Reformed and Catholic

A Journey of Faith: Reformed and Catholic

Jeffrey Gros

In response to Christ's prayer, "that they may all be one," (John 17:21), all Christians are called to conversion not only to Christ, but to his church and to the unity he willed for his followers. The Reformed Church in America (RCA) and its members live out their commitment to visible unity through their commitments to full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Lutheran churches worldwide, through their dialogue toward full communion with other churches, including the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. and worldwide through the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, in dialogues of the Faith and Order movement in the U.S. and worldwide, as well as through memberships in councils of churches. The Reformed churches, including the RCA, claim to be part of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church confessed in the creed, as does the Catholic Church. However, the Reformed and Catholic churches have yet to recognize each other's ecclesiological claims, understandings of the apostolic faith, the sacraments and ordained ministry, and the order necessary for the church's unity. 1 Therefore these dialogues are important preludes to that full communion for which we pray. 2 Church unity, wherever it emerges between estranged Christians, is a gift from God. Nevertheless, healing the great division of the Reformation between Catholic and Protestant heirs of the Western tradition has to be among the most pressing and exciting expression of the Spirit's call in our day. The Lutheran Catholic "Joint Declaration on Justification by Faith" and the thirty years of dialogue that stand behind it are monuments to the possibility of transcending the very touchstone of Luther's critique of the Catholic Church. 3 This declaration was formulated with the full participation of the Reformed churches of Germany. It is hoped that some Reformed churches around the world may see their way to adopting it as well.4 If the Reformation and the churches that are its heirs are to be resources for gospel renewal for Christians in the future, the ecumenical character of Luther and Calvin's intent will have again to be a shared mandate for all Christians, Catholic and Protestant alike. In this brief essay, honoring the career and vision of Donald Bruggink, we shall survey the vision of visible unity shared by Catholics and the RCA (1) in the context of World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order dialogues, (2) in the international dialogues sponsored by the Vatican and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and (3) the U.S. ecumenical dialogues between the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Reformed churches, in which the RCA is a valued participant along with the Presbyterian church, the United

235 l Church of Christ, and, from time to time, other American Reformed churches. In the context of this discussion, contributions of the U.S. Faith and Order Commission, of which Bruggink has been an active member for over ten years, will be noted. Donald Bruggink has taught generations of RCA students to treasure the fullness of the catholic tradition in its Reformed embodiment. The Reformed tradition is a gift to the tradition of the gospel and a provisional ecclesial expression of catholicity seeking the fullness of unity for which Christ prayed. Bruggink's students will have in their background an appreciation of the historical record, the intellectual heritage, and also the artistic embodiment of the Christian faith. Through his travel seminars, especially "Rome, City of Peter and Paul: The Communication of Christ Through Art and Architecture," students have had the opportunity to appropriate not only the pre-Reformation common tradition, but also the present embodiment of Catholic Christianity in such a way that it begins to become a common heritage. Roman Catholics can only pray that Catholics will develop the quality of interest in the Reformed tradition that Bruggink has elicited in the Catholic heritage. While there are important Catholic contributions to Calvin scholarship, there is not yet the library of works to match Catholic interest in Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism. 5 One can only create a common heritage and look forward to the full communion, to which Catholics and the RCA are committed, if the groundwork is laid among young scholars that is represented by Bruggink's important work.

Common World Council Faith and Order Developments The RCA is a charter member of the WCC and with it seeks "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." RCA scholars have not always been members of the plenary Commission on Faith and Order of the WCC. However, the Reformed tradition and the Dutch background component of that tradition have been richly represented, both in Faith and Order discussions and in the leadership of the councils. Indeed, the RCA has been particularly generous in recent years in providing WCC and National Council of Churches staff. The Unity We Seek The churches together in the WCC, including the Catholic Church as a full member of the Faith and Order Commission, have outlined a vision of visible unity throughout its assemblies, the most recent being in Canberra, 1991. The theme of communion (koin6nia), an ecclesiological perspective not at all alien to the traditions of Calvin,6 has emerged as central in these discussions. In that 1991 assembly the WCC published The Church As Koinonia: Gift and Calling, a text and theme which became the basis for the fifth World Conference on Faith and Order in 1993 . Among other things, this text outlines

