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You Can’t Be Lukewarm About The Issue Of Unity

The talks brought back a childhood memory from my early elementary schools days, at a rural Catholic elementary school... 

Thoughts and Highlights from the Fire & Fusion Conference 2015 on Christian Unity

 

I was pleased to be able to attend a number of the sessions of the Fire & Fusion Conference held August 6 to 9, 2015 on the theme of “Celebrating Reconciled Diversity”. The Conference was hosted by Lift Jesus Higher Catholic Community in association with United in Christ, Catch the Fire Ministries and other local ministries in the Ottawa area. The conference organizers will be posting photos and a video of the conference at fireandfusion.info.

The talks brought back a childhood memory from my early elementary schools days, at a rural Catholic elementary school. There was one family of Protestant kids who attended my school and I was dumbfounded when I saw how a few of the Catholic kids treated them. Kids can of course be mean of their own accord but I’m thinking the Catholic kids had likely adopted the attitude from their own parents. I am thankful that my parents held no such biases. The Protestant kids were great kids, they just went to a different church was all I knew. I can see now how such an experience could have made the Protestant family very bitter.

During the Conference there was time taken to minister to anyone suffering from past hurts that they have not been able to forgive. The key message was that in order to be reconcilers for unity, we need to deal first with any unresolved bitterness that we are holding from things said or done by clergy, lay people or family members. It was a very impactful time for many who were in attendance. 

The following are a few highlights I took away from the sessions: 

Father Dimitri Sala
Franciscan priest in full-time evangelical preaching ministering to clergy, religious and laity of many ethnic groups, ages and denominations and involved in international efforts of reconciliation between Evangelical Protestants and Catholics. For more information on Fr. Dimitri and his ministry visit: united-in-christ.com.

• Prejudice and bigotry can exist even in the body of Christ but a house divided ends in ruin.
• Christians today must become like the early Christians who went in groups to worship and subsequently affected the world outside of them in a positive way.
• Important to educate ourselves about other denominations; get rid of age-old attitudes, remove misunderstandings of teachings.

Fr. Dimitri gave a blueprint for unity consisting of 3 parts:
1) A solid foundation: built through a personal relationship with Jesus based on the Gospel, the terms of salvation given by Jesus (conviction of sin and willingness to repent, a conversion by laying sin before God, and then being baptized). Goal to have a common understanding of the definition as the foundation.
2) The Building (i.e. What Unity looks like): A full and visible unity, spiritual and physical as demonstrated in the Holy Trinity (need generational reconciliation to achieve this)
3) Process: a fraternal dialogue of openness and trust, the relationship being foremost and a dependence on the Holy Spirit. When dialogue does not resolve differences, go together to God for an answer

David Ruis
Canadian Christian music artist, worship leader and Pastor. He and his wife, Anita, have established churches in Canada and the US within the Vineyard family of churches and instrumental in Vineyard communities being established in Nepal and India. More information at: impactnations.org.

• Relationships are being healed and bridges mended – see this as a precursor of what the Lord is planning on doing
• Christians are still here in the world after many centuries, unity of the Spirit transcends culture and language
• Throughout history Jesus has led the church; He has not left us. It’s all about Jesus – He is the head of His church
• All parts of the body of the church are needed
• Need the simplicity of Jesus and the courage to take up our cross in our calling

Matteo Calisi
President of the Community of Jesus in Bari, Italy a cross-denominational Charismatic Covenant Community founded in 1983. He is also a member of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008. More information on Matteo’s ministry can be found at: united-in-christ.com.

• Division within the Body of Christ is a diabolical sin.
• There is shame in division but “Glory” in unity.
• The good news is that The Holy Spirit is moving through all denominations.
• Monumental steps are being achieved in removing division between denominations.
• One example is Pope Francis when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires asked for forgiveness and prayer from an Evangelical pastor in front of a gathering of 7000 at an ecumenical conference in Argentina
• A more recent event is the reconciliation initiated by Pope Francis with the Pentecostal Church in Rome where he asked, on behalf of the Catholic Church, for forgiveness for the persecution of Pentecostals by Catholics during World War II.
• Matteo‘s Ministry of Reconciliation has been approved by the Pope and the bishops and its platform is interdenominational and the ministry is moving into many other countries.
• The reason Matteo stated that there are not more Christians in the world is that we Christians have not testified love
• We should be known not by our doctrines but by our love for one another. In heaven there won’t be any particular denominations; only love will remain.
• So we need the unconditional love that Jesus has; we must die to ourselves.
 

John Arnott
Founding Pastor of the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, now Catch the Fire Ministry, a family of churches and ministries worldwide birthed by the revival that began in Toronto in 1994. The Ministry includes a College with international Schools of Ministry and missions program with events around the world.

• We are on a journey of the heart; with an outward mission to share with a broken world
• Grace, love of God and the Holy Spirit will help us do the impossible
• God wants reconciliation and He’s calling us to be the reconcilers who know the love of our Heavenly Father.
• Many are suffering from the “orphan spirit” from a hurt from their own father, or a hurt by the church. The image of fathers has been disrupted by the world (absent, angry abusive fathers…etc)
• The human race, not just the church, needs to be reconciled so we can be the children of God. Nothing is as impactful as an affirming father. Therefore, as reconcilers we need to model God’s love (as that demonstrated in the parable of the prodigal son).
• Start as a first step by reconciling with our own family – forgive our earthly parents for misrepresenting the Father to us.
• When we get filled with the Holy Spirit it won’t be hard for us to build the kingdom of peace and joy.

One of the speakers coined this phrase which I find powerful. “You don't get to possess what you don't pursue; you can’t be lukewarm about the issue of unity”.

I feel truly blessed to have been led several years ago to become involved with CHRI Family Radio and now to be playing a small role in unity by connecting with many Christian church denominations in the region and supporting their events.

- Trudy
@TrudyConnelly

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