The American Church that Might Have Been

A History of the Consultation on Church Union

Keith Watkins

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN:
  9781625644312
  9781498227827
• eBook ISBN:
  9781630877446
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

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.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part One: Moving from Vision to Plan (1960–1970)
• Chapter 1: The Bold Proposal
• Chapter 2: The Challenge to Reunion in Concrete Terms
• Chapter 3: Second Thoughts on Church Union
• Chapter 4: Principles of Church Union
• Chapter 5: Uniting Christians Separated by Race
• Chapter 6: Poised on the Edge of Success
• Chapter 7: At Last a Plan of Union
• Part Two: Negotiating the Terms of Agreement (1971–1988)
• Chapter 8: Responding to the Nation’s Deepening Distress
• Chapter 9: Shifting the Focus from Plan to Process
• Chapter 10: The Interdependence of Unity and Mission
• Chapter 11: The COCU Consensus: In Quest of a Church of Christ Uniting
• Chapter 12: Unity in Diversity: Churches in Covenant Communion
• Part Three: Reshaping the Ecumenical Vision (1989–2002)
• Chapter 13: From COCU to Churches Uniting in Christ
• Chapter 14: Remembering the Church that Never Came To Be
• Chapter 15: Still Needed—A New Church for a New Nation
• Appendices
• A Proposal Toward the Reunion of Christ’s Church
• Response
• Abbreviations of Church Names
• COCU Timeline of Meetings (Plenary Assemblies)
• Bibliography