236 the elements of the nature of the church we can articulate as needing to be shared: The unity of the church to which we are called is a koinonia given and expressed in the common confession of the apostolic faith; a common sacramental life entered by the one baptism and celebrated together in one eucharistic fellowship; a common life in which members and ministries are mutually recognized and reconciled; and a common mission witnessing to all people to the Gospel of God's grace and serving the whole of creation. The goal of the search for full communion is realized when all the churches are able to recognize in one another the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church in its fullness. This full communion will be expressed on the local and the universal levels through conciliar forms of life and action. In such communion churches are bound in all aspects of life together at all levels in confessing the one faith and engaging in worship and witness, deliberation and action. 7 These elements of full communion both articulate a common ecclesiology, shared by Reformed and Catholic along with other churches, and lay out an agenda of issues to be agreed upon theologically if full communion is to be achieved. Faith and Order and the Reformed-Catholic bilateral dialogues begin to make contributions on this pilgrimage of reconciliation. It is through the U.S. Faith and Order discussions of the same themes that Donald Bruggink and other RCA representatives have made the most dramatic and substantive contributions to this worldwide movement toward reconciliation. 8 Needless to say, in this multilateral dialogue context, the RCA is one among many Reformed voices as questions of faith, sacramental life, ethics, and church order are resolved on behalf of the churches. Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry One of the most widespread modem discussions in the ecumenical world has been that of the 1982 Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (BEM). Reformed and Catholic scholars, along with Orthodox and other Reformation churches, contributed to the long process that produced the document and provided responses which have contributed to the current report. 9 The RCA General Synod of 1985 produced a very positive statement on BEM, with responses also from the Commission on Christian Unity, the ad hoc Committee on Liturgical Expressions of Unity, and the Commission on Worship. 10 While this is an official statement of the RCA, one will note that Donald Bruggink wrote the initial draft of the document, refined in committee and affirmed by the vote of the General Synod. The Catholic Church presented its response in 1987, after canvassing the Episcopal Conferences worldwide and collaborative drafting between the

237 Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. 11 Both responses praise the biblical basis, the resonance with the common apostolic faith, the accessibility of the volume for our people, and its contribution to our pilgrimage toward visible unity. Both provided useful comments for further study among the churches. In this section the further work or reservations will be noted as signals of our common quest and challenges for our further study together. Baptism Both the Catholic and RCA responses call for a greater attention to the biblical presentation of grace, and the sorting out of the question of the relationship between baptism and confirmation. The RCA also clarifies issues of regeneration, covenant, and the use of adult and infant baptism as "equivalent alternatives." The emphasis on covenant is important, since it becomes so central in witnessing to Calvin and Reformed confessions' affirmation of the objective and sacramental character of the church's action in baptism. This is helpful for churches who do not use the theological concept of covenant in understanding the sacrament. The Catholic response raises similar issues: (1) "The document does not here [B #6] give adequate attention, however, to the implications of the fact that a person is baptized within a particular ecclesial fellowship in a divided Christianity. Because the text is addressed to churches and communities that are not in full communion with one another, it rightly emphasizes that, in uniting people to Christ, baptism establishes a bond between them that is deeper than anything that divides them. It draws attention to the contradiction between one baptism and divided Christian communities, and calls for an overcoming of 12 division and a visible manifestation of baptismal fellowship ; (2) the understanding and role of original sin; (3) the meaning of the phrase "Baptism is a sign and seal of our common discipleship" (#5,6); (4) the corporate understanding of faith (#10) and "the ecclesiological dimension of baptismal 13 grace" ; (5) the linkage of baptism to full eucharistic initiation; (6) the role of water in the rite (B, #2lc, commentary); and (7) the undocumented generalization about "indiscriminate" baptism (#21b, commentary). While the concerns raised by both churches are within a common affirmation of the text (about one another's baptism and about differences with those who "rebaptize" those baptized as infants), these responses provide important stimuli to common catechesis about Christian initiation and discussion of how to live out a common Christian identity, even while churches begin to sort out other differences. Eucharist The question of the Lord's Supper provides a more challenging issue among the chur.ches, and especially the Catholic and the Reformed churches. Certainly progress with both of these churches and their Lutheran ecumenical partner

238 r provides a stimulus to Christians to work together to deepen the sacramental and corporate character of the faith of their churches and to clarify the understanding of Holy Communion and its relationship to the presence of Christ in our midst in Word and Sacrament. BEM makes a monumental, and for many, surprising contribution to this process. The RCA raises questions about the text recommending weekly celebration of the Lord's Supper, as Calvin did, and the balance between Word and Sacrament in the Eucharistic celebration. These questions are resolved by clarifications, relating these affirmations to the Reformed tradition and its confessions. The section of the RCA response on "discerning the Body of Christ" in the Supper, and its discussion of transubstantiation, will come as a welcome surprise to the Catholic reader. It stands in stark contrast to Question 80 of the Heidelberg Catechism and traditional caricatures of Reformed understandings of the Eucharist. However, more detailed discussion of this affirmation between Catholics and Reformed will be necessary before its full significance is transparent. As one might expect, the Catholic response is more detailed and cautious in its appreciation, though fulsome in its praise of the text. Catholics would appreciate a clearer link between the action of Christ and that of the church in the Supper, a further explication of the meaning of the memorial (anamnesis), a deepening of the understanding of sacrifice and offering, and a more explicit affirmation of the change that takes place in the celebration. Of course, for Catholics the celebration of the Lord's Supper and eucharistic sharing are inextricably linked to the reconciliation and recognition of ordained ministries, so these issues are tied together in such a way that one cannot be resolved without the other. Both traditions have been helped in this discussion of Word and Sacrament by the focus on the role of the Holy Spirit, so central in Reformed eucharistic theology and ecclesiology. The Orthodox presence in the discussion, with their emphasis on the agency of the Holy Spirit effecting the presence of Christ in the Supper in response to the prayer of the church (epiklesis), has been an important contribution to Reformed reconciliation with Lutheran, Catholic, and Anglican eucharistic emphases. Certainly BEM stands in the background of the success of Lutheran Reformed full communion, and as a beacon on the pilgrimage toward full eucharist communion among other churches. It should be a resource and stimulus to sacramental renewal and common catechetical work in sacramental preparation. Ministry As Max Thurian notes in compiling the churches' responses to BEM, "The ministerial structures of the churches and communities divided from one another are not only marked by different theologies, but have also been affected by

