The American church that might have been
Subtitle: a history of the Consultation on Church Union
By: Keith Watkins ; foreword by Michael Kinnamon
Contributors: Kinnamon, Michael, writer of foreword
Publisher: Pickwick Publications
Published: 2014
Place of publication: Eugene, Oregon
Language: eng
Number of pages: 244
ISBN-13: 9781625644312
Copyright date: 2014
Subjects: Christian union; Consultation on Church Union
Other titles: History of the Consultation on Church Union
Description: "During a forty-year period ending in 2002, leaders of major American churches tried to unite their members, ministries, and public service in a new church they named A Church of Christ Uniting. Participating in this movement were four Methodist Churches, the Episcopal Church, the nation's largest Presbyterian Church, the United Church of Christ, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the International Council of Community Churches. With a membership of close to twenty million, this church would have been spread throughout the nation more fully than any other church except the Roman Catholic. Leaders of the movement believed that this union would enable church members to experience their Christian life more fully. It would heal divisions that had existed since the Protestant Reformation 450 years earlier and displace the denominational system that was increasingly dysfunctional. By coming together in a new way, these churches could work more effectively at overcoming problems in American life-especially the challenges related to racism. Although the Consultation on Church Union (COCU) closed before converting its vision into a new form of the church, it had a significant effect on these churches and the nation. This is a story that needs to be remembered"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 227-236) and index.
Table of contents: title: Part One: Moving from vision to plan (1960-1970).; title: The bold proposal --; title: The challenge to reunion in concrete terms --; title: Second thoughts on church union --; title: Principles of church union --; title: Uniting Christians separated by race --; title: Poised on the edge of success --; title: At last a plan of union -- -- Part Two: Negotiating the terms of agreement (1971-1988).; title: Responding to the nation's deepening distress --; title: Shifting the focus from plan to process --; title: The interdependence of unity and mission --; title: The COCU consensus: in quest of a church of Christ uniting --; title: Unity in diversity: churches in covenant communion -- -- Part Three: Reshaping the ecumenical vision (1989-2002).; title: From COCU to churches uniting in Christ --; title: Remembering the church that never came to be --; title: Still needed-a new church for a new nation -- -- Appendices:; title: "A proposal toward the reunion of Christ's church"  -- Eugen Carson Blake; title: "Response"  -- James A. Pike; title: Abbreviations of church names --; title: COCU timeline of meetings.