Connections between liturgical renewal and the ecumenical movement were explored in a public lecture Jan. 20 at St. Thomas More College in Saskatoon.

The evening presentation during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was part of the third annual De Margerie Series on Christian Reconciliation and Unity, sponsored by STM, the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon, and named in honour of local ecumenical pioneer Rev. Bernard de Margerie. The 2014 series also included a public workshop about music and prayer (see related article) and a workshop for clergy and lay ministry leaders about baptism.

In the public lecture, speaker Dr. Karen Westerfield Tucker described connections between liturgy and dialogue as an “ecumenism of life.”

A presbyter in the United Methodist Church and professor of worship at Boston University who serves on the international Methodist-Roman Catholic dialogue, Westerfield Tucker began with a look at the impact of the Second Vatican Council on ecumenism and liturgy, for both Catholics and non-Catholics.

“Many non-Catholic communities engaged in their own bold ventures of liturgical reform in the years following the council,” said Westerfield Tucker.
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The sharing of prayer texts and hymns between Christian denominations is a grassroots ecumenical encounter that can lead to deeper reflection and understanding.

That was the message brought to life at a workshop held Jan. 17 at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church to open this year’s De Margerie Series on Christian Reconciliation and Unity in Saskatoon, held in conjunction with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Jan. 18-25.

Guest speaker Dr. Karen Westerfield Tucker led participants through an exploration of a number of prayers and hymn lyrics through history, in various traditions and styles, to demonstrate how theology is expressed in our most basic tools of worship.

The simplicity and conciseness of prayer and song texts offer a “theological shorthand” that is easily and quickly shared and appropriated, said Westerfield Tucker.
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An international group of eight Anglican and eight Catholic theologians representing nine countries and four Anglican provinces, met from March 30 to April 3 in Canterbury. Called “The Malines Conversations Group,” participants continued their deliberations on various aspects of Anglican-Catholic liturgical and sacramental theology which they had begun last year at the Benedictine Monastery of Chevetogne in Belgium. Like the original Malines Conversations of the 1920s hosted by the then Archbishop of Malines-Bruxelles Cardinal Mercier, this is an informal dialogue and not officially sponsored by the Anglican and Catholic Churches, though it has been organized in consultation with and has received the blessing of both the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity and Lambeth Palace.
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What one speaker described as a “fellowship of the burning heart” was evident Nov. 14 in the spirit of joy characterizing the second Catholic-Evangelical worship service to be held in Saskatoon, this time hosted by Circle Drive Alliance Church. The reference to the gospel story from Luke about the disciples on the road to Emmaus – who felt their hearts burning within them at the words of the resurrected Jesus Christ – resonated during the celebration of joy and thanksgiving for shared Christian faith and love of God’s word. The celebration began with Evangelical leaders entering down one aisle, and Catholic leaders down another. Rev. Eldon Boldt of Circle Drive Alliance and Saskatoon Catholic Bishop Donald Bolen then each lit a candle from a central candle, symbolizing Christ. When the celebration ended, the two leaders carried out the lit candles in the unity of a procession of both Catholic and Evangelical Christians down a single aisle.
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For more than two years, a group of Evangelical and Catholic Christians in Saskatoon have been meeting to talk about their common faith in Jesus Christ, discussing what is shared, as well as examining where their understandings and convictions differ.

Formally appointed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon and the Saskatoon Evangelical Ministers Fellowship, the local dialogue group is now in the process of writing a joint statement, just as a second Catholic-Evangelical worship service is being planned for Saskatoon Nov. 14.

It was after the first shared worship service in March 2011 at St. Paul’s Catholic Cathedral that a small group of church and ecumenical leaders met to try and find ways for the two traditions to further engage in common prayer, common witness, common mission and common study. A dialogue group was subsequently launched, with the first meeting held in December 2011.

Rev. Harry Strauss, associate pastor at Forest Grove Community Church (left) and a member of the Saskatoon Evangelical Ministers Fellowship, and Nicholas Jesson, ecumenical officer for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon, are part of the 20-member dialogue group, which includes 10 representatives from each tradition.

