| The Old COCU (The Church of Christ Uniting or Churches in Covenant Communion) which was defeated by the presbyteries in 1997 | The New CUiC (Churches Uniting in Christ) which is being voted on now by presbyteries |
|---|---|
| 1. Inclusiveness – “A covenant communion of churches is, by definition, committed to become truly inclusive. Each partner is enriched by sharing in the gifts that God has given to the other. Each partner works to take down walls of alienation that exist between the churches, and to overcome attitudes which tend to marginalize persons in regard to race, class, age, gender, disabilities, marital status, sexual orientation and positions of power and powerlessness, and to live toward a church in which all participate in the wholeness of Christ.” “Inclusiveness is not just a matter of goodwill, but of the justice which the gospel demands.” “There can be no unity for the church unless it is truly inclusive.” | 1. Inclusiveness – “Intentional commitment to promote unity with wholeness and to oppose all marginalization and exclusion in church and society based on such things as race, age, gender, forms of disability, sexual orientation and class.” |
| 2. Covenanting Councils – “Wherever covenanting occurs—nationally, regionally, or locally—one of the inaugural covenanting acts will be the formation of a covenanting council in each such ‘place.’ The reason for doing this is that the church unity will be neither visible nor organic if it is not embodied in tangible form. The church exists not alone in the mind. It takes up space on the earth. It can be seen. It can act, and be accountable for its actions. In a covenant communion of churches, therefore, it is essential that there be a company of persons who representatively give expression and leadership to its common life. Such groups we refer to as covenanting councils.” | 2. Structures of accountability – “This common life will need to be served, in its local, regional and national expressions, by structures of mutual empowerment and accountability.” “While some provision must be made for effecting the marks of the new relationship and for holding the churches mutually accountable to the commitments they have made….From the moment of inauguration, the life of these churches will be visibly intertwined as never before. From the moment of inauguration, their relationship, with God’s help, will not be one of friendly coexistence and consultation but of binding community….” |
| 3. Ordained ministries – “Mutual recognition of ordained ministries is intended to acknowledge in these ministries the manifest blessing of God and the fruit of the Spirit, and to affirm that they are rooted in the apostolic tradition….Reconciliation of ordained ministries is intended to refer to the actions by the churches, both separately and together, whereby the ordained ministries of each covenanting church become one ministry of Jesus Christ in relation to all.” | 3. Ordained ministries – “[P]articipating churches will publicly recognize that one another’s ordained ministries are given by God as instruments of God’s grace, that these ministries seek to be faithful to Jesus Christ, and that these ministries possess not only the inward call of the Spirit but also Christ’s commission through his body, the church. Such recognition is seen as part of an effort to realize mutual reconciliation of ministry by 2007.” |
| 4. Recognition of other churches as members of the true Church – “A church’s membership in the Consultation on Church Union implies at least some recognition of the other member churches as participants in the one church of Jesus Christ. | 4. Recognition of other churches as members of the one true church of Jesus Christ – “Mutual recognition of each other as authentic expressions of the one church of Jesus Christ.” |
| 5. Bishops – “Each church may assign or continue to use such names for these offices as it may desire; however, in the shared life of the churches they commonly will be identified as deacons, presbyters, and bishops of the covenant communion of the church.” | 5. Bishops – “The ministry of oversight needs special attention so that churches with corporate or personal oversight and those with oversight in the historic succession of bishops can be reconciled in a way that invites universal recognition. In order to further that end, this Plenary instructs the Executive Committee to convene in the near future a meeting of representatives from the nine churches in COCU to clarify the meaning of reconciliation of ministry.” |
This article first appeared in Theology Matters, Vol. 5, No. 6 (Nov/Dec 1999).
