By the Rev. Erin Betz Shank
The Episcopal Church is a founding member of the ecumenical body, Churches Uniting in Christ (CUIC), formally known as Consultation on Church Union (COCU.) My participation as one of the Episcopal representatives began a couple of years ago via an invitation from Ecumenical Officer Margaret Rose. It has been a wonderful experience. I have engaged in deep conversation about how we can ecumenically work together with our neighbors, in formal and informal ways, especially when it comes to issues such as race justice and equity.
In addition to being on CUIC’s Coordinating Council, I have also been invited to participate in a pilot cohort program geared toward young adults, even though some of us are older than the young adult threshold (me included).
Through this program I have met many young, energetic, and hopeful individuals who are doing God’s work across the country. Our conversations have ranged from politics, denominational work, our struggles and hopes for the church in the future. Truly inspiring. It has led me to think about my own parish work (I serve a parish in Southern Maryland) and how we are or are not engaging in ecumenical collaboration. Unfortunately, in my local context, any kind of regional ecumenical groups have been disbanded, and each church primarily operates in their own silo. I hope to help change this culture. After all, we are all serving the same community—the needs are great, and there are so many people who do not know about Jesus, let alone hear about his love for them.
We have now started an ecumenical Ashes to Go, which was well received by the community. Approximately 50 people received ashes (many for the first time) and there probably would have been more if the time allotted was extended. We also started an ecumenical Blessing of the Animals that included our neighboring Roman Catholic clergy. It was also well received, and many had never experienced or thought about having their pets blessed. I remember one woman in particular who started weeping and said that her dog was such a blessing because she lost her spouse a few months ago and hadn’t felt God’s presence until that day. I said a separate prayer of healing for her in her grief. Those kinds of conversations probably would not have been possible had we not engaged in the community in such a broad way.
Even though we do not agree on everything with our ecumenical neighbors (we don’t even have that among us Episcopalians), many things can bring us together rather than separate us. We can make a greater impact on the community if we can model how we engage with each other out of love rather than agenda. Jesus gives us a mandate in Scripture that “we all may be one.” May we live into that calling, one relationship at a time.
To learn more about what CUIC has been up to this fall, click here. Visit Churches Uniting in Christ at churchesunitinginchrist.org.
The Rev. Erin Betz Shank is priest-in-charge at Middleham and St. Peter’s Episcopal Parish. She and her husband, Jason, live in Great Mills, Maryland, with their children, Chelsea and Emma, and cat, Phoebe.