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Christian Unity (the book) - The Maranatha Community

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• Do not insist on re-baptizing or re-ordaining people who enter yourdenomination from ano<strong>the</strong>r orthodox (Nicene Creed) body.• Find three good jokes about your own denomination or tradition andshare <strong>the</strong>m with your fellow members.• Help your church to look outward ra<strong>the</strong>r than inward.• Do not settle for gossip.Evangelicals, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox believers are nowcoming to appreciate how much <strong>the</strong>y have in common (despite some acutedifferences) in <strong>the</strong>ir attitude to <strong>the</strong> authority of <strong>the</strong> Scriptures, in <strong>the</strong>irposition on ethical matters, in <strong>the</strong>ir devotion to <strong>the</strong> Person of Jesus and in<strong>the</strong>ir acceptance of <strong>the</strong> confession of <strong>the</strong> Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed.<strong>The</strong> Charismatic Movement brought into being a whole host of <strong>Christian</strong>groups (often known under <strong>the</strong> umbrella terms of ‘house churches’ or‘restoration churches’), so causing fur<strong>the</strong>r divisions of <strong>the</strong> Church of Christ, butRosman points out that <strong>the</strong>re is evidence of <strong>the</strong>se groups beginning toappreciate <strong>the</strong> historic denominations and even, to some extent, cooperatingwith <strong>the</strong>m. 160As long ago as 1875 a movement to bring toge<strong>the</strong>r Evangelical <strong>Christian</strong>s forprayer and Bible study began in Keswick, Cumberland. This was under <strong>the</strong>banner ‘All One in Christ Jesus’. Today, arising mainly, but not entirely, from<strong>the</strong> Evangelical wing of <strong>the</strong> Church, have come o<strong>the</strong>r interdenominationalga<strong>the</strong>rings: Greenbelt, New Wine, Grapevine, Soul Survivor, Living Water, ando<strong>the</strong>rs – each attracting many thousands of delegates.When <strong>the</strong> Pentecostal Movement began, early in <strong>the</strong> 20 th Century, churcheswere divided by its dynamic ‘new’ approach to worship and witness. <strong>The</strong>‘mainstream’ Pentecostal groups, Elim and <strong>the</strong> Assemblies of God, felt it <strong>the</strong>irduty to witness to <strong>the</strong> truth of <strong>the</strong> restoration of <strong>the</strong> gifts of Pentecost to <strong>the</strong>Church – even if it meant dividing <strong>the</strong> churches fur<strong>the</strong>r.But things have changed. Richard Massey, in his biography of Donald Gee, 161who was one of <strong>the</strong> most important pioneer Pentecostal leaders, quotes from160Rosman, Doreen, Evolution of <strong>the</strong> English Churches, 1500-2000, Cambridge UniversityPress, 2003, Ch 12.161Massey, Richard, Ano<strong>the</strong>r Springtime, Highland Books, 1992, pp 168-169.Page 171

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