239 various historical and sociological developments within the churches which 4 contribute heavily to shaping their identity." 1 The RCA and the Catholic Church present affirmative responses to this section, but like the other responding churches, this is seen as the most difficult and least mature of the three parts of BEM. The Catholic response identifies five very specific affirmations in the text. For further study, it lifts up the importance of considering the sacramentality of the whole church, a theme treated in the bilateral dialogue Toward a Common Understanding of the Church taken up below. In their responses, many churches call for further work in the areas of "sacramentality" and "ecclesiology. "15 The Catholic response also questions how ministerial development is to be evaluated theologically, noting the lack of clarity on the theological weight to be given to the development of ministry and structures of authority. 16 This shows the importance of taking up the question of history together. The relationship of authority to ministry is also noted as needing deeper agreement. The question of the relationship of the priesthood of the people of God, of Christ, and of the ordained minister is also set forward for further consideration. Since the second Vatican Council, Catholics have come to use the term presbyter more frequently for pastors or "priests," since the council sees the "fullness of the priesthood" residing in the bishop. The ministerial offices are most frequently explicated in Calvin's typologies of king, prophet, and priest, applying these types in different ways to the various roles in the church. 17 Even when issues of apostolic succession and the threefold ministry are resolved, the issue of the ordination of women will continue as an important subject of dialogue. While the Catholic response recognizes the value of the text's nuance of the origin and role of the threefold ministry and its need of constant reform, it also notes the absence of discussion of the teaching office of the bishop and the question of a universal ministry as a service to unity in the church. The explication of apostolic succession as Catholics evaluate its expression in the personal episcopacy is well explicated here and forms a useful basis for further discussion with other churches, like the RCA, who do not invest their episcope in bishops in the same sense. The Catholic response feels that the strategy for reconciliation of ministries is weak in BEM, because it is merely the "recovery of the sign" of episcopal succession without sufficient common theological understanding of ordination and a common doctrine of the church. The response is generous in its recommendations for further study of this issue, but does not propose the level of detail for reconciling episcopally ordered and nonepiscopally ordered churches with the clarity and theological foundation found in the international Lutheran Catholic dialogue, for example.18 It may be that a tradition so theologically committed and attentive to church order as the Reformed can develop a theological understanding of ministry and a more adequate understanding of

240 steps and stages toward ministerial reconciliation than is possible in a text like aEMIn. a simi· ·1 ar way, t h e RCA response raises. issues. on t h'is question. o f or damed . ministry. However it raises fewer questions because "the churches seem farthest apart in terms of nomenclature and practice, but are willing to recognize the essential functioning of the church even without familiar names and titles .. . . [T]he Bible does not so clearly mandate a church order that any branch of the church can prove to another that its polity is the only God-ordained option." This view of history, the authority of the church, and the demands of unity are important matters of discussion between the RCA and the Catholic Church. Hopefully the new WCC Faith and Order srudy on ecclesiology will provide a helpful framework for exploring this issue together. While acknowledging the generosity of the episcopally ordered churches toward the Reformed churches without bishops, the RCA response is equally generous in its openness to "recovering the sign" of apostolicity embodied in personal episcopacy as enunciated in this section. In fact, the response suggests that "a liturgy for this public act [of reconciliation of Reformed presbyters with bishops in the apostolic succession], with the same high standards as the Lima Liturgy, might be provided for this service." 19 The response goes on to call for more attention to the prophetic ministry and a reaffirmation of the text's emphasis on the calling of the whole people of God. Of course, the question of episcopacy will continue to be a key element in the discussion among Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican traditions and the Reformed, Lutheran, and other Protestant churches. Thomas Rausch has suggested that a consensus is emerging, with BEM and the other dialogues, including those in which the Reformed churches are involved. He enumerates ten points of agreement: (1) Episcope includes not only overseeing and presiding over local churches, but symbolizes communion of local churches with the apostolic church; (2) As a function it links churches in a communion of churches; (3) Reconciliation and recognition of ordained ministry are a phased process through shared exercise, and joint ordinations; (4) Apostolic succession is a sign, among others, of apostolic continuity. The reconciliation of ordained ministries means a sharing together of the apostolic fullness; (5) Any process of reconciliation of ministries begins with mutual recogmtlon. There is no hint of reordination; ( 6) Bishops will be ordained in such a way as to invite recognition in the wider church community; (7) The rite of laying on of hands by bishops is done by several to signify unity in both space and time; (8) Episcope includes a role in the teaching office of the church. The churches can begin by exercise of common teaching before full reconciliation of ministers; (9) Churches with bishops will be open to reform enhancin§ the synodal principle with clear and constitutional lay involvement in oversight. 0 Whether these levels of agreement will be able to be received by the churches will need to be tested in specific bilaterals between Reformed churches

241 and those with bishops. Proposals for reconciliation will need to be placed before the churches for decision and action.

