CONSULTATION ON CHURCH UNION

Merger Proposal

On 4 December 1960, on the eve of the triennial convention of the National Council of Churches of Christ in America, Eugene Carson Blake, the stated clerk (chief executive officer) of the United Presbyterian Church (Northern), gave a sermon at Grace Cathedral (Episcopal) in San Francisco. The sermon, entitled "A Proposal Toward the Reunion of Christ's Church," launched a movement toward a merger of the leading mainline Protestant denominations that lasted through the decade. In his sermon Blake proposed that the United Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Methodist churches and the United Church of Christ commit themselves to official consultation toward a merger despite their varying forms of governance and crucial doctrinal divisions.

Consultation on Church Union

Other denominations joined in the program, officially called the Consultation on Church Union (COCU), in the course of the decade. They included the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); the Evangelical United Brethren (which later merged with the Methodist Church); the African Methodist Episcopal Church; the Presbyterian Church, U.S. (Southern); the African Methodist Church Zion, and the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. If all the members of these denominations had joined there would have been a total membership of twenty-five million.

Healing the Schism

Representatives of the various denominations met several times over the decade to address problems on governance and doctrine. As the decade drew to a close, A Plan of Union for the Church of Christ Uniting was readied for presentation to the member groups. The aim of the plan was to heal the schisms among like-minded groups to make the church "a company of the people of God," relevant to Christian tradition and able to deal effectively with issues such as racism, poverty, pollution, war, and "other problems of the family of man."

Lack of Lay Support

By the time the decade ended, opponents in and out of the COCU churches were making clear their objections to the plan. Many laypeople were annoyed by the growing power of denominational bureaucrats who seemed to have little concern about denominational traditions and doctrines. A superchurch would have little relevance to the needs of people in the local community. Opponents insisted that the role of the Church was not to solve unsolvable problems such as war, racism, and poverty but to focus on bringing the individual into a proper relation with God through the gospel of Jesus.

Sources:

Eugene Carson Blake, "A Proposal for the Reunion of Christ's Church," Christian Century, 77 (14 December 1960): 1508-1511;

"COCU: Fervor and Candor," Christian Century, 86 (9 April 1969): 469-470;

"Toward a Super Church," Time, 93 (28 March 1969): 75-76.

Consultation on Church Union (COCU). A Church union negotiating committee of the American Churches of the Protestant and Anglican traditions. Set up in 1962, in 1970 it put forward a draft Plan of Union, envisaging organic unity among the Churches involved. The responses to this proposal led the participating Churches to redefine their goal as a relationship of full communion among the various traditions. In 2002 they formed ‘Churches Uniting in Christ’ recognising the authenticity of each, but leaving negotiations over any reconciliation of ministries for their future.