Daily coverage of the 211th General Assembly Presbyteries to vote on aligning with other denominations The Layman Online Monday, June 28, 1999 FORT WORTH – The General Assembly has voted 437-81-6 to ask presbyteries to determine whether the denomination will become part of "Churches Uniting in Christ" – a new relationship with eight other communions in the Consultation on Church Union (COCU). The Assembly's action was the first taken by any of the nine denominations toward formalizing an ecumenical relationship that has run hot and cold for decades. The other eight communions are the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, the Episcopal Church, the International Council of Community Churches, the United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church. If approved by the presbyteries, the "Churches Uniting" relationship will be characterized by nine "visible marks." They are: recognizing each other as "authentic expressions of the one church of Jesus Christ;" recognizing "members in one Baptism," that is, members moving from one communion to another will not be rebaptized; recognizing one another's ordained ministry; affirming that each holds "the apostolic faith of Scripture and Tradition which is expressed in the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds;" providing for celebrating the Eucharist together "with intentional regularity;" engaging in mission together, "especially a shared mission to combat racism;" promoting "unity with wholeness" and opposing "all marginalization and exclusion in church and society based on such things as race, age, gender, forms of disability, sexual orientation, and class;" engaging in an ongoing process of theological dialogue; and creating "appropriate structures of accountability and appropriate means for consultation and decision making." The document has been criticized for placing almost all of its emphasis on uniting churches on social issues – racism, sexism, etc. – and little on a joint commitment to evangelical mission and nurturing church members. During floor debate, an attempt was made to eliminate the phrase "sexual orientation," but David Batchelder, moderator of the Assembly Committee on Catholicity and Ecumenical Relationship, said that the denomination had to approve the document language exactly as it is or withdraw from the union. Related articles: COCU Plenary to be held in January, United Methodist Reporter, December 2, 1998 COCU eyes an uncertain future, Presbyterian News Service, November 13, 1998 COCU struggles to 'find a way forward'; Troubled organization faces funding crunch, The Presbyterian Layman, May/June, 1998

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