Mark Chapman | Friederike Nüssel | Matthias Grebe | Frank-Dieter Fischbach (Eds.): Towards Interchangeability II (Leseprobe)

Beihefte
zur Ökumenischen Rundschau 142
Mark Chapman | Matthias Grebe | Friederike Nüssel
Frank-Dieter Fischbach (Eds.)
Towards Interchangeability II
Local and Legal Perspectives and the Meissen Agreement

Table of Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Mark Chapman and Friederike Nüssel
HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Act, practice and canonicity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
The exercise of episcopacy in Anglicanism
Jeremy Morris
Local Ecumenism and the Art of the Possible. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Mark Chapman
PRACTICAL CASE STUDIES
The Kingdom of God in Kirkby Lonsdale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Reflections on a Cumbrian Covenant
Jane Maycock
Nuremberg case studies on interchangeability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Practical challenges for the exercise of ministry in the
‘other’ context
Stefanie Reuther
5

Pragmatic Church Unity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Lessons from the South Indian Diaspora
Shemil Mathew
The fading of denominational differences between Catholics
and Protestants in Germany. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
According to the sixth church membership survey
Christopher Jacobi
LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS
The Recognition of Holy Orders in the Church of England
and the Overseas Clergy Measure 1967. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
William Adam
Interchangeability of Ministers in Evangelical Church Law. . . . . . . . 123
Hendrik Munsonius
THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIOLOGICAL PROSPECTS
On the way to unity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Narrative community and pragmatism
Bishop Ralf Meister
The Glory of ‘Everyday Ecumenism’. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Ashley Cocksworth
On the way to full communion between The
Episcopal Church (TEC) and Evang.-Luth. Church in
Bavaria (ELCB). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Starting point − common path − obstacles − goal − consequences
Michael Martin
Apostolicity and Friendship in Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Lucy Gardner
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Visible Identity and Ecumenism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Theological considerations in light of some recent
sociological approaches
Friederike Nüssel
7

Introduction
Mark Chapman and Friederike Nüssel
The Twelfth Theological Conference between the Church of England and
the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) took place at the Dietrich Bonhoeffer-Hotel
in Berlin from 12 to 15 February 2024. It was the third conference
in a row in which the dialogue between the Church of England
(CofE) and the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) focused on new ways
to address the question of visible unity in ministry. While the Tenth Theological
Conference, held at the Missionsakademie in Hamburg in 2019,
had revisited the Meissen Agreement after 30 years in light of new ecumenical
developments, 1 the Eleventh Conference, held online in 2021,
addressed the interchangeability of ministers as the current limiting factor
in the practical side of the church fellowship between the CofE and the
EKD. The goal was to explore new perspectives and ways to work towards
the interchangeability of ministers as a way of achieving full visible unity
in ministry. 2
Building on the insights of these conferences, the aim of the Twelfth
Conference in 2024 was to explore further how the desire for ‘full, visible
unity of the body of Christ on earth’ (Meissen Agreement III.7) might be
realised to the maximum extent possible within the current constraints of
the laws and doctrines governing both churches. Since in other spheres
(such as the marriage of divorcees in church) it has been possible to change
pastoral practice without changing the fundamental canons or doctrines
1
Mark Chapman, Friederike Nüssel, Matthias Grebe (Eds.), Revisiting the Meissen
Declaration after 30 years, Beihefte zur Ökumenischen Rundschau (BÖR) 126
(Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2020).
2
Mark Chapman, Matthias Grebe, Friederike Nüssel, Frank-Dieter Fischbach (Eds.),
Towards Interchangeability: Reflections on Episcopacy in Theory and Practice,
BÖR 135 (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2022).
9