The International Reformed-Catholic Dialogue The Reformed-Catholic dialogues are less well known than Catholic dialogues with the Lutherans, Anglicans, and Orthodox. They provide an important component in the pilgrimage toward full communion. There have been three international dialogues sponsored by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and a fourth is presently underway: "The Presence of Christ in Church and World": 1968- 1977,21 with the Lutheran World Federation; "The Theology of Marriage and the Problem of Mixed Marriages": 1976;22 and "Toward a Common Understanding of the Church": 1984-1990.23 This review focus will be reserved to the two specifically Reformed dialogues, though the dialogue on marriage and its extension in local situations may touch more Christians immediately. The statement on mixed marriage was done early on in Catholic participation in the ecumenical movement. It was quite Eurocentric in its composition from both sides. Therefore, it does not take account of the pastoral needs and experiences of such pluralistic situations as the U.S., or the cultural realities of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. However, it is a useful resource when local classes and dioceses are preparing guidelines for interchurch marriages in their local conte1rts. The U.S. dialogue work in the present round is focused on sacramental practice and will take up the question of interchurch families. Another reason that these dialogues have not taken on the profile of other such texts is the decision to make "the reports of each session . . . more descriptive than prescriptive, ... "24 while other dialogues have taken up more concrete proposals for moving the churches towards reconciliation. The judgment of the representatives of the churches is that, "... the value of these discussions does not lie only in their necessarily provisional 'results.' What the authors of the report hope, rather, is that the readers may let themselves be drawn into the inner dynamic of the movement which gripped us . . . . "25 Thus, these texts seem to some slanted much more to subjective and individual response than to corporate reunion and action among the churches. While the key issue in reconciling these churches is ecclesiology-what understanding, practice, and witness of these churches is necessary before full communion is achieved in a united church-this dialogue has found it essential to tackle the core issues of the Christian faith, the Trinity and the Incarnation. The ecclesiological issues themselves are driven by this central confessional position of the churches. "Jesus Christ, in whose name our forebearers separated themselves from one another, is also the one who unites us in a community of forgiveness and kinship. "26 The second chapter of the second report even entitles itself, "Our Common Confession of Faith." While the drafters are clear on how this text differs from a

242 confession in the classical understanding, it is their reflection on the common elements of the Christian faith shared by the Catholic and Reformed Churches that emboldens them to use such a formulation. If this is indeed the case, a tremendous divide in the four hundred years of history between these two communities has been bridged. This is especially important as a prelude to the reconciliation of the details of ecclesiology and history. The received wisdom prior to these dialogues was that our differences on ministry and community were rooted in different understandings of the Holy Spirit's action in the church, and that the key doctrine of justification, and our differences over the Lord's Supper were rooted in divergent Christologies. This text not only claims agreement on the work of Christ, justification, grace, grace, and the Trinity, but also professes to have reconciled differences over the relationship of these to the church: Together we confess the Church, for there is no justification in isolation. All justification takes place in the community of believers, or is ordered toward the gathering of such a community. Fundamental for us all is the presence of Christ in the Church, considered simultaneously as both a reality of grace and a concrete community in time and space.27 With this in mind, the churches are challenged to hold their seminaries and religious education publishers accountable to bringing this commonality in faith to the consciousness of all who would be authentic to their Reformed and Catholic identity. The most creative section of the 1990 report may be the one on "Toward a Reconciliation of Memories." The process of reconciliation will be greatly enhanced with positive portraits of one another's leaders without the "selectivity and polemics" of the past, and with an affirmative view of the "present reality in our churches." 28 On the basis of this discussion the dialogue leaves historical scholars and educators with a challenge: We need to set ourselves more diligently, however, to the task of reconciling these memories, by writing together the story of what happened in the sixteenth century, with attention not only to the clash of convictions over doctrine and church order, but with attention also as to how in the aftermath our two churches articulated their respective understandings into institutions, culture and the daily lives of believers. But, above all, for the ways in which our divisions have caused a scandal, and been an obstacle to the preaching of the Gospel, we need to ask forgiveness of Christ and of each other.29 l The U.S. Faith and Order Commission has also been following a similar line, with Donald Bruggink as a valued participant in its publications on the

