Lecture - The Church - by William Henn

13 Reageer Communion” emphasized some of the principal elements of communion, as those had been included in the classic unity statements of the WCC general assemblies and earlier Faith and Order work: faith, baptism, eucharist, ministry, oversight ( episcopé ) and conciliarity. Chapter Five explored the Church’s service in and for the world, describing briefly its responsibility as a moral teacher, healer and promoter of justice, peace and the protection of the environment. The final chapter was an invitation to deepen the convergences in ecclesiology and move toward mutual recognition. Wanting to be faithful to the responses to BEM The Nature and Purpose of the Church introduced the literary device of boxed passages which intended to show where disagreement persisted, especially as evident in the responses which objected to some of the statements in BEM. Stage Two began and was governed by the responses of the churches to The Nature and Purpose of the Church . By 2001 there seemed to be a sufficient number of responses to begin a revision in light of them. [12] While much appreciation was expressed for the text, the responses seemed to converge around several common constructive criticisms. For one thing, the use of the literary device of the boxes seemed to create a tension within the document. The convergences claimed in the body of the text seemed to be compromised or even contradicted at times by the disagreements registered in the boxes. The material in the boxes seemed to exaggerate differences, even to back away from those convergences earlier claimed by BEM which had received a positive reception by a large majority of the churches. Many suggested that the material in the boxes be reconsidered and, if possible, reduced. Several other shortcomings were mentioned. Neither the notion that the Church is a sign and instrument of God’s design (chapter two) nor the vision of the Church as a communion (chapter three) were treated in the opening