Friends:

As many of your know, I am president of the North American Academy of Ecumenists for a two-year term. What follows is an announcement of our annual meeting. You are welcome to attend.

North American Academy of Ecumenists to Meet in St. Louis—on September 26, 27 and 28th, the Academy will hold its annual meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel St. Louis—Clayton. The theme will be Ecumenical Ecclesiology: One Church of Christ for the Sake of the World. Michael Kinnamon, Peter Bouteneff, David Daniels and Jeffrey Gros will be among the distinguished speakers. The Academy includes ecumenically active clergy and laity as well as professors and students. Members have a shared concern for theological reflection and scholarship. They value hospitality and conversation. For more information or to register online visit www.naae.net.

More information about the Academy is also available on the website.

Peace,
John

Friends:

Today we had a meeting of the Consortium Communications Committee.
I am always grateful for the great generosity of the Trustees in devoting their time to the our ecumenical efforts.

We discusses a number of questions related to the future communications of the Consortium. As many in the Consortium know, we have decided to emphasize our website--and its extension, this "Coffee with Crossin" Blog--in our communications. Marguerite Connolly and I received many helpful suggestions from the trustees for improving these communications. You will see the results in the coming months.

Joy!
John

Friends:

When I was visiting my mother in Philadelphia, I saw in the Philadelphia Inquirer that Dr. John Reumann had died. He was the long-time Professor
of New Testament at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.
He received the Consortium Ecumenism Award two years ago. He was instrumental in the American Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue on Justification which was foundational for the Joint Declaration on Justification agreed to by the Lutheran World Federation and the Vatican--and recently by the World Methodist Council.

I was happy to read in the Seminary's tribute to him on their website [under Latest News] that he had finished his longtime work on the letter to the Philippians and sent the final version off to his editor at Yale University Press before he died. He had mentioned this to me when he came to Washington to receive the Ecumenism Award.--he was toward the end of this 'life's work.'

I look forward to the book.
A final contribution of a man who made many contributions to the search for Christian Unity.

Peace,
John

Friends:

Today the annual Orientale Lumen Conference XII concluded.
The Conference brings together Orthodox, Eastern Catholic
and Western Catholic participants for prayer, presentations and dialogue.
Meals are shared and issues discussed. The meeting took place at the John Paul II Cultural Center in Northeast Washington.

This year I served as Moderator--introducing the speakers--and
facilitating the dialogue with the panel of speakers after each presentation.
This was a first for me--to Moderate a whole conference rather than a presentation or two. A panel of all the speakers produces a rich answer to questions raised from the floor.

The presentations were excellent. The theme focused on feasts and the liturgical cycles with presentations on a number of the Eastern traditions. The role of icons and iconography was prominent--as all these elements are seen together, not separately. The view from the East is an integrated one.

I found the four days stimulating and exhausting at the same time.
It will take quite awhile to absorb all that was said.
I purchased CDs of the talks--when you are moderator you miss a few things while you think of what is next.

For more on the Conference see www.olconference.com

Peace,
John

Friends:

In the previous post it should be
www.washingtonpost.com then look for
Sunday, June 8, 2008.

Thanks,
John

Friends:

I was happy to post my second article this morning on the Consortium website, www.washtheocon.org

I notice over the weekend in the Sunday Washington Post [p. A2] www.washintonpost.com
that the Southern Baptist Convention members have seen a decline in the number of baptisms this past year. They are developing a plan to reverse this decline--a decline that is quite unusual for them.

As I have heard in numerous conversations throughout the Consortium, membership decline is not limited to the Southern Baptists. Decline is widespread. Many good efforts have been put into place in the last two decades or more to reverse such decline--but these efforts seem to have had modest success at best.

Such efforts have tended to emphasize denominational distinctiveness, rather than commonalities among Christians.

My own thought is that we need to take more seriously the results of our ecumenical dialogues. Often these documents and the results of of our personal conversations gather dust on our shelves--or in our minds--rather than being put into practice.

The results of our dialogues and conversations offer us a richness of insight into the Christian tradition which will enhance our efforts at evangelizing the young. I argue that ecumenism means more rather than less--a greater richness and a deeper faithfulness to Christ.

My observations, limited as they are, indicate that most of the young are not interested in recreating the divisions of the past--rather they are looking for a rich spirituality and a Christian understanding to lead them into the future.

Together we have such a message.

Peace,
John

Friends:

Just want you to know that I have begun to revise
my series of short articles on ecumenism. The first
of these appears under Executive Director on the
Consortium Home Page www.washtheocon.org

I hope that you find this article and those to follow helpful.

Peace,
John

Friends:

Here at Dominican House the construction of the new wing of the building is
progressing. There are numerous folks working each day on getting the building ready for the fall.

There is a huge hole in the ground adjacent to Michigan Avenue--I presume that utilities are being connected and other necessary elements installed underground

The Domincian library will be closed for the months of July and August--and reopen in the new building in September, God willing.

Our Consortium offices have been on the second floor of Dominican House since 1972. For over three decades the Dominicans have been gracious hosts of our work.

We will be moving out of the present offices to another part of the second floor--perhaps as early as next month. Part of the overall construction project is the renovation of the rooms we occupy and others on the second floor of the 'old building'.

We are using this opportunity to clean out our files and put our necessary records into order. Lots of documents have already been either disposed of or put into binders for the archives.

So if you see Marguerite Connolly and I in our work outfits, you will know that the move is upon us.

Of course, we will always be available by email or voicemail no matter what offices we are occupying.

Time for more coffee.

Peace,
John