Episode 129 • 1st August 2024 • The Living Church Podcast • The Living Church
What is Christian Communion? And who cares?
If you listen to this podcast, you probably do.
Today we’re not talking about the Lord’s Supper, but the longing for and practical work toward Christian unity. What does this have to do with the average Christian? Or the average pastor trying to focus on local ministry? How do Anglicans care about (and struggle with) Christian unity especially? What the heck is a Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral?
Joining us to discuss is Dr. Christopher Wells. Christopher is Director of Unity, Faith and Order for the Anglican Communion. He oversees the Communion’s ecumenical relations and serves as secretary of the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO). For 13 years, Christopher was executive director and publisher of the Living Church Foundation.
Here are some key terms we’ll learn about today, answering some of our questions above:
The ecumenical movement or ecumenism
The Lambeth Conference
Lambeth Conference 1920
Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral
Vatican II
Primate
Today we’ll learn how any ecumenical work must serve the life of the average Christian, or it’s no good. We’ll find out why ecumenical work is putting Christopher more in touch with his evangelical side. And we’ll ponder why “Anglican” exists in the first place. Is it to tickle our “via media” fancies, or to become another religious option? Or might we learn to serve Christian unity so well that one day, maybe, Anglicans work themselves out of a job?
We hope you enjoy the conversation.
Read the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral.
A few other cool documents on Christian unity:
- https://www.christianunity.va/content/unitacristiani/en/news/2024/2024-06-13-il-vescovo-di-roma-nuovo-documento-dpuc.html
- https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2024/06/13/bishop-rome-study-document-dicastery-promoting-christian-unity-248153
- https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2024-06/rethinking-the-primacy-in-an-ecumenical-sense.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2RbXk-L3mXpkT9WZKyqQF3HbsPaG-nKdSsWQosOMSe18VOSpCazmy3u1o_aem_p7a_pInr-MDXSnjpgtFhJA
Amber D. Noel, M.Div., directs the public-facing programs of The Living Church, including the podcast, events, and the Partner program. Outside of work, she is a writer and enjoys life in Atlanta.