of the Church, by analogy the delegation asked whether there were ways
in which pragmatic and pastoral solutions might be implemented to promote
further interchangeability which do not raise insurmountable questions
for the CofE around such issues as the ‘validity’ of orders and the
Act of Uniformity of 1662. Thus, the aim was to redirect attention to
church law and practical theology to explore ‘the art of the possible’ under
the title: “Towards Interchangeability II: Legal and Practical Lessons”. The
remaining points of difference in the understanding of ministry in apostolic
succession between the CofE and the EKD are reflected in the different
aspects and approaches to legal, practical, and theological issues of interchangeability
which the papers from the two sides take. While addressing
a wide variety of issues, the papers of delegates from both churches offered
historical considerations, practical case studies, legal considerations and
theological and ecclesiological prospects.
Starting from a historical perspective Jeremy Morris discusses different
understandings of episcopacy in the CofE, and the need to move beyond
the ‘supercharging’ of the doctrine of apostolic succession. He suggests
that rather than simply focusing on the past, it is important for all churches
to look to the future, which should lead to a degree of self-critique which
can help advance the cause of ecumenical dialogue and promote full visible
unity.
Mark Chapman focuses on the ways in which local ecumenism has
developed ways of relating at the grassroots level. These have often been
based on pragmatic and practical solutions that have allowed for a great
deal of ecumenical sharing that has been able to be achieved without long
synodical discussions or structural reconciliation. By outlining early experiences
from the 1960s and the creation of the ecumenical canons he emphasizes
the importance of a ‘political’ theology of ecumenism as the ‘art
of the possible’.
Taking this local story to the present day, Jane Maycock describes in
her practical case study the close partnerships between the churches, especially
the CofE and the Methodist Church, in the town of Kirkby Lonsdale
in Cumbria in northwest England. What began as a practical solution
because of changes in the deployment of ministers in different denominations
quickly grew into a way of working that allowed churches to work
together in quite unprecedented ways. While there remain some structural
and governance questions, the case study reveals the strength of an ecumenism
that builds on personal relationships and networks.
From an EKD-perspective Stephanie Reuther offers a concrete view of
the possibilities and existing limits of interchangeability, drawing on the
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experience from her three years as a Lutheran pastor working in the Diocese
of Hereford of the Church of England which were supplemented by
CofE pastors visiting the Lutheran Church in Bavaria. She highlights the
remarkable ecumenical co-operation at many levels in the Diocese of Hereford.
At the same time, she looks at the restrictions on baptisms and weddings
and the challenges around the issue of national identity, which had
to be dealt with in a pragmatic way. She argues that interchangeability
requires the ability to reflect on one’s own situation in the context of ‘the
other’, which not only requires theological education, but will only be sustainable
in a cooperation on eye level.
Shemil Mathew offers another case study which addresses the Church
of South India, itself an ecumenical church, especially in the diaspora. He
offers some important reflections on the ways in which members of a
united church, which is part of the Anglican Communion, do not always
feel at home within the Church of England. Reflecting on the postcolonial
situation he suggests that a compelled doctrinal unity can be reminiscent
of the sort of unity imposed by the British Empire.
In the German context, the practical demand for ecumenism is supported
by the sixth Church Membership Survey in Germany 2023 which
for the first time includes Catholics and people with no denominational
affiliation. Christoph Jacobi gives an overview of the theoretical and
methodological design and the general trends of the survey. It shows not
only a rapid increase in secularisation and a drastic decline in church membership,
but also a sharp decrease in denominational differences between
Protestants and Catholics in their religious beliefs and attitudes. Correspondingly,
the responses demonstrate that ecumenical co-operation is
highly valued.
Responding to the practical requirements of interchangeability from
the perspective of canon law, Will Adam explains that even though there
have been subtle changes in the understanding of orders, there remain
some significant questions about the exercise of ministry by those who
have not been episcopally-ordained.
Hendrik Munsonius examines the conditions for interchangeability of
ministers under Protestant church law in the EKD with regard to the main
requirements for ministry: church membership, academic and practical
training, and ordination. The impact of the restrictions resulting from these
requirements depend, among other things, on the corresponding regulations
of the other church. While adjustments may be necessary and require
theological reflection along the reference points of the religious legal framework,
scripture and confession, and church fellowship, the employment
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of ministers from another church is possible and would allow for interchangeability
of ministry in the EKD.
In a last section this volume offers papers with theological and ecclesiological
prospects. Ralph Meister narrates the entangled histories of
Lower Saxony and England as a fertile ground for the influence of the
British occupation zone on the formation of the federal state of Lower Saxony
and the development of democracy after Second World War. This was
part of the environment that contributed to the flourishing of ecumenism
in the parallel development of both the CofE-initiated Meissen Agreement
and the regional ecumenism in Lower Saxony between five Protestant
churches and Roman Catholic dioceses. In this way, the paper illustrates
the power of historical narrative and suggests that ecumenical success stories
support the attractiveness of churches, whereas they lose credibility
when they focus on their own performance.
Ashley Cocksworth recasts ecumenism in the language of glory and
joy. Beginning with Karl Barth’s unpacking of the doctrine of glory and
the ways in which it relates to joy, he shows how the church exists to
‘do’ glory in the world and as it does so it offers a joyful gift. In the same
way, unity might be conceived of as a verb – we ‘do’ unity: by enjoying
each other and God the church performs unity as it images the unity of
God. This is often fleshed out in the everyday world in friendships and
joint actions which reflect something of this unity in different local communities.
Drawing on the ecumenical journey between the Episcopal Church in
the United States and the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Bavaria which
has grown out of more than forty years of ecumenical friendship in a manner
similar to the terms of the Meissen Agreement, Michael Martin describes
how a dialogue that began in 2012 had led to the Augsburg Agreement
in which the two churches not only mutually recognise their
ministries, but also their understanding of the apostolic ministry in historic
succession. Since the General Synods of both churches adopted the Augsburg
Agreement in 2023/24, the churches now share full visible unity
and can practice interchangeability of ministry as a final step in their ecumenical
fellowship.
In a systematic approach Lucy Gardner considers the combined ecumenical
promise of two relatively under-developed ecclesiological themes:
‘being sent’ by Christ and friendship with Christ. She proposes a receptive
ecclesiological framework for thinking about practical transitions from affective
to effective ecumenism. By rethinking the nature of apostolicity,
she tentatively suggests a humble and creative way forward which can
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‘recognise, celebrate and welcome the beauty of the feet of any who accept
the charge to carry the Gospel to the Church and the world’.
Looking at the global ecumenical movement, Friederike Nüssel reflects
on the development of the goal of visible unity in light of the ongoing controversy
about the criteria for visibility and the growing struggle for visibility
as a characteristic of late modern societies. Drawing on recent sociological
analyses she perceives ecumenical engagement to counteract the
trend towards singularity and the Meissen fellowship as an existing model
of a resonant ecumenism in which full interchangeability would increase
both mutuality and visibility.
The conversations at the last two conferences helped to deepen our
mutual understanding of the differences regarding the role of episcopacy
and the historic, apostolic succession and the conditions for full, visible
unity in ministry in light of the different historical and cultural backgrounds.
After robust discussion, the Conference participants came to a
consensus that the concept of episcopé is open to a number of interpretations
and has been expressed in a variety of historical forms, which can be
held with equal integrity and express the intention of maintaining the
apostolic tradition.
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