Ecumenical Faith

I have been praying for—and curious about—the Coptic Christians of Egypt recently. I’m still confused why the division between Western and Coptic Christianity. This division dates back to the 5th century, long before the Great Schism of the 11th century, and has something to do with whether Jesus was in or of humanity and divinity. Because of the choice of prepositions these branches of Christianity have been split for 1500 years.


It reminded me to be thankful for my own church, a merged American Baptist and United Church of Christ congregation. Baptists don’t embrace infant baptism but the UCC does. Our congregation embraces both, without issue. And because some of our members are Quaker who don’t embrace any baptism, some of our members aren’t baptized at all, still without issue.

Our members come from many backgrounds, Baptist, UCC, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Quaker, Catholic… and one Pentecostal. We are all at different points in our journey with God so we understand God differently. Biblical and theological discussions are particularly interesting when we get together. Instead of any division like between Western, Eastern and Oriental Christianity and the resulting creeds, we do our best to be considerate of each other’s theology.

In discussion we do a lot of listening, understanding, considering—and learning from—each other’s theology. We try to speak carefully so our theologizing doesn’t offend or misrepresent the heartfelt faith of our sisters and brothers. Instead of insisting on uniformity, we are fascinated with the beliefs of others and celebrate each other’s walk with God.

Holy One, keep us focused on the gifts and needs of our sisters and brothers—not the prepositions they use… or even name they call You.