that the former overshadow the latter? I can’t help but think this is an particular example of the Restoration Churches (e.g. Disciples) hanging on to our individuality in spite of unity with the universal church. Campbell, in his Declaration and Address, echoed Christ’s prayer “That they may all be one” (Jn 17:11). This is a call which spans all denominations. For the sake of unity, are Restoration Churches willing to sacrifice a degree of freedom and individuality? I suggest we must.

Campbell, in his Declaration and Address was not arguing for a complete freedom to “believe what-ever you want to believe” and to have “unity no matter the cost.” Quite the contrary, Campbell said Christian churches must be agreed on the great doctrines of the faith.

“all the Churches of Christ which mutually acknowledge each other as such, are not only agreed in the great doctrines of faith and holiness, but are also materially agreed as to the positive ordinances of the Gospel institution; so that our differences, at most, are about the things in which the kingdom of God
does not consist, that is, about matters of private opinion or human invention. What a pity that the kingdom of God should be divided about such things!” – D&A page 10, line 31-38

Yes, we have freedom in those matters that are not of the Kingdom of God, those things which are not important. But we (should…must) be united in the Christian faith. Scripture does not call us to freedom of belief; it calls us to subjection to our Lord, Jesus Christ. Let us emphasize our unity and oneness in worship, not our differences.

Unity is not a magic word, just because you say it does not make it so.

Today, Disciples claim that our unity is in our individual freedom (i.e. disunity, and in some cases rejection of “the great doctrines of faith and holiness”); that is no unity whatsoever.

Fellow Disciples may know that 2009 marks the bicentennial of Alexander Campbell’s “Declaration and Address.” Many churches are celebrating with Great Communion Sunday on Oct. 4, 2009. The founding document certainly informs our discussion here, particularly on the question about the use of creeds and what Christian unity means. I am going to re-read the document and encourage you to join me. You can see the full text here.

—Update—

In case early 19th century English is a bit difficult for you to grasp, or you just don’t have the time for all 56 pages, I found a paraphrase version for you. Read it here.

I continue to discern my place in the church. As I come closer to ordination there are a number of questions I wrestle with concerning the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and my place in it. I intend to follow this post closely with one which praises many gems I have found within the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). I hope to explore each of these items, both concerns and gems, in more detail in future posts.

This list is in order from most troubling to least troubling (for me). I encourage your thoughts and critiques, especially from my fellow Disciples out there.

1. No Creed. Although the Nicene Creed is found both in the Chalice Hymnal and Chalice Worship, and the Preamble to the Design relies heavily upon the creed; we have hesitated to go so far as to say “Disciples affirm the creed.” It will be difficult to enter into greater ecumenical communion within the universal church without ascribing to the creeds. What is it that we believe anyway? What are the “essentials” we are united in? If you deny the content of the Nicene Creed, you might not be a Christian.

2. Re-baptism. This practice explicitly destroys the common unity which all Christians share in baptism. The creed affirms “one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” See also Ephesians 4. Baptism is once and for all, and it is what unites us. Rebaptizing Christians in a word says “your baptism doesn’t count.” Or worse, in the case of a request for re-baptism we say “its all about you.”

Numbers 3-7 are Eucharistic difficulties. There are a number of difficulties I have with the way the Lord’s Supper is celebrated in many Disciples churches. First, I am not saying everyone must believe what I believe. However, congregations often make theological choices about the Eucharist and then put those choices in the liturgy in such a way as to deny other possibilities. This is my primary critique, and I will elaborate on this concern in future posts. You will find some examples below, in brief.

3. Non-presence. When the celebrant misquotes scripture saying “This represents my body.” This denies the possibility of real-presence, which I affirm. What’s wrong with faithfully quoting scripture? Jesus said “this is my body.” You can talk about what the word is means in Sunday school class, not in the celebration of The Lord’s Supper itself.

4. Open Table. I believe Eucharist unites us not only with God, but also with each other. That kind of unity does not exist between me and a non-believer. Even in a non-sacramental, memorial only view – how can a non-believer “do this in remembrance of me?” Again, I am willing to commune with those who disagree with me, however an explicit welcome to “all” is often part of the liturgy. This forces me to either violate my conscience and receive, or remove myself from communion in that particular worship experience.

5. Poor reverence for the elements. So often I see congregations throwing the “leftovers” in the trash, feeding the bread to the birds and pouring the cup down the drain to the sewer! These same churches show more respect for the American flag, in it’s disposal. How can a church show more respect for the symbol of a country which is here yesterday and gone tomorrow, and yet disrespect the symbol of the Body of our Lord, Jesus Christ who reigns in heaven forever?

6.Weak Eucharistic Liturgy. Disciples celebrate The Lord’s Supper each week, and are symbolically identified by the red chalice with St. Andrew’s Cross. Yet, we often have one of the shortest Eucharistic liturgies I have seen, with minimal congregational involvement.

7. Lay celebrants of communion. This is intentionally low on the list, because I am not sure it is out-right wrong. I have celebrated communion and I am not yet ordained, as there is no biblical instruction on who may preside. However, this seems to be out of sync with the universal church both in modern times and throughout Christian history. Is this a practice we should continue?

8. No historic episcopate. We cannot trace our regional ministers back to the historic apostles like the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Episcopal communions can for their bishops. Again, this concern is low on this list because I am not sure if it matters. For example St. Paul was an apostle, but did not know the earthly Jesus. Being apostolic is about being sent, not completely about where we have been. Still, this deficiency seems to be out of sync with the universal church. This concern also addresses the tendency for Disciples to forget that Christian history/tradition/practice is older than the year 1950.

Have I missed any of your concerns? Any critiques of my concerns? I am especially interested in what my fellow Disciples have to contribute. Please leave your comments.

As promised, I have compiled a list of wonderful things I have found within the Disciples church. I attempted to stick with items that are unique to Disciples theology and practice.

1. Elders place at communion table. In most Disciples churches it is unheard of to celebrate communion without the prayers of a lay-elder. This helps to highlight the important ministry of the lay-faithful and their place at the table.

2. Communion every Sunday. I am surprised at just how rare this is, especially among protestant churches!

3. Parallel accountability. In the best case scenarios, believers are accountable to one another; congregations accountable to other local congregations; and regions accountable to regions. This is parallel accountability as opposed to hierarchical accountability.

4. Extremely welcoming. Even in huge congregations I simply can’t explain the level of welcome I have found in the Disciples church. This is certainly one of our strengths.

5. Freedom. I have the freedom to dissent within the Disciples church with no fear of being “kicked out.” Case in point – the last post. This includes freedom in the liturgy. It is not set and we are free to create the meaning we wish within worship. But, with great power comes great responsibility.

6. Christian unity has been a priority in the denomination since the beginning. I often hear the quote “unity is our polar star.” And in fact, I believe the Disciples Church is a great experiment in ecumenism – that though we are diverse we can worship together and be in the same communion.

7. Congregational governance. Including the power to call their own pastors. Each congregation knows its own context and needs best. There is an expectation that the Christian faithful will take part in the ministry of the church. This is somewhat rare in other churches I have visited, where ministry is often done for the congregation.

8. Chalice Worship (book). This is a wonderful resource for designing worship. I suspect that I have a lot in common with those who put it together. There is much in it that brings the Disciple church into greater unity with the universal church: a service of confirmation, an Easter Vigil liturgy, and a Ecumenical service of communion,  just to name a few examples.

Bonus: On a personal note, I was certainly nurtured in faith through this church, came to know Christ, and discovered my call to Christian ministry.

Again, I want to ask if there is anything I missed, especially of my fellow Disciples out there.