Things are happening so fast on the ecumenical scene that it's hard to keep up. In fact many sincere members and even ministers don't really know what's going on in their denominations. In the following articles—the first written by Neil Richardson and the second compiled by Philip Powell we look at the Anglican and AoG denominations in their relationship to the powerful Roman Catholic Church.

What's happening to the Church of England?

THE Second Vatican Council (1962-65) states that "the goal of the Church's ecumenical strategy is the unity of all Christian churches through communion with the Roman Catholic Church". In 1994, leading `evangelicals' (including Jim Packer, Bill Bright and Chuck Colson) signed the Evangelicals & Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium. In this they promised to avoid "sheep stealing" and committed to "witnessing together".

In 1995 the Pope issued the encyclical Ut Unum Sint (That they may be one). In it he invited the Orthodox Churches to achieve unity with the Catholic Church by the end of the millennium.

But what is happening with the Church of England?

`Evangelical' Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey responded warmly to the encyclical, acknowledging that the "ministry of unity…belongs to the Bishop of Rome". In December 1996 he went to visit the Pope in Rome officially for the first time. Carey's "aim was to revive unity talks between the two Churches". He returned in a "buoyant mood" as "we are uncovering much more of the unity that we have in Christ Jesus". He has "come to love and admire" the Catholic Church.

In 1997 Anglican Bishops published a friendly response to the encyclical, acknowledging the "common baptism" of all Christians (Catholic or Protestant). They expressed reservations about the Catholic view of Mary and Papal Infallibility, although they accepted the "universal primacy of the Pope".

In April 1998 Carey urged the Catholic Church to lift its bar on Anglicans receiving communion. Cardinal Hume explained that shared Eucharist was nonsensical without full unity between the churches, as the Mass is the integral part of the Catholic faith.

I wrote to George Carey to ask him to reconsider his zeal to achieve this merger (also commending him for his firm stance against homosexuality). The Word of God, the foundational Articles of the Church of England and the 1994 Catholic Catechism all preclude any unity between the two faiths—the Catholic Church teaches that Christ's sacrifice on the cross was not once for all but must needs be repeated as the "bloodless sacrifice of the Mass". The Bible teaches that Jesus' death was totally sufficient for our redemption (Heb 9:12,26,28; 10:10,12,14).

He replied, stating that "obedience to Christ's call that `all may be one' (John 17) [was] the necessary pre-requisite for the Mission of the Gospel". He included a sermon given in Luxembourg's RC Cathedral in which he affirmed the "vision of a united Europe" and looked forward to "the Millennium, the Great Jubilee [to] provide us with an opportunity to deepen the bonds of faith and fellowship that join us". He reminded Rome how "hospitable" the C of E is to "Christians of other traditions", and urged it to reciprocate.

The Roman Catholic Church is another religion from true Christianity, as it preaches another gospel—that which denies grace, faith, the Scriptures, the sufficiency of the Cross and the Blood of Christ; that which elevates a mystical Marian cult, a Babylonian `god-eating' ritual (Mass) and exalts one man (the Pope) to the status of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
George Carey is not an evangelical Christian because it is more important to him to join with this different religion than it is for him to preach the true Gospel of Christ. Let us pray for all those we know who are bewitched by the glitterings of Rome, and be prepared to faithfully witness to them our Lord Jesus Christ as our only Saviour and Redeemer. Soli deo gloria.
-Neil Richardson-

ASSEMBLIES OF GOD and THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES TOGETHER

A RECENT Ecumenical News report mentioned that a World Council of Churches continuation committee" included a "respected Pentecostal representative" from the Assemblies of God and a representative from the Roman Catholic Church. (21 Sept '98). The committee's objective is to form a global ecumenical forum. An inquiry to ENI as to the identity of the Pentecostal representative brought the following response:

The World Council of Churches has informed me that the Assemblies of God member involved in talks is Dr Cecil M. Robeck. But the WCC insisted in response to my question that Dr Robeck is not officially representing either the Assemblies of God or the Pentecostal churches in these discussions.

Dr Cecil M. Robeck, Jr is Professor of Church History and Ecumenics in the School of Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary. Dr Robeck appears to be spearheading the ecumenical movement in the Pentecostal churches, having attended WCC conferences for several years. The web site of Pentecostal Charismatic Theological Inquiry International provides information on the ecumenical activities of the Pentecostals and, specifically, Dr Robeck:<http://www.pctii.org/>
In 1996, Dr Robeck led a team of Pentecostal scholars to dialogue with the apostate World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), initiating a five year International Reformed-Pentecostal Dialogue. <http://www.pctii.org/press.html >