Both Strauss and Jesson are also serving on a four-member committee that is now drafting a joint statement emerging from two years of conversation, study and relationship building.

Strauss describes the joint statement: “We confess our common faith, we acknowledge our differences and we affirm our common mission.”

Although the joint statement is not finished, there are plans to introduce portions at the 7 p.m. Nov. 14 Evangelical-Catholic worship service being hosted by Circle Drive Alliance Church, led by Pastor Eldon Bolt.
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The Anglican Church of Canada’s first National Indigenous Bishop explored the challenge and the promise of reconciliation at a Summer Ecumenical Institute organized by the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism June 10-13 at the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Saskatoon. Reconciliation is critical to understanding what new life in Christ is meant to be, he said, citing a New Testament understanding of reconciliation as central to what Jesus came to do. “Reconciliation is critical to Christian identity, it is fundamental to the primary response to the Good News of Jesus Christ. I think it is impossible to overstate this. This is why we say ‘forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us’ – because reconciliation is key to the acceptance and experience of Jesus and the message of Jesus,” he said.
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Ministry leaders, priests and pastors from different Christian denominations in Saskatoon gathered Jan. 23 for a workshop held at the Cathedral of the Holy Family as part of the new De Margerie Series on Christian Unity and Reconciliation.

Bishop Gregory Cameron of the Anglican Diocese of St. Asaph in Wales led the morning workshop held in the middle of the 2013 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, offering leaders “pointers for the ecumenical quest” and encouraging discussion and practical goal-setting for the year ahead.

Looking for Christ in the other is vital, said Cameron. “There is a danger, I think, in the ecumenical context, that we start using our head quite a lot, and begin our critique of other traditions, without remembering to look for the Christ who is at work in one another.”
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Understanding the church as communion changes ecumenism, said the inaugural speaker of the new De Margerie Series on Christian Unity and Reconciliation. A paradigm of church as a communion or “Koinonia” shifts the understanding of church from a focus on our adherence to particular doctrines, to God’s action at work in us, said Bishop Gregory Cameron. “Communion clearly implies that the church is not merely an institution or organization, it is a fellowship of those who are called together by the Holy Spirit and who in baptism, confess Christ as Lord and Saviour. They are thus fully committed to him and to one another,” asserted Cameron. The understanding of church as communion — which is clearly expressed in the New Testament — has been rediscovered and deepened in recent decades, he described. “The shift has come about via a new emphasis of understanding the church less as a body of confessing believers, and more as a supernatural reality brought into being by God’s grace,” he said, after emphasizing the influence of paradigms in determining our ongoing understanding of any theological concept.
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The first event of a new ecumenical speaker series was held in Saskatoon Jan. 19, on the eve of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, as Anglican Bishop Gregory Cameron of Wales presented a morning ecumenical workshop about “Lessons learned in ecumenism.” Cameron spoke in a joyful “affective” way about the work for Christian unity – telling stories of lessons he has learned through his ecumenical experiences – rather than addressing doctrine, shared mission or spiritual ecumenism. Through discussion questions, he also encouraged participants to share their experiences of ecumenism. “I think it is very important to list and to explore the benefits of ecumenism, to celebrate the riches of ecumenical experience,” Cameron said, stressing that such personal experience can be an important answer to those who question the need to work for Christian unity. “Unless we can recognize what gifts the Lord gives us through the ecumenical journey, we are never going to be able to talk with passion and commitment about why the Church needs to be One.” Cameron therefore explored seven blessings that he has experience on his own ecumenical journey – life lessons from numerous encounters – listing them in seven key words: faith, challenge, joy, nurture, friendship, Christ, and vision.
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A number of church leaders gathered for an early morning meeting Oct. 12 at St. George Anglican parish in Saskatoon, to receive an update about Station 20West and discuss plans for another ecumenical Advent campaign in support of Good Food Junction Cooperative Grocery Store.

