Let's Get There In One Piece

1 Corinthians 12
12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by^[c] one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.


When the Apostle Paul wrote these verses, I don't think he would ever have imagined the dismemberment that the body of Christ would suffer over the next thousand years. Although a majority of those groups which refer to themselves as Christians agree on a majority of theology (especially that which I and many others would consider essential to the Christian faith), it is a minority of, often vocal, issues that have led to the current state of fragmentation of the Christian religion. However, after thirty years of discussion, we are now closer than ever to a more unified faith.

In the next year, we will see two important votes regarding the full communion of two significant Protestant denominations. The first will come on April 29, 2008 when the United Methodist Church's General Conference will vote to recognize the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as being in full communion. The second vote will happen when the ELCA reciprocates at their 11th Biennial Churchwide Assembly during the week of August 17-23, 2009.

This is truly a significant event in the life of the Christian Church.