243 ecumenical writing of history. 30 The Pope has picked up on this theme as integral to the reconciling and reforming moments in Catholic ecclesiological developments, as recognition of the shadow side of Catholic history, taking account of the painful memories that continue to leave divisions among us : Christians cannot underestimate the burden of long-standing misg1vmgs inherited from the past and of mutual misunderstandings and prejudices. Complacency, indifference and insufficient knowledge of one another often make this situation worse.31 Indeed, Catholic participants in this second dialogue characterize historical and theological developments in this way: In Catholic circles attention turned more or less immediately to ecclesiological issues. Up to the time of the Reformation, reflection on the Church had fallen into two main categories. The first consisted of polemical and apologetical works . . . the second consisted [of] assumptions . . . .32 These assumptions are enumerated in the text under the categories: (1) Christological foundation of ministry and authority; (2) promised unity; (3) priority of the church to the New Testament texts. This section briefly outlines the developments of perceptions and implications today in these two communities. It is the hope of this dialogue that the theology and spiritual legacy of these traditions can be received as gifts and that we can "set ourselves more diligently . . . to the task of reconciling these memories, by writing together the story of what happened in the sixteenth century, with attention not only to the clash of convictions over doctrine and church order, but with attention also to how in the aftermath our two churches articulated their respective understandings .. .. "33 These two dialogues take up a specific set of ecclesiological issues, always in the context of the church's mission and the world in which God works through the church and beyond it. This context is particularly important for these two churches because they have both been very self-conscious in their heritage about the social mission of the church and its visible, tangible relation to the world and to culture. Both of them have the experience of being the established church in confessional states. Therefore, as will be seen especially in the U.S. dialogue, not only social and evangelical collaboration are important for this reconciliation, but social and evangelical common ecclesiological understanding. Indeed, many of the difficulties that inhibit collaboration are rooted in divergent ecclesiologies, unreconciled memories, and different ethical options. Among the specific issues under consideration are the Eucharist, ordained ministry, continuity and tradition, and church order and authority. Within the context of church order, the issues of participation, local-universal tensions, and the Petrine office are touched upon. The situation of the first dialogue in the

244 context of Christ's presence in the world, and the second in the context of the complementarity of the church as creatura verbi and sacrament of grace show a growing sense of both the need for internal reform and renewal and common ground in facing the modern world. While it has been widely thought that the Scripture and Tradition divisions of the Reformation had been bridged, as specific uses of the concepts are applied, for example, in the question of continuity in ministry or authority, we find that more work is necessary. As noted above, ordained ministry and the Lord's Supper have been particularly intractable between Reformed and Catholic traditions. However, with more specificity than in BEM, this dialogue is able to affirm: "We believe we have reached a common understanding of the meaning and purpose and basic doctrine of the Eucharist, which is in agreement with the Word of God and the universal tradition of the Church.34 Making the link between reform of worship, theological agreement, and the consciousness of our people in developing their ecumenical identity is a vital challenge at this moment . l . 35 inth e ecumemca Journey. A third round of this international dialogue is now underway. It is hoped that it will be as fruitful for reconciliation and renewal as have the first two.

The U.S.-Reformed Catholic Dialogue The international dialogue has been conscious of the importance of national denominational relationships. Because of the character of the World Alliance and the emerging theology and practice of national councils in Catholicism, "neither body wishes to detract from the importance of similar, more-or-less official conversations which had been going on for some time at the national level. ... "36 This is particularly important for the RCA since its scholars are only occasionally selected from among World Alliance members to represent the Reformed tradition internationally. Early Rounds The U.S. dialogue has been remarkably productive, though in the most immediate past there has been a five-year hiatus because of the energies going into the reunion of the Presbyterian Church, the largest Reformed member of the dialogue. During the early period- until 1996-the Reformed churches acted through the North American and Caribbean Area of the World Alliance. In the present round the RCA, the United Church of Christ, and the Presbyterian Church are represented directly with their staff and theologians. Early successful statements on such issues as Scripture and Tradition,37 ministry,38 and the roles of women in the church provide important, yet to be realized proposals for reconciliation. On the one hand, they have provided important resources for later international and multilateral developments on these issues. On the other, they moved so quickly towards agreement that they may appear naive about the openness of the Reformed and Catholic churches internationally, and even within the U.S. It will be important for all future

245 """" dialogues, not only in the U.S., to continue to draw upon this early and very promising work. The Unity We Seek From these early successful formulations, whose recommendations are yet to be realized, the dialogue went on to attempt a coherent ecclesiological synthesis, even proposing concrete stages toward reconciliation of these two communions, The Unity We Seek. 39 While formulated well before the work of the WCC came to be widely received, it provides a concrete context for the emerging vision of Conciliar Communion. This study is also characterized by a complementarity of contextual and classical theological methodologies, using case studies and sociological analysis along with the historical and biblical method characteristic of ecumenical research. Specifically, this ecclesiological study outlines the elements of unity sought in the context of a common biblical understanding of the church and its unity. These include: unity in belief; unity in structure, including principles for a period of transition; and unity in worship. The recommendations are quite specific, and may have been too optimistic, giving dates, for example. However, the idea of unity by stages and interim goals has been well received in wider ecumenical discussions. Likewise, the recommendation of dialogues "which would investigate basic moral issues" has been particularly prophetic.40 The emphasis on "the people of God in the local community" points to the key role of the laity, both in education and leadership, in fostering the translation to a united church. Indeed, where Catholic parish councils and consistories have met together for joint training in collegiality, co-responsibility, and corporate ministry, rich ecumenical results have developed. Likewise, in speaking of worship: Participation, .. . involving laity as well as clergy, women as well as men, young and old, and other groups hitherto excluded from a say in the form of their own worship, will result in forms of worship more clearly related to Christian life and mission in the world, and more expressive of the equality of all in Christ, regardless of sex, race, ethnic background, and social or ecclesiastical status.41 Rereading this early proposal will serve as an evaluation of how far U.S. Reformed and Catholic relations have come, often without conscious study of this proposal of unity by stages. Ethical Themes The next two sets of U.S. dialogues are truly pioneering in that they take up the significant ethical issues of our time: human rights, abortion, peace, and education. These discussions, with the possible exception of that on peace, have yet to bear the fruit of which they are capable. I would suggest that this is due to

