The Flowing Ecumenical Tide

What lies ahead for Canadian Christians?

The Christian Pavilion that will be a part of Montreal’s Expo ’67 is perhaps the best indication of Canadian reaction to the ecumenical drive within the Christian churches today. Supported by most of the large denominations, including the Roman Catholic Church, and a number of the smaller bodies, the pavilion will be an attempt to give an “ecumenical witness” to the common Christian faith. To many Canadian ecumenists this is the greatest breakthrough so far toward Christian unity.

Canada, however, is no stranger to ecumenism in its most thoroughgoing church-unionist form. After Confederation, many of the denominational groups that had been divided into numerous sub-denominational varieties came together to form large, single, national communions: Presbyterians, Methodists, Anglicans, and the like. The first interdenominational union took place on June 10, 1925, when the Methodists, Congregationalists, and over 60 per cent of the Presbyterians joined to form The United Church of Canada. The new church immediately became the largest and wealthiest Protestant denomination and has from that day wielded a very powerful influence, particularly in the direction of church union. With little professed interest in doctrine, it has laid its stress upon social action and further amalgamations.

The 35–40 per cent of the Presbyterians who refused to enter the 1925 union did so for a variety of reasons. Tradition, personal preference, doctrine, and even just plain Presbyterian stubbornness kept them from accepting the new church. In the forty years that have followed the “disruption,” however, a new generation has arisen, and a considerable number of Presbyterians now favor union. Some even feel that the 1925 refusal was a mistake. Influenced by such thinking, which is particularly strong in official circles, the Presbyterian Church is cooperating with others in all kinds of ecumenical ventures; one presbytery, for example, raised $30,000 for the Christian Pavilion. At the same time, a considerable number are very suspicious of the ecumenical movement, for they feel that its aim is to bring about union on a minimal doctrinal basis. The church is divided on the issue of union, and it is difficult to estimate the relative strength of the two groups.

Standing apart from the United and Presbyterian churches, the Anglican Church (episcopal) for many years adopted a somewhat lofty attitude towards all others, largely because it seemed to feel it should be the national established church. Over the past two or three decades, however, its attitude has changed, and since 1945 it has carried on union talks with the United Church. During the past two years, the two bodies produced a working paper which they plan to use as a starting point for arrangements leading eventually to organic union. Not all the Anglicans, however, are happy about the idea. Both high-church Anglo-Catholics and low-church evangelicals have grave doubts about the move, though for different reasons.

The other Protestant denominations hold varying views of the ecumenical movement. The convention Baptists seem to support the ecumenical approach, while the smaller, more evangelical Baptist churches ignore or oppose it. This dislike of ecumenism also pervades many other bodies, such as the Pentecostals, while the Evangelical United Brethren have recently become part of the United Church. For this reason, one cannot place the smaller groups in any particular classification.

The principal organ of the ecumenical movement in Canada is the Canadian Council of Churches, brought into existence in 1944 by the main Protestant denominations. It has all the characteristics of the World Council of Churches, and its influence is widespread and all-pervasive in the denominations that are members of it. Although the council would disclaim any desire to pose as a “super church,” nevertheless it has all the machinery set up and ready for the time when the major Protestant denominations come together.

In the light of these developments and of the decisions of Vatican II, what is the attitude of the Roman Catholic Church, which claims the allegiance of over 45 per cent of the population? Formerly it was one of suspicion and hostility to the Protestant bodies. Indeed, the French Roman Catholics often translated this into an anti-English attitude, which is partly responsible for contemporary “separatism” in Quebec. In recent years, however, particularly since Paul-Emile Cardinal Leger has been in charge of the Archdiocese of Montreal, the situation has changed considerably. A new “ecumenical attitude” has appeared with the cardinal’s establishment of a Commission on Ecumenism and, even more important, an Ecumenical Center where Protestants and Roman Catholics may carry on dialogue.

The new Roman Catholic frame of mind becomes clear almost immediately to anyone who visits the Ecumenical Center and talks to the director, Father Irenée Beaubien, S. J. The center seeks to do everything it can to bring together various groups for discussion and common worship. Indeed, some attempts have been made to go beyond the Christian boundaries to interest Jews and others. Father Beaubien, at the invitation of the United Church, attended its last General Council. One cannot help feeling, however, that Cardinal Leger, Father Beaubien, and other Roman Catholics are interested not so much in a general union as in the return of their ecumenically minded “separated brethren” to Rome.

In examining the ecumenical scene in Canada, however, one must probe deeper than the denominational epidermis. Few denominations, if any, are completely agreed on the subject of ecumenism, and the differences of opinion seem to arise out of conflicting theological views.

In general, those who hold to the so-called liberal theology, along with a considerable number who are inclined to neo-orthodoxy, support ecumenism and church unionism. For the Anglican Church of Canada, however, there is a significant qualification to be made. Most of the pro-union clergy insist that any new united church must be episcopal in organization, according to the Lambeth Quadrilateral. Usually they also reject the idea of the ordination of women.

On the other side of the fence stand those who hold that agreement on matters of belief is primary. This group is made up of those who are Reformed or generally evangelical in doctrine and who believe that doctrinal agreement is more important than organizational unity. While this element includes a number of whole denominations, ranging from the Christian Reformed Church to the Associated Gospel Assemblies, there are also many persons of the same mind within the churches committed to an ecumenical program. This complicates any attempt to analyze the Canadian situation.

The outcome of the intra-denominational divisions is hard to foretell. Undoubtedly the bodies constituting the Canadian Council of Churches are—at least as far as their administrators are concerned—drawing closer together. Already some of the ecumenists have spoken of one great Church of Canada that would include even the Roman Catholics. True, it is always specified that such a coming together would not be at the expense of true faith. When one looks at the unions that have taken place or are now being contemplated, however, one cannot but feel that doctrine really occupies a rather minor place in the ecumenical hierarchy of values.

While this trend towards togetherness manifests itself in the larger denominations, the doubters and opponents of ecumenism within the denominations find life a little difficult. Because of their views, they have little say on denominational boards or committees, and few ever become denominational secretaries. Consequently they tend to seek fellowship and support outside their own churches, with those who are “evangelical” though perhaps not in agreement with them on every point. Because of this situation, two organizations have recently come into existence: the Evangelical Theological Fellowship and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. Regrettably, evangelicals in the larger denominations often use their participation in these organizations as a substitute for fulfilling duties in their own church courts.

What lies ahead in the Canadian Christian community? It is hard to say. But it looks as though the ecumenical juggernaut will roll on, gradually bringing more and more of the larger denominations into one big super-church. From this movement may well come, also, small splinter groups denuded of land, buildings, and endowments that will have to start from the very ground up, if they wish to rebuild an evangelical church. This could cause the evangelicals as a whole to reassess their ecclesiastical relations, and no one can now foretell what the result would be if this should happen. Here the historian must stop, lest he seek to become a prophet.

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