Perspectief 2016-34

Perspectie 44 Ecumenical recognition and reception in free church perspective Position paper Dr. Jelle Creemers Introduction Let me open this short position paper with three important preliminary remarks. First, nobody can speak for the free churches. I do only what I can do, and that is to speak from that perspective. Second, in contrast to churches with a strong sacramentalist theology, free churches in theological conversations and in self- presentation tend to focus on ecclesial reality rather than on their ecclesiological ideal. I trust this will also be evident in my position paper. Third, it is general knowledge that free churches do not form the most active tradition to participate in ecumenical dialogues. Allow me this provocative statement: free churches are most absent from ecumenical conversations not because they are against ecumenism, but because they already are the most ecumenical of all churches. Obviously, I will have put this statement in proper perspective by the end of my ten minutes. 1 In what follows, I will start by a description of free church ecclesiology and draw conclusions on questions of recognition from there. The matter of reception is quite complex and will be left aside for now, but can of course be reintroduced during the plenary discussions. 1 This paper was originally presented alongside position papers from other ecclesial perspectives, followed by a plenary discussion.