Good Food Junction continues to work to raise funds to equip and stock the cooperative grocery store, which is one part of Station 20 West, now under construction in the city’s core neighbourhood. During an Advent campaign undertaken by a number of Christian churches in Saskatoon last year, some $150,000 was raised for the project.

An estimated $350,000 to $400,000 is still needed to equip and stock the grocery store, permitting it to open without debt, something that the business plan deems necessary to ensure the Good Food Junction’s ongoing viability, said Ralph Winterhalt, the cooperative grocery store’s business development manager. “If that grocery store can open without debt for equipment, and has its inventory paid for, it’s going to be a very successful project in the core neighbourhoods.”
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The leaders of many Saskatoon churches gathered on Wednesday, November 24th to sign a letter of support for Station 20 West’s Good Food Junction grocery store. The churches have agreed to work together as an ecumenical advent project, to raise much-needed funds for the equipment required by the store.

At today’s public event, the Rev. Amanda Currie (Presbyterian Church in Canada) and Bishop Donald Bolen (Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon) offered their reflections on this project. Speaking about the dream of having a full-service grocery store in the core neighbourhoods, Currie said: “What may come as a surprise to many people across Saskatoon is that many of the families and individuals who live in the core neighbourhoods are not dreaming that they’ll get to move to the East side. Their dream is the transformation of their own neighbourhoods. And that is a dream that can become a reality.”

“We do have differences which separate us as Christian communities, but nevertheless we chose to stand together today,” said Bolen, the Roman Catholic bishop of Saskatoon. “We hope this is an invitation to all of Saskatoon to rise above differences, political differences, differences of neighbourhoods or perspective, to join in support of people of Pleasant Hill.”

“The only politics that really belongs here is the politics of providing food to people who need food, to providing food security for this neighbourhood,” said Bolen.
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Webcam for the new Saskatoon cathedral construction

Construction began last winter on Holy Family Cathedral and Pastoral Centre, the largest project in the history of the RC Diocese of Saskatoon, and the first Catholic cathedral to be built in Canada since St. Boniface cathedral in Winnipeg was rebuilt after a 1968 fire. A webcam is now available to view the progress of the construction. The image updates every 30 seconds.
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SEI 2009: Prairie Centre hosts Summer Ecumenical Institute

A national Summer Ecumenical Institute was held June 2 – 5 in Saskatoon, with some 50 participants taking stock of the ecumenical movement, renewing their vision and commitment to reconciliation and unity among Christians.

Organized and hosted by the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism, the event featured Rev. Tom Ryan, CSP, as facilitator. Ryan is the director of the Paulist Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, based in Washington, DC. A former director of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism in Montreal, Ryan examined the past, present and future of the ecumenical movement in three keynote addresses. He also explored the question of inter-religious prayer in a workshop session June 3.

… read the entire article at ecumenism.net/news/
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Christian unity has come a long way in the past 50 years, but there is still a long way to go in the face of many complex factors that are slowing progress, said Rev. Tom Ryan, CSP, director of the Paulist Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, based in Washington, D.C.

“During the past four decades, the rediscovery of our brotherhood and sisterhood in Christ, along with the result of several bilateral and multilateral dialogues, have presented an historical shift and a new situation,” he said during a keynote address June 4 at a Summer Ecumenical Institute held in Saskatoon. “There is a new situation emerging in which we can be said to be facing a crisis in the dual sense of the term: on the one hand danger, and on the other hand opportunity.”

Paradoxically, the crisis in today’s ecumenical movement is related to its success. “The closer we come to one another, the more we feel the differences that still exist,” Ryan said. “After resolving many misunderstandings and establishing a basic consensus concerning the essentials of our faith, we’ve now reached the inner core of our differences.”
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SEI 2009: Formation of Catholics on unity still ‘severely lacking’

Four panelists reflected on the state of the ecumenical movement during a Summer Ecumenical Institute organized by the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism June 2 – 5 in Saskatoon.

The churches and their leadership need a new conversion to Christian unity, said Rev. Bernard de Margerie, founder of the Prairie Centre. “The journey has become too long, too heavy, and light has dimmed.”

… read the entire article at ecumenism.net/news/
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