A student recently asked me about the word that we have above the door of the chaplaincy centre: ‘What does ecumenical mean?’ There is a short answer to that question, but as I reflected on it, I became aware that there could also be a much longer answer. What does it mean in my ordinary life to try to be ecumenical?
Ecumenism is a word used to describe a movement towards Christian cooperation, inspired by passages in the Bible like Jesus’ prayer in John 17* that ‘they may all be one’. It recognises that though there are lots of differences between churches and denominations around the world, what unites us is much stronger- namely our love for Jesus and our attempt to follow in his way. The root of the Greek word of ecumenism is ‘oikos’ which means ‘house’. One way to think of it is that Christians from different churches all live in the same house, (although we sometimes like to stay in our own rooms, with the doors shut).
I realised the other day that, until I was in my mid 20s, I’d never prayed with anyone who had significantly different understandings or experiences to mine. I grew up, like many people, in a particular culture, and cozy within my own church tradition. That all changed when I went to live in an ecumenical Christian community. Praying, living and working with Christians from different countries and denominations blew my mind and opened my heart. I was ready for the challenge; feeling like, in many ways, I hadn’t really had the opportunity to ‘grow up’ in my own tradition, and wanting to find out more about the many different ways that people work out their Christian faith. Really listening to, and praying with, someone with a totally different Christian background will help you to grow in ways that you can’t imagine and will help you understand something new about God that you haven’t realised before.
I’ve been reading about the history of the Christian community where I spent a couple of years when I was younger and one thing really stood out to me. The people who started it felt called to set up a place where they could reach out to Christians from different churches and denominations and work towards unity. However, it wasn’t until someone challenged them that they had to embody it by inviting Christians from many different backgrounds to live, eat, work and pray with them, that the vision became a reality, becoming a microcosm of hope and a seed of reconciliation. Christian unity (and a move of the Spirit) happens when we share our lives, not just wave politely across a room.
To be ecumenical means to not only make friends with Christians from different churches and traditions but also to find ways to pray and work together, finding as we do so that our lives are made richer and our understanding made deeper. Christianity is not a competitive sport: we absolutely celebrate the flourishing of all, as well as coming alongside each other when there is struggle.
If you’d like to experience living in an ecumenical Christian Community house for students in Bath, Chapel House is now accepting applications for 2022/2023. Get in touch to find out more.
Karen Turner
*John 17.20-23
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
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