Methodist Doubts

The proposed union of four major American Protestant churches is a cart with four wheels--and one of the wheels is slow to turn. The Presbyterian and Episcopal churches and the United Church of Christ continue generally to favor the dramatic project that Presbyterian Eugene Carson Blake put forth in 1960. But the largest denomination involved, the 10 million-member Methodist Church, has deep doubts. Washington's John Wesley Lord, though he is one of the few Methodist bishops who speak out strongly in favor of merger, says: "Methodists have the least enthusiasm, and with good reason. We're strong; what do we need?"

Many, like Chicago's Bishop Charles W. Brashares, fear that all talk of complete merger is just that--all talk. Says Bra-shares: "Talk of unity can be a red herring to keep us from doing something that we should be doing."

Within the atmosphere of general hesitancy, many Methodist clergymen see specific obstacles to merger:

> "We look at the proposal and we don't see how it would work," says Detroit .Bishop Marshall Russell Reed. "As long as the Episcopal Church holds to apostolic succession. I don't see how there could be a merger." A basic difference between the Methodists and the Episcopalians centers on the Episcopal belief that a minister must be ordained by a bishop who himself was consecrated in the line of succession from the time of Christ's Apostles. Methodist ministers are ordained by both a bishop and other elders, who do not claim that they are part of an unbroken chain back to the time of Christ.

>"Any proposed merger would involve concessions on someone's part." says Dr. William D. White, pastor of the Elmhurst (Ill.) Methodist Church. "For instance, Methodists are against drinking, while Episcopalians believe in moderation."

> "I have no doubt that churches and denominations can be too small to function effectively in the world. I am just as sure that they can be too big, and I suggest that 20 million members may be too big,"*says Bishop Gerald Kennedy of Los Angeles. "If I could cast one vote which would make all Christians Methodists, I would not cast the vote."

> "I'm very much interested in unity, but I'm not interested in union," argues Dr. Theodore Palmquist, pastor of Washington's Foundry Methodist Church. "In Protestantism, division is our strength because we allow for differences in opinion. If you're more emotional you can go to an emotional church; if you like ritual, you could choose the Episcopal Church."

A recent Boston University poll of Methodist clergy and laymen found only 23% advocating that Methodists "should seek full union with all Christian bodies willing to explore the possibility." Sixty-three percent preferred that Methodists only cooperate with other Christian bodies in activities that can be done better to gether than separately. Says the Rev. H. F. Lawhorn of Atlanta's Capitol View Methodist Church: "We ought to remember what Christ said--'Other sheep have I, . not of this fold.' "

* Largest Christian church is the Roman Catholic, which claims more than 42 million believers in the U.S., 550 million in the world.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.