A Call for Hospitality: Learning from a Particular Example of Women's Grass Roots Practice of Receptive Ecumenism (original) (raw)
Related papers
Inclusive Ecclesiology: A New Model of Hospitality (2012)
Women, Church, and Leadership: New Paradigms, ed Eunjoo Mary Kim and Deborah Creamer, pp. 26-44., 2012
Visitors welcome! Everyone welcome! Church message boards and bulletins proclaim invitation; congregations describe themselves as places that are open to strangers, neighbors, and guests. Even the present campaign of the United Methodist Church -"open hearts, open minds, open doors" -paints a picture of inclusive ecclesiology, a vision of church where all are
Australian Catholic University, 2021
Against a background of an Ecumenical Movement that was stalling due to decline in interests, increasing ecumenical difficulties, new postmodern challenges, and traditional ecumenical methods that were perceived as reaching their limits, Receptive Ecumenism (RE) came into existence. It responded to the ecumenical impasse's call for a fresh new ecumenical approach suitable to the contemporary milieu and attuned to the challenges of the negativities underlying and surrounding the 'ecumenical winter'. Receptive Ecumenism's identity is shaped by its distinctive principles of ecclesial repentance, constant ecclesial renewal and reform through self-critical and unilateral learning with integrity from others, with a strong focus on the Church local and the practical aspects of lived experiences and tradition. Receptive Ecumenism is intended to be a new ecumenical approach which is fluid, adaptable, accessible and virtuous. Presupposing and supporting these core principles are success-enabling spiritual, affective and virtuous elements of humility, hospitality, love and hope. How has Receptive Ecumenism been received and where is it heading in the new decade? This thesis argues that Receptive Ecumenism has been holistically embraced and widely practiced across the full spectrum of theological, spiritual and practical ecumenism; and by focusing on both the ad intra (renewal) and ad extra (mission) dimensions of the Church, Receptive Ecumenism potentially opens many new possibilities for a much wider church audience.
Anthropologica, 2022
Within the multicultural and multiracial city of Toronto Ontario, the space of the church is a place for racialized and white Presbyterian women to negotiate convivial hospitality, dignity, and notions of the good life. I use the concept of convivial hospitality to show how conviviality aligns with Christian hospitality when it centres on people's will for spiritual and physical wellbeing through their relationships and interactions with others. This article focuses on the affective labour involved in the preparation of church community dinners, which were developed and organized by older, racialized Presbyterian women. Mealtime preparations are moments when convivial hospitality emerges among racialized women who pass the time by sharing their food, memories, and life stories, thus affirming a sense of dignity and belonging. Conviviality, however, takes an inhospitable turn when racialized women are subjected to undignified sociality. In exploring times when white Presbyterian women assisted with the community meals, the manner of their help coopted and disenfranchised racialized women from their service to the church and to God. What emerges is convivial inhospitality as racialized churchgoers are subjected to hierarchal interactions, making them feel like outsiders within their own church; yet, in caring for the wellbeing of white congregants to maintain social harmony and congregational unity, they tolerate the status quo which they see as Christian convivial hospitality.
Scharen Christian Explorations in Ecclesiology and Ethnography Cambridge Eerdmans Pp 138 164 Studies in Ecclesiology and Ethnography, 2012
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2016
In North American Christianity hospitality has not only largely lost its moral dimensions, it no longer plays an integral role in informing a church's missiology or ecclesiology. Hospitality has been reduced to cozy dinners with friends or associates who closely resemble the socioeconomic status and socio-political worldviews of their hosts. Perhaps more detrimental, hospitality has largely been regulated as one of many Christian practices from which Christians can choose, a practice most generally situated around various forms of table fellowship. In this paper I hope to offer a more robust theological framework, one that extends backward to the creation narrative, onward into the Israelite narrative, and is both epitomized in and central to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hospitality understood in this way necessarily becomes the primal posture of Christian witness in a post-Christian culture and promotes a missiological impulse powerful enough to reorient a congregation to holistically engage and embrace those suffering social displacement due to homelessness, mental illness, and intellectual disability.
The Reception of Receptive Ecumenism
Ecclesiology, 2021
Receptive Ecumenism (re) has been presented as a distinctive ecumenical approach for nearly fifteen years, and it is eight years since Paul Avis asked the critical question, ‘Are we Receiving Receptive Ecumenism?’ The main part of this essay addresses that question by surveying the different ways in which re has been received in the academy, in ecumenical bodies, and in the life of the churches. A shorter section then outlines a proposal for viewing re in a wider ecclesiological context, rather than simply as an ecumenical practice. The essay primarily focuses on resources developed since 2012 in order to assess the breadth and depth of contemporary reception of re, and potential future developments.
Rethinking Holiness through the Lenses of Christian Hospitality
Traditionally, Pentecostals’ major concern when it comes to the recovery of the biblical idea of holiness translated its focus into private morality, less so on social holiness or social ethics (i.e. caring for justice in the community at large), even less so when it comes to caring for Europe’s societal developments. A commitment to an apolitical position lead to the neglect of holiness in political theology, which in turn lead to a refusal to think through the political implications of the doctrine of holiness. This paper will deal with the visibility of the Christian faith in 21st century Europe through the lenses of Christian hospitality. It will first reflect upon learning how to overcome an uneasy relationship with our old continent. It will examine the link between Christian identity and European identity before reflecting upon the link between Christian values and European values. The fact that our European societies are experiencing such wide-ranging value changes means that we are facing the challenge of making an accurate diagnosis: assessing factors involved in the change of values. This paper will furthermore seek to promote a Christian therapy by considering which ingredients are necessary for sustainable and caring societies. If solidarity and generosity are indeed at the heart of the Gospel, European Pentecostal churches in particular are challenged to develop – through Spirit-filled theological education – a vision of hope for a renewed credibility of the Gospel in 21st c. Europe. European Pentecostal Theological Association - July 2018 Conference, Brussels, Belgium
Review of Ecumenical Studies, 2022
According to Heinrich Fries and Karl Rahner (1983), Eucharistic communion and church fellowship are interdependent realities. In the context of divided Christianity, how can churches start to restore them simultaneously? This paper explores how two ecumenical monastic communities attempt to navigate their way out, hoping that their experiences might indicate a future path. In these communities, the Roman Catholic Church extends eucharistic hospitality to their non-Catholic members in a unique effort to promote and accommodate their ecumenical significance. Based on my ethnographic research in the communities, this paper describes the practice of eucharistic hospitality in these particular contexts and the implications for reimagining the place of the Eucharist in the ecumenical process.