246 d1e politicized character of these concerns in the U.S. context, and the fact that common reconciling statements do not assist those most energized by public witness. The statement on abortion, for example, not only provides a case study of dialogue on a major church-dividing ethical issue, but also the reconciliation of memories by giving a common account of the ethical traditions underlying the positions. It also provides some resources that might help the American religious community find a common basis for a national common ground, in fidelity to common Christian values, on what continues to elude the political parties in their proposals for national consensus.42 It records five very concrete areas of common faith, and four where there are issues to continue to be discussed. The differences and commonalities on peace, abortion, human rights, and education are conceptualized with the vision of a united church and stages thereto, proposed in the earlier dialogues. The common framework and suggestions for further exploration on such issues as the appropriate roles of lay leadership, congregational study and action, and appropriate education are all important contributions from this dialogue. While the American impulse for advocacy and issue-oriented organization runs counter to the irenic impulse of ecumenical agreements generally, the very nature of our unity in Christ makes witness to reconciliation here even more urgent. Since these earlier ethical dialopes, similar- but more theoretical conversations have begun in the WCC4 and in the Joint Working Group of the Catholic Church and the World Council.44 The work on ethics is a contribution to the vision emerging in the international dialogue on the reconciliation of memories. Indeed, even when agreement has come easily it has been recognized that "we were arriving at similar places ... by quite different routes. . . . None of us can step away from long histories in America that have given shape to present positions-and prejudices. "45 For these churches, healing has meant not only "a new level of common witness to society," but also a confession that "both our traditions have at times violated Christian principles and damaged political justice. "46 Likewise, these discussions make substantive contributions to the reconciliation already begun on Scripture and Tradition by delineating how "the core logic" of these two churches "uses a combination of arguments from Scripture, from the traditional discussions of just war theory and from social-ethical analysis of the contemporary situation. . . 1147 In this, these texts and their process can be of use to the wider ecumenical movement where Catholic-Orthodox-Protestant tensions have emerged, as for example, in the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation process of the WCC. 48 Taking up the challenge of the international dialogue to contribute to the project of providing a common history for our people is an important American agenda.

247 The Laity Even the most recent U.S. round of dialogues has taken on yet again a new and different methodology. Instead of developing an agreed statement on a church-dividing issue, the dialogue on the laity has provided a study which should enable Reformed and Catholic laity to study together and to find a common basis for witness, reconciliation. It provides a survey of the theology of the laity, a synthesis of the diversity of views on church authority and the laity from the perspective of these two traditions, and the variety of polities among the three Reformed churches. An essay "Permeable Boundaries: Lay Christians in a Changing World" outlines the parallel between the role of the laity in service to the unity of the church with the role of political processes of peoples in dialogue serving the healing of civil divisions in polarized societies. The last section of the volume includes several resources for congregational dialogue. 49 Present Prospects Round six of this U.S. dialogue has taken up pastoral approaches to the sacraments, including not only Baptism and the Lord's Supper, but also marriage. This should provide all of our congregations and pastoral workers with important resources in dealing with the day-to-day issues in pastoral life that attend our growth together as churches committed toward the pilgrimage to full communion and living and working daily in common witness to the world. It is to be hoped that this round of pastoral dialogue will stimulate the interest in solid theological dialogue serving the unity of our churches. Certainly, these pastoral concerns about Baptism and the Lord's Supper should lead to a desire to come to full agreement on the Eucharist, building on the responses to BEM in which both churches have participated. Concern about the ministry of Word and Sacrament should enable us to take up the open response of the RCA, looking forward to a time when there can be a liturgical celebration of reconciliation and recognition of ministries, including elders, bishops, pastors, and priests, that can be built on agreements in our faith about what God is doing through the ordained ministry within the church and for the world.

Conclusions The reception of these dialogue results is central these days. As Pope John Paul noted: " .. . a new task lies before us: that of receiving the results already achieved" which "must involve the whole people of God." Results are not to remain "statements of bilateral commissions but must become a common heritage. . . . At the stage which we have now reached, this process of mutual enrichment must be taken seriously into account. "50 The RCA has much more experience in formulating, evaluating, and acting on ecumenical documents. 51 However in the context of the reception of Vatican II, the Catholic Church is challenged to receive: (1) the theological basis by