The WARC now permits member denominations to dispense with the traditional requirement for clergy to affirm the central doctrine of the Christian faith—that salvation is through "Christ alone." Instead, WARC general secretary, Dr Milan Opocensky, maintains that churches and their members must be made to understand that their "salvation is at stake" if they refuse to reject unjust economic structures. (ENI 2/13/98) Based on the new paradigm, the WARC is also seeking full communion with the Lutheran World Federation, which is in the process of uniting with the Catholic Church.
Pentecostal ministers have been meeting with the World Council of Churches since 1994. At a conference held that year, Dr Robeck framed the discussion of Pentecostalism by taking issue with its "insensitive" approach to evangelising (he calls it `proselytising') those who already profess to be Christian, especially inquiring directly of high ranking clergy if they know Jesus Christ as Saviour. Dr Robeck is also the author of "Mission and the Issue of Proselytism" a document critical of endeavours to convert Roman and Greek Catholics by Pentecostals, who assume such persons are not of the Christian faith.
Noting the disparity in Webster's definitions of "proselytism" and "evangelism," Dr Robeck's choice of words diminishes per se the true gospel of Jesus Christ:
Proselytism: To convert to some religion, system, opinion, or the like; to bring, or cause to come, over; to proselyte.
Evangelism: To instruct in the gospel; to preach the gospel to; to convert to Christianity; as, to evangelise the world.
Dr Robeck has made demonstrable progress in leading Pentecostals to repentance for offending professing Christians with the Gospel. The following statement was issued by Pentecostals after attending the 1996 Costa Rica WCC meeting: <http://www.pctii.org/wcc-news.html>
"In this meeting with the WCC, we have discussed and debated a number of mutual concerns. We were challenged, for instance, to consider how Pentecostals have sometimes proselytised other Christians. This has brought offence to the Gospel as well as to them."
Laying the groundwork with Dr Robeck for ecumenical unity between Pentecostals and members of the World Council of Churches has been Juan Sepulveda, author of The Andean Highlands: An Encounter with Two Forms of Christianity (WCC Publications). The following ENI report summarises his plea for ecumenical unity at the 1998 Latin American Pentecostal Meeting.

Ecumenical News International ENI News Service 28 September 1998
Theologian tells Pentecostals to be less defensive & more ecumenical

EDITORIAL DISCLAIMER:
The following is printed to indicate what is happening. CWM does not agree with the perspective on early Pentecostals nor with what is advocated in the report.

ENI-98-0436—Havana, 28 Sep (ENI)
PENtecostal churches should have the courage to overcome their traditional defensive attitude and re-adopt the vision and the practices that inspired the early years of the Pentecostal movement, according to Chilean theologian, Juan Sepulveda.

In a speech on "Pentecostalism and Ecumenism", given during a Latin American Pentecostal Meeting (EPLA-98) from 23 to 27 September in Cuba, Sepulveda said that Pentecostalism's origins were profoundly ecumenical. However, over time, the negative reaction of mainstream churches to Pentecostal campaigns had prompted Pentecostal churches to move further away from the mainstream and to think of themselves as churches separate from the rest of Christianity.
"Other churches were not willing to appreciate the positive aspects and the renewal that marked Pentecostal movements," said Sepulveda, according to the Latin American and Caribbean Communications Agency. "Everything was rejected, condemn-ed and ridiculed [by other churches] and in many cases the Pentecostal experience was described as the work of the devil," he said.
This was one of the factors that forced Pentecostal groups within the mainstream churches to set up separate churches, he said. Then the gulf grew wider because of the "self-awareness" that Pentecostals began to acquire.

"The new Pentecostals felt that God had begun to return the church to its spiritual purity, and they began to view their church as a community of those who had also been restored by the power of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit," he said.

This perception led them to begin to judge other churches as "mere human institutions". However, no church possessed the "complete Gospel", Sepulveda said, pointing out that this mistake had been one of the causes of Pentecostal "impoverishment". The ecumenical movement was a gift of the Holy Spirit, he added. A return to the visions of early Pentecostalism would allow Pentecostal churches to accompany the churches that were trying to "walk together in ecumenical hope".

CHALLENGING PENTECOSTALS especially ASSEMBLIES OF GOD

IN the light of the above, and with the huge drift towards Rome, this matter can longer be left in the hands of the leaders of the Pentecostal denominations, who are selling their faith and their "church" down the river. Whether you are a member or pastor you are implicated and should take it upon yourself to inquire of your senior pastor or denominational official as to what is the stance with regard to the World Council of Churches (WCC).
We believe the writing is on the wall. Faith and truth are being sacrificed on the pagan altars of consensus, compromise and convenience. It is time to stand up and be counted. The name, constitutional and statement of faith changes effective from May 1999, presently being proposed by the AoG in Australia, are not without significance. These give cause for great concern. For example the suggested name change to Australian Christian Churches has a distinct ecumenical ring about it. The blurb promoting it shows very clearly that the motivation is to remove restrictions and to open the door to all and sundry to join the ranks. The removal of the reference to faith in the "pre-millennial" and "imminent" Return of Christ has sinister over-tones, especially in the light of the heretical Kingdom Now teaching which has come to the fore in AoG circles. The proposal is to remove all reference to the millennium. The time has arrived to stand up and fight for the faith of the Fathers for many of their sons have departed from the good and faithful way.

Some of the other changes, while being put forward as significant, are really cosmetic and would be innocuous were it not for the fact that they reveal the drive resident in the current carnal AoG leaders. It is the drive of mammon not God. A business thought pattern has largely replaced the spiritual and godly thinking of the Pentecostal Fathers. It's not too late to reverse the trend.

Jer 18:14-15: "Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken? Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;"

Jer 2:13: "For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Jer 6:16-:17 "Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken."

Appeared in Volume 4.3 November/December 1998