Christian Unity (the book) - The Maranatha Community

In 1970 a similar scheme to that of North India, involving Anglicans,Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians and the Church of South India, JaffnaDiocese, was planned for Sri Lanka, but it did not come into being.(k) The United Reformed Church (UK) (1972)This was a merger of the Congregational Church and the Presbyterian Churchof England. In 1981 the majority of the Disciples of Christ joined this Union.A UNITY NOT DEPENDENT UPON STRUCTURESIn the Church unions in India, the thorny question of the recognition ofepiscopal and non-episcopal ministries had to be faced. This was the veryquestion that caused problems for the hoped-for merger of the Methodistsand Anglican Churches in the UK and brought it to a halt. In this latter case aService for Reconciliation was to be followed by the consecration of the firstMethodist bishops, in which Anglicans would take part; all ordinationsthereafter were to be performed by bishops. It was the Anglican vote,however, that turned down union in 1972. Negotiations for union wererevived in 1995.The two World Wars which convulsed Europe in the first half of the 20 thCentury were important factors in giving rise to the ecumenical movement.‘Christian’ Europe had twice torn itself apart, and the churches had beenunable to prevent, or even stem, the rising tides of paganism and imperialismwhich gave rise to the wars.Although the Roman Catholic Church seemed wary of such ventures as theWCC, and still is not a member, there can be no doubt that the desire for unityfound in Roman Catholic circles was given encouragement by the proceedingsof the WCC, and that the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) expressed thestrong desire to draw near to other Christians.Page 162