National Workshop on Christian Unity
Equipping Church Leaders in the Quest for Christian Unity
Sponsored by the National Ecumenical Officers Association

Was Held in New Orleans, Louisiana

Participants Registering in New Orleans

The 2005 National Workshop on Christian Unity was held at the Sheraton New Orleans, located only a few blocks from the famed French Quarter.

Over 325 Delegates, from all the major denominations that are engaged in Ecumenical efforts, took part in the events which oppened with Worship on Monday, April 4rth.

The Opening Worship service was held at 7:00 p.m. in the historic Cathedral of St. Louis.  The Rev. Delores Carpenter, Disciples of Christ delivered an impassioned, sermon to the nearly packed cathedral.  Music was provided by the Dillard University Choir.

Keynote Address & Tuesday Activities

The Keynote Address (sponsored by the Order of St. Lazarus) Keynote Speaker for the National Workshop on Christian Unity was Bishop Richard J. Sklba (Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Milwaukee).  In the Tuesday morning address, he spoke on the theme: From Dialogue to Reconciliation.  He challenged the churches to make real the reconciliation we have already experienced, saying "The goal is not to return but to move forward."  "Reconciliation must begin with conversion," he said. Bishop Sklba, shown in photo to the right, called us to be partners in the proclamation of the gospel, not rivals. He said our task for moving forward are: Understanding, Cooperation, Participation, Openness and Sharing the Pain.

Following the Keynote Address partipants went to breakout rooms where Seminars on a dozen topics took place, such as Ecumenism 101 (The Rev. Lydia Veliko), Rapture, the Middle East "and Left Behind Series (Dr. Barbara Rossing) and Restorative Justice (The Most Rev. Alfred Hughes).

The Afternoon was devoted to workshops sponsored by the various Network Groups (EDEO, NADEO, LEARN & ECCO.  During the evening, there was a Catholic Eucharist celebrated at St. Mary's Church and a joint Lutheran and Episcopal Eucharist at Christ Church Cathedral.

Wednesday Activities

On Wednesday Morning the participants gathered to take part in an Bible Study led by Dr. Paul Anderson, Professor of Biblical and Quaker Studies at George Fox University.  In the Bible Study he spoke on the topic From Partisanship to Partnership.

Dr. Anderson noted the polarities of Corinthians 3:1-23.  He said that the Corinthians got it wrong, and could the church get it any better now.  He showed how Paul deconstructed the partisanships and reconstructed the community on the basis of a collaborative model for the church.  We need to support one another, even when what the other does seems to be in competition with what we are doing. 

He turned then to the treatment of Spiritual gifts, saying that it is not important that they be sensational, but treats as most important those that build up the community.  The Holy Spirit gives gifts in terms of what the church needs, rather than what we want.

The remainder of the morning was spent in seminar sessions as detailed above.

Wednesday afternoon attendees took part in a variety of workshop experiences and at 5 pm, a large number of the attendees took part in a CUIC (Churches Uniting in Christ) Eucharistic Service at the Church of the Immaculate Conception.

The evening featured a social event held at Mardi Gras World.

Thursday Activities

Thursday morning again began with Morning Prayer led by a priest of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern U.S.A. 

Dr. Paul Anderson then continued the Bible study to the gathered NWCU attendees.  Effective Christian Leadership involves facilitating the attending, discerning and the minding of Christ's Leadership of the Church. 

He talked about the skills necessary to carry out this task.  He stressed the importance of listening for this process.  Do we use our listening skills to attend to what God may be saying to us in worship or are we too preoccupied in the doing of worship rather than the experience of worship?  How do we attend to God?

He then turned to discernment, speaking to both issues of individual and corporate discernment.  He discussed the role of scripture, tradition, and reason in the process of personal discernment.  Corporate discernment can be illustrated by the difference of a business meeting, opened with prayer, and a worshipful time during which we offer up our work as an act of worship.

Again, the participants went from the Bible Study to attend the Seminar sessions. 

Following the seminar time, the NWCU held its closing session and luncheon.  The speaker for the closing session was Bishop Carol Gallagher, the first Native American woman to be a Bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States. 

Among the issues Bishop Gallagher addressed was the manner in which Christian Churches encouraged the abandonment of Native American traditions as being incompatible with the Christian Faith, rather than using many of those traditions to enrich the Christian Community.

The Thursday Luncheon was the closing event of the 2005 NWCU.