Ecumenical Movement

The word "ecumenical" derives from the Greek oikoumene, meaning "the whole inhabited world." The movement's central idea is unity in diversity: while respecting the differing traditions of each region and denomination, churches are to stand in solidarity and cooperate on the basis of a oneness centered on Jesus Christ.

Background

Participants in the movement cite John 17:21 and Galatians 3:28 as its biblical foundation. In John 17:21 Jesus prays that his disciples may be one, and Galatians 3:28 declares that all are one in Christ. Lee Hyung-ki, professor emeritus at Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary, describes the movement as an effort by the churches to pursue fellowship (koinonia) and unity in diversity so that the world may believe, to serve human society, and to preserve the integrity of creation, thereby working toward the realization of the Kingdom of God.

Internationally, the movement gained momentum after the First World War. Churches in various countries that had been isolated from one another argued that they needed to speak with one voice on international political and social issues, and proposals were made to form a "League of Churches." In Korea, the background lay in the circumstances of the early mission field. Western denominations carried out missions competitively, each according to its own policies, and they also divided mission territories among themselves in keeping with the Nevius principles.

Development

Worldwide

• The World Council of Churches (WCC) came into being through the merger of several international church bodies.
• In 1954 the Second Assembly of the WCC was held in Evanston, Illinois. Representatives of many Protestant denominations and of churches in the Eastern Orthodox tradition attended.
• Beginning as a movement for unity among Protestant churches, it expanded to include cooperation with the Orthodox churches.
• Ecumenical documents of the 1950s and 1960s emphasized the missionary calling of the church, viewing the church as a servant of the Kingdom of God. In the 1990s, ecclesiological studies addressing both the nature and the mission of the church were undertaken in earnest.

Korea

• The National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) traces the origins of the Korean ecumenical movement to cooperation among mission boards: the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (Northern), the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (Southern), the Methodist Episcopal Church (Northern), the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, the Australian Presbyterian mission, the Canadian Presbyterian mission, the Church of England, the Baptists, the Holiness Church, the Salvation Army, Pentecostal churches, and others, which joined forces for cooperation in mission.
• The theologian Park Jae-soon regards figures such as Ahn Chang-ho, Yi Seung-hun, Cho Man-sik, Ryu Young-mo, Kim Chai-choon, and Ham Seok-heon, who worked for national unity across denominational and religious boundaries, as pioneers of the Korean ecumenical movement.
• From the late 1950s into the early 1960s, the question of joining the WCC became one of the causes of division in the Korean church (Schisms in Korean Presbyterianism, WCC controversy).
• In the 1970s and 1980s, the movement became closely intertwined with resistance to authoritarian regimes, and the WCC publicized Korea's democratization movement internationally and provided it with financial support (The Church and the Democratization Movement).
• In 1988 the NCCK issued the "Declaration of the Churches in Korea on National Reunification and Peace."
• In the early 2010s, as preparations were under way to hold the WCC's Tenth Assembly in Busan, major theological disputes arose between the evangelical and ecumenical camps over ecclesiology and other issues.

Results and Influence

Interdenominational councils were formed, and joint mission, relief, and social work followed. Even evangelical commentators acknowledge that the movement served as a channel through which Western relief supplies entered Korea. Joint Bible translation projects are regarded as emblematic of the unity movement, and in Korea the Common Translation Bible is cited as an example. At the same time, the Christian camp that led social engagement during the democratization period came to be referred to collectively as the "ecumenical camp," and some observers note that this blurred the original meaning of the term.

Assessment

• Supporters hold that the unity and union of the church belong to its very nature, and that the movement offers a way of holding mission and social responsibility together.
• Critics come mainly from the evangelical camp. They have argued that the WCC's ideological character is ambiguous and that communism and Christianity cannot coexist. They criticize the 1988 NCCK declaration, characterizing it as calling for repentance for anti-communism and demanding the withdrawal of U.S. forces.
• Scholarly perspectives are also divided. Some analyses hold that the movement in Korea became entrenched as a form of resistance movement during the 1970s and 1980s. Others argue that a simplistic framework treating "ecumenical" merely as the opposite of "evangelical" has narrowed understanding of the movement.