Gary Jenkins: The Limits of Ecumenism

...I say all of that to address something else. Today I left coffee hour early to attend the confirmation of my niece and nephew. They attend a parish of the United Church of Christ. As we were coming home after the confirmation I asked my foster son, Matt, a very simple boy, if he ever felt the need to cross himself during the service. He answered no. The reason? They never once invoked the name of the Trinity. They wrote the word “Lord” out of all their texts as well. At the offertory was song “We give you (yech) of your own, what ere the gift may be. All that we have is yours alone, we give it gratefully.” The only time they used the name Father to refer to our Father, was in the Lord’s prayer. Prior to the confirmation, there were three “baptisms,” done in the name of “God, Jesus, and the Spirit.” Now, I cannot judge the piety of the people there present, but the Liturgy in that Church was not served to the Trinity, and indeed, at one point was God was invoked as one “who is known by many names.” Apparently, “Lord” isn’t one of them. Indeed, I was waiting for either of the two ministers to say “To the Unkown God.” One came very close: “Oh God whom we cannot know.” All the false apophaticism has been addressed before, and I would commend Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon’s essay “Father, glorify Thy Name!” I bring it up to note that I could not bring myself to say any prayers with them other than the Our Father. The very first prayer of the service began “O Mother God.” I was tempted to take out my pen and shove an “of” between Mother and God, but I controlled myself.

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HT: Dr. Tighe