248 which it moves into the ecumenical movement; (2) the ecclesiology of Vatican II, with its ecumenical ~rinciples; and (3) the relationships and results from the postconciliar dialogues. 2 The Reformed-Catholic partners have yet to envision what method of engagement would be called for to move from dialogue to decision. However, with the penchant of the RCA and the Reformed tradition for orderly approaches to participation, theological confession, and collegiality building on the experience of BEM and the bilaterals, such a process should be easily designed. Of course, the Reformed churches have a variety of approaches to Catholicism, and therefore their reception of these results will vary widely: The diversity in assessment of the Roman Catholic Church at the time of the Reformation by the Reformed is shaped by the time of which each Church is established, be that during the Middle Ages [Bohemian Brethren], the first generation of the Reformation [in Switzerland and Holland], or the second or later generations [in England and the United States]. This diversity is the result of the particular way in which the various Reformers met the Roman Catholic Church and the personalities of that Church whom they encountered. 53 These evaluations, historic and current, will provide the basis on which the results of the dialogues can be received. The internal debates within Reformed and Catholic churches both contribute to and detract from the reception of these ecumenical advances. These dialogues are a call for renewal, indeed reform, in both of our churches. Much change has occurred in the last thirty years. Many have been converted to Christ's call for the unity of the church. We are now challenged to take the next steps. I suggest some very concrete contributions the churches can make at this stage of ecumenical life together: (1) Evaluate our religious education and seminary programs to see that all of our people and especially our leaders are adequately instructed in the results of the dialogues, according to their capacity and level of formation. (2) Continue the dialogue to resolve outstanding issues of eucharistic faith and ordained ministry. Reformed agreements with Lutherans, and Catholic agreements with Lutherans and Anglicans, all in the context of progress in BEM, should make this possible with the scholars available to us in the U.S. (3) Develop a common, ecumenical commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism, or at least Question 80, in the light of the present dialogue.54 Similar commentaries on the Council of Trent can build on the German work, in which Reformed churches were involved. (4) Find ways of linking, possibly in covenant, schools, parishes, and classes/dioceses to study the results of the dialogue, integrate them into the prayer life of our congregations, and provide responses to these texts out of our local situations.

249 ......

(5) Develop self-consciously ecumenical pilgrimages, like those led by Donald Bruggink, to sites of historical significance to Reformed and Catholic people and of ecumenical significance for tomorrow. Donald Bruggink has given a career to deepening the faith of the RCA and informing its ministry in the reconciling vision given us by God in Jesus Christ. To continue his ecumenical legacy is both an intellectual vocation and a personal challenge to respond to God's grace. We can stand in gratitude not only for his gift, but for the gift of unity to which he has responded so generously with those of us who walk the same pilgrimage.

ENDNOTES

1 Alan P.F. Sell, A Reformed, Evangelical, Catholic Theology: The Contribution of the World Alliance ofReformed Churches, 1975-1982 (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1991 ). Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Directory for the Application ofPrinciples and Norms on Ecumenism, Origins, 23 .9 (1993). 2 Lukas Vischer, Andreas Karrer, ed., Reformed and Roman Catholic in Dialogue (Geneva: World Alliance of Reformed Churches, 1988). Jeffrey Gros, "Evangelical and Catholic: The Reformed/Roman Catholic Encounter," The New Mercersburg Review, 14 (Autumn, 1993), 18-38. 3 "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification by Faith," "Cardinal Edward Cassidy Press Conference Statement," "Official Catholic Response to the Joint Declaration," Origins, 28.8 (1998), 120-132. 4 Karl Lehmann, Michael Root, William Rusch, eds., Justification by Faith: Do the Sixteenth-Century Condemnations Still Apply? (New York: Continuum, 1997), Karl Lehmann, Wolfhart Pannenberg, eds., The Condemnations ofthe Reformation Era, Do They Still Divide? (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990). 5 Killian McDonnell, John Calvin, the Church and the Eucharist (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1967), Alexander Ganoczy, The Young Calvin (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1987). Adrian Helleman, "The Contribution of John Calvin to an Ecumenical Dialogue on Papal Primacy," One in Christ, 30:4, 1994, 328-343. J.L. Richard, The Spirituality ofJohn Calvin (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1974). 6 B.A. Gerrish, Grace and Gratitude: The Eucharistic Theology ofJohn Calvin (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993). 7 Thomas Best, Gunther Gassmann, eds., On the Way to Fuller Koinonia (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1994 ), 269. 8 Cf. Paul Fries and Tiran Nersoyan, Christ in East and West (Macon: Mercer University Press, 1987), Timothy J. Wengert and Charles W. Brockwell, Jr., eds., Telling the Churches' Stories: Ecumenical Perspectives on Writing Christian History (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995). It can also be noted that, in 1982, when the author was taken on to staff of U.S. Faith and Order, the Rev. Dr. Nancy Van Wyck Phillips was chair of the search committee. 9 Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry: Report 1982-1990 (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1990).

