<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The Community Church of St John the Evangelist, situated on a relatively remote island off the east coast of New Zealand, is a unique ecumenical venture supported by the Anglican, Catholic, Methodist and Presbyterian Churches. This paper describes and situates this venture and discusses its development and modus vivendi in light of the paradigm of receptive ecumenism. This paradigm did not feature in the thinking of those who established this ecumenical community church; nevertheless it is argued that the paradigm aptly applies, so yielding the phenomenon of an unintentional receptive ecumenism at work.</p></abstract>

The Community Church of St John the Evangelist, situated on a relatively remote island off the east coast of New Zealand, is a unique ecumenical venture supported by the Anglican, Catholic, Methodist and Presbyterian Churches. This paper describes and situates this venture and discusses its development and modus vivendi in light of the paradigm of receptive ecumenism. This paradigm did not feature in the thinking of those who established this ecumenical community church; nevertheless it is argued that the paradigm aptly applies, so yielding the phenomenon of an unintentional receptive ecumenism at work.

Unintentional Receptive Ecumenism: From Ecclesial Margins to Ecumenical Exemplar – A New Zealand Case Study

Review of Ecumenical Studies Sibiu

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The Community Church of St John the Evangelist, situated on a relatively remote island off the east coast of New Zealand, is a unique ecumenical venture...

Unintentional Receptive Ecumenism: From Ecclesial Margins to Ecumenical Exemplar – A New Zealand Case Study

Published Online: Sep 18, 2016

Page range: 219 - 237

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ress-2016-0018

Keywords
Ecumenism, receptive ecumenism, community church, New Zealand, Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Partnership Agreement

© 2016 Douglas Pratt, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Unintentional Receptive Ecumenism: From Ecclesial Margins to Ecumenical Exemplar – A New Zealand Case Study

Published Online: Sep 18, 2016

Page range: 219 - 237

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ress-2016-0018

KeywordsEcumenism, receptive ecumenism, community church, New Zealand, Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Partnership Agreement

© 2016 Douglas Pratt, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Ecumenism, receptive ecumenism, community church, New Zealand, Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Partnership Agreement