… this was the theme of the last Assembly plenary yesterday morning. Unity – Mission – Reconciliation were the key-points the speakers reflected on.
Unity should be understood as an acceptance of ministry and means the assumption that we belong together to Christ and we treat each other as the Christian family. „It is not identity, but community unity in diversity,” the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby pointed out. „Unity does not mean a united bureaucracy or even a united hierarchy, or style of worship or common cultural assumptions. It means a profound love for one another that receives each other at the Lord’s table.”
H.E. Most Rev. Brian Farrel spoke about the need for churches to go beyond looking for commonalities but to face differences. “What differences are perfectly legitimate, what differences are compatible,” he said, “…and what are the ones we have to try still to overcome because they stand in the way of fuller communion. This for us is a hugely important achievement of the ecumenical movement.”
The final unity statement for download: