Ecumenical Interfaith

I was born an Episcopalian (I was even a PK, or “preacher’s kid”), baptized an Episcopal Christian when I was three weeks old, and attended an Episcopal boys’ school, college, and seminary. I had no exposure to other religions until I went to a seminary in Berkeley. The Bay Area had eight other seminaries, so I had an opportunity to interact with different Christian denominations.

In 1958, Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), which opened the doors for meaningful ecumenical and interfaith dialogue. I liked it. It made sense. (In 1960, I had an audience with Pope John XXIII at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. This was my first experience of being in the presence of a holy person.)

In 1963, I attended the University of Strasbourg in France, which is an interdenominational seminary with a worldwide student body. This opened my eyes to the power of cooperation with other denominations.

I had a congregation of 340 teenagers in my first parish. On an annual basis, we would visit places of worship of other religions, such as Judaism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Baha’i, and Hinduism, which I found most enlightening.

In 1964, I became the rector of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church on the island of Maui, Hawai‘i. Because the island was small, it didn’t have many Christian churches. Hence, an ecumenical group of clergy started what we called “the Academy,” where we offered classes in the Old and New Testament, theology, Christian ethics, and information about our individual denominations. These classes were well received within the community. It was here that I learned the power of ecumenicity and felt that the role of the future church was to tear down walls and build bridges.

Our family moved to Southern California in 1975. Soon thereafter, I became involved in the Orange County Interfaith Coalition, whose mandate was to foster cooperation within the religious community so that collectively we could work on some of the societal issues within Orange County. Here, I realized two important lessons for the future: (1) every religion has the concept of love as the basis for its existence, and (2) ecumenical and interfaith cooperation can be a powerful force for change, especially if we accentuate our commonalities rather than our differences.

About thirty years ago, as I studied the historical Jesus, I came to grips with the fact that Jesus’s mission was not about dying for our sins but about living agape, the unconditional love for our fellow human beings no matter where they are on their life’s journey. If the church of the future is to flourish, we must work with other Christian denominations and religions that agree with the idea that we must love all our fellow human beings unconditionally. Bigotry, exclusion, sexism, biases, and prejudices have no place. Inclusion and equality are a must!

Working together on our societies’ challenges would make us powerful change agents. Being housed in the same facility would allow for daily communication, building trust and understanding and allowing folks to worship and work together.

From my point of view, churches and religions that insist on doing their own thing in the same old ways with their same old ideas don’t have much of a future.

The world is changing daily, and if religion wants to be relevant, it too has to become an agent of constant change.

Any reactions?

PeaceLoveJoyHopeKindness

Bil

 

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P.S. People often ask me provocative questions about current events, both religious and secular. I have found that some of these questions are being asked universally, so I am trying a new approach. One week, I’ll present articles like the one above. Then, the next week, I’ll share one of those questions and my answer. I invite you to send me your question(s) to bilaulenbach@yahoo.com.

My first question will be “How do you hold on to hope or faith when the whole world and our country in particular seems to be falling apart?”

Photo of the Second Vatican Council courtesy of manhhai (CC BY 2.0)