Here at the Church of the Brethren headquarters in Elgin, Illinois near Chicago, we have been challenged by our General Secretary, Dr. Michael Kinnamon, to consider ecumenism in “lean times.” The question before us is ‘how will the churches respond when facing the economic challenges in which we are now engaged?’
“Lean times,” he pointed out in his opening address, “may be an opportunity to go beyond cooperation to a genuine sharing of resources, a sharing of life through an intentional deepening of relationships. It could be an opportunity to take seriously the famously-ignored Lund Principle: ‘doing all things together except those which deep differences of conviction compel us to do separately.’
Or…lean times can reinforce the pull toward ecclesiastical introversion, which is always the greatest obstacle to manifesting unity. If this is the course we take, then prepare for more tensions in our relationships as a result of internal pressure and competition borne of scarcity.”
Which path will we choose…ecumenically, or in the Anglican Communion?
That We All May Be One 
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