250 10 Max Thurian, ed., Churches Respond to BEM: Official Responses to the "Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry" text, VI (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1988), lff. 11 Max Thurian, ed., Churches Respond to BEM: Official Response to the "Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry" text, VI (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1988), lff. 12 Ibid., 11. 13 Ibid., 13. 14 Ibid., 25. 15 Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry: Report 1982-1990 (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1990). 16 Thurian, VI, 27. 17 Cf. Kenan Osborne, A History ofthe Ordained Ministry in the Roman Catholic Church (New York: Paulist Press, 1988). 18 Facing Unity in William G. Rusch, Jeffrey Gros, eds., Deepening Communion, [hereafter DC] (Washington: U.S. Catholic Conference, 1998), 15-72. 19 Thurian, II, 150. 20 Thomas P. Rausch, Priesthood Today: An Appraisal (New York: Paulist Press, 1992), 123. 21 Harding Meyer and Lukas Vischer, eds., Growth in Agreement: Reports and Agreed Statements ofEcumenical Conversations on a World Level (New York: Paulist Press, 1984), [hereafter GA], 433ff. [hereafter, RC, 1977]. 22 GA, 277ff. 23 DC, l 79ff. [hereafter RC, 1990]. 24 RC, 1977, 436. 25 Ibid. 26 RC, 1990, 198; cf. RC, 1977, 442. 27 RC, 1990, 203. 28 Ibid., 18 lff. 29 Ibid., 197. 30 Wengert and Brockwell, op. cit. This study outlines principles which it suggests for ecumenical historiography: (1) It takes account of all Christians, especially the ignored or suppressed; (2) It is global in outlook, avoiding ethnic, geographical, or cultural biases; (3) It takes account of the differences between traditions and the Tradition; (4) It takes account of the interaction of gospel, culture, and the varieties of Christian communities; (5) Worship, piety, practice, and teaching are taken into account as well as institutions and doctrine; (6) Resources from iconography, worship, popular religious literature, and archeology are given significance; (7) It recognizes that the past is read, by each generation, in light of its own current issues; (8) It recognizes parallels in other periods with contemporary concerns; (9) It assists groups of Christians to define themselves and recount their own story; (10) It provides an opportunity for each tradition to be analyzed by the others; (11) It welcomes the reader into the past with a spirit of hospitality; ( 12) It approaches history with a sense of repentance and forgiveness rather than defensiveness; ( 13) It is clear about its own presuppositions and seeks to overcome prejudices; and (14) It recognizes that complete objectivity is impossible. Cf. also S. Mark Heim, ed., Faith to Creed (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1991).

251 31 John Paul, Ut Unum Sint: On Commitment to Ecumenism, Origins, 25:4, June 8 1995, 49-72, #2 [hereafter UUS]. ' 32 RC, 1990. 33 Ibid., 222. 34 RC, 1977, 457; cf. also, 449ff. 35 Gabriel Fackre, Michael Root, Affirmations & Admonitions: Lutheran Decisions and Dialogue with Reformed, Episcopal, and Roman Catholic Churches (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1998). 36 RC, 1977, 434. 37 Reconsiderations: Roman Catholic/Presbyterian and Reformed Theological Conversations 1966-67 (New York: World Horizons, 1977). 38 "The Ministry of the Church," Journal ofEcumenica l Studies [hereafter JES] 5 (1968), 462-465; "Validation of Ministries in the New Testament," Kilian McDonnell, "Ways of Validating Ministry," JES 7 ( 1970), 209-265; "Ministry in the Church, Women in Church and Society," JES7 (1970), 686-691. 39 Ernest Unterkoefler and Andrew Harsanyi, eds., The Unity We Seek (New York: Paulist Press, 1977), reprinted in Jeffrey Gros and Joseph Burgess, ed., Building Unity (New York: Paulist Press, 1989) [hereafter BU], 384-417. 40 BU, 400. 41 Ibid., 406. 42 Ethics and the Search for Christian Unity (Washington: United States Catholic Conference, 1981). Agreement available in BU 418-423. 43 Thomas Best, Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, eds., Costly Unity: Koinonia and Justice, Peace and Creation (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1993). 44 The Ecumenical Dialogue on Moral Issues: Potential Sources of Common Witness or Divisions, DC 597-612. 45 Ronald White, Eugene Fisher, Partners in Peace and Education (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1988), xi. Also in BU 424-447. 46 Ibid., 7. 47 Ibid., 8. 48 Thomas Best, Martin Robra, eds., Ecclesiology and Ethics: Costly Commitment (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1995). 49 The Roman Catholic-Presbyterian/Reformed Consultation, Laity in the Church and the World: Resources for Ecumenical Dialogue (Washington: US Catholic Conference, 1998). 50 uus #80, 87. 51 Cf. "Catholic/Reformed Dialogue: Report of Evaluation Group," Information Service, 1981, 45 :1, 46-48. 52 Jeffrey Gros, "Reception of the Ecumenical Movement in the Roman Catholic Church, with Special Reference to Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry," American Baptist Quarterly, 7 (1988), 38-49. "Reception and Roman Catholicism for the 1990's" One in Christ, 31(1995),295-328. 53 Alan Falconer, "How the Reformed Churches now see the Roman Catholic Church," One in Christ, 26 (1990), 54. This author outlines current approaches: "In examining this diversity of assessment of the Roman Catholic Church, four major

252 approaches by the Reformed seem evident: viz. . A negative assessment; a cornparative approach; a cooperative approach; and an evaluation of the complementarity of the Reformed and Roman Catholic traditions," 61. 54 The Christian Reformed Church has approached the National Conference of Catholic Bishops to consider, as a result of opposing overtures to their General synod, either the elimination of, or an ecumenically sensitive commentary on Question 80, taking account of the "Joint Declaration on Justification by Faith" and work done with other Reformed churches and the Catholic Church.

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