Public Aye, Private Fear

A glowing euphoria ended this year's Consultation on Church Union. It was the fourth annual gathering of theologians and clerical leaders to discuss Eugene Carson Blake's suggested superchurch of the United Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians and the United Church of Christ, who have been joined, since Blake's 1960 proposal, by the Disciples of Christ and Evangelical United Brethren. "A decisive turning point," said Episcopal Bishop Robert Gibson of Virginia. Blake, the United Presbyterians' Stated Clerk, called it "a major step forward."

On the surface, at least, the ecumenists had much to cheer about. After four days of discussion at Lexington, Ky., they agreed that the role of bishops must be preserved in the merger as a "symbol and agent of the continuity of the church." Without a dissenting vote, the consultation authorized six clerics to prepare an "outline of a possible plan of union" for next year's meeting in Dallas. Three Negro Methodist churches expressed interest in becoming full-time partners.

But these gains did not allay many private fears about the merger's future. One influential participant in the consultation thinks it possible that the Episcopalians and Methodists will bow out when a unity plan is formally proposed. Dr. Kyle Haselden, editor of The Christian Century, agrees that "a more likely venture is a union of the Disciples of Christ, United Church of Christ and the Presbyterians."

One reason for worry is that despite growing interfaith cooperation among ordinary churchgoers, few of them are yearning for organic unity. "We're in favor of cooperation on all kinds of social levels, but we're not in favor of a monolithic structure," says one active Episcopal layman in Los Angeles.

Some ecumenists fear also that it may be even harder to resolve the economic problem of merging church properties and ecclesiastical funds than it is to settle doctrinal disputes of primary interest to theologians. This down-to-earth secular issue may well prove the ultimate stumbling block for the diffident, well-organized Methodists, who are three times more numerous than any other church involved in the consultation, and who seem more interested in cementing ties of friendship within world Methodism. Bishop F. Gerald Ensley of Columbus, Ohio, warned that his church "already has its hands full" negotiating its own merger with the Evangelical United Brethren.

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