Evening star., 1932-02-21
BY WAYNE PARRISH.
o gigantic has been the movement

goer is scarcely aware of the far
reaching effects organic union OF de-
nominations, world conferences, and the
establishment Of closer relations between
communions will have on the life Of the
churches in the next two decades.
From the Eastern Orthodox Church at
one extreme to the Society Of Friends
at the other there has been marked
increase in closer relationships.
Not since the Reformation have the
Protestant churches as a whole expert
enced such vital movement for
change on wide fronts. The Reforma-
ticn brought liberty at the expense Of
unity. Now the objective is COM
bination of liberty and unity. The
churches have been split and resplit.
Now there are indications on many
sides of a desire for reunion. These
movements have been so scattered so
gradual, that their true significance Is
often lost in the maze Of world events.
Generally speaking, the movement in
this generation embraces virtually every
Protestant communion. One finds
everywhere among Protestant leaders
and circles the problem Of unity.
Church periodicals in this country
mention minor angles of the subject
frequently Hundreds of commissions are
differences that have arisen since the
Reformation. The movement of union
and reunion is felt in every part Of
the world. But the layman who at
tends church every Sunday is for the
most part unaware of the vast aspects
OF this historic change.
Two Large Units Predicted.
A few far-sighted observers of trends
in religious movements have gone so
far as to see eventually two large units
in the Christian Church where nov
there are many. One will be the
Roman Catholic Church, and the other
will be composed of the Protestant,
Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Com
munions. Ultimately church leaders
dream for one united Christian Church
but no one would be so optimistic as
even to estimate a time far in the
! future for the fruition of such dream
Even the uniting of the Protestant
Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Com.
munions is far in the future. and the
vast majority Of the Evangelical Prot
estants in the United States would
gasp at the suggestion that the Eastern
Orthodox Church would some day be
an affiliated part of their communlons
However surprised many church peo-
PIE would be to have themselves classec
enthusiastically with church people o.
quite different religious practice, thu
trends toward unity and actual accom-
! plishments draw them much closer thar
they probably realize.
Roughly speaking, in these few dec.
AIDES the religious lives Of a roughl!
estimated number of 300 .000, 600 per
sons are being changed. This include!
100000 Eastern Orthodox adherent'
i and l85,000000 Protestants. Actual.
these figures mean very little, for it il
| only in the superstructure of organized
| religion that unity means much. /
means nothing, for instance, to th'
| peasant in a small village of Rumanii
who attends worship every morning IL
an Eastern Orthodox Church. tina
| closer relations are being established
| between the Anglican Communion ant
the Eastern Orthodox Church. Unit,
and closer relationships are q SLOW
! process. affecting the structure NOR
than the individual although tn
process Of change is very deflnitel
present.
Links for CommunionA
Perhaps the greatest span for unit
Is the closer relationship between tn
| GdSl6Iu ollllOOO SllQl dllo eilC kAAA
| glican Communion, Of which the Arch
| bishop of Canterbury is the head an,
of which the Protestant Episcopa
Church in America is a part Thes
| two communions were brought mucl
closer in 1880 by the Lambeth Confer
ence. and there is little doubt that tn
relations will become more intimate il
the future
This span reaches from the ritualisti
practices of the high church" Ortho
| dox Communion to the low church
| evangelicals of the Protestant Episcopa
| Church in this country which resis
strongly today any infiltration of ritu
alism and Catholic practices" int
| their churches. And if the Eastern
churches are included in this picture
so must also be included the Old Cath
olics. who only within the last fev
weeks have come into intercommuniol
with the Church of England.
But the span does not stop here. TO
the Protestant Episcopal Church has al
Interdenominational Committee meet
ing at intervals to discuss organic unit
with the Methodist Episcopal Churc
| and the Presbyterian Church in tn
United States of America. Only las
October at its General Convention tn
Episcopal Church ordered its committe
to meet with the Lutheran Church
discuss closer relationships. From tn
Methodist and Presbyterian churches t
the Eastern Orthodox and Old Catholi
churches is very long step ecclesiasti
cally. And yet the inference Of unit
overtures is undeniable. There is
distinction that should be made herr
however, to answer those critics VIII
would Immediately cry out that tn
extensive span of unity above picture
is fantastic.
Relationship Of Churches
This distinction is concerned with tn
relationship of the Protestant Episcops
Church with the Church of England
The American branch of the Anglica.
Communion is Independent in all mat
ters of legislation. Although the com
munion is essentially the same, an
American bishops obtained their Epis
copal orders from the Church of Eng
land, no overture of unity made by tn
Church of England has an automati
effect in America. It must be legis
lated on here. Nevertheless, any actio
by the Church of England Is of grea
import here, and there are not a fe'
Episcopalian leaders Of the high churc
leanngs who go so far as to assum
that the two bodleS are closely allie
in everything.
There are certain Protestant bodie
who have remained isolationists in a
of the unity movements. The Missoul
Synod of the Lutheran Church will b
among the last to join hands wit
other Christians, although that grou
is working closely with other Lutheran
in social service work. The Societ
of Friends would be expected to re
main apart organically. but the Friend
(Quakers) were represented at the la
world conference on faith and orde
and cooperate willingly and extensivel
in social service work in this countr.
There has been a few voices raise
against unity movements. The Baptis'
for instance, seem quite satisfied
be parted by north and south an
many Baptist leaders believe tt
Northern and Southern Baptist Cor
ventions are already so large as to /
unwieldly. They ask what can