The following was adopted by the Ecumenical Partnership committee meeting in Belleville, Illinois September 28-30, 1990. Thanks to Terry White, Co-Chair of the Ecumenical Partnership Committee, for making this available. All expressions of unity are provisional. Our partnership is within the context of the whole ecumenical movement.
Partnership is deliberately future oriented.
Unity, mission and renewal are inseparable in the vision of partnership . One major obstacle is the fear of losing a sense of identity. Unity must grow from local initiative and cannot be imposed. The church is a fellowship of persons who have been made one in Jesus Christ and who are called to live out their unity visibly as a sign, instrument and foretaste of God's purposes of justice and peace for all creation. Our partnership is a response to that conviction, a conviction our two churches have held since their beginnings.