Consensus Statement

Preamble

We as two church movements have much with which to enrich each other. We have begun to learn from each other and must continue to benefit by building meaningful relationships. While we hold in common the lordship of Jesus Christ, we do not need to arrive at full consensus on doctrinal issues in order to be open to each other, influenced by each other, genuinely valuing and loving each other, and learning to minister with each other.

Affirmations

  1. We have learned that the roles played by the Enlightenment and American Holiness/Revivalism have shaped the theological perspectives of our respective heritages. This awareness now influences our attitude and helps us to transcend certain limitations coming from our histories.
  2. We appreciate the value of historic Christian creeds, but we are unwilling to make any of these creeds a test of Christian fellowship.
  3. We celebrate our common conviction that Christ is the authority for life and belief. Christ is revealed through the Bible, as interpreted by the work of the Spirit in the context of the community of faith.
  4. We desire to recover for our time the essence of New Testament Christianity.
  5. We recognize the church as the universal Body of Christ. Each local congregation is called to be a manifestation of this one body. We recognize the importance both of freedom in the Spirit and mutual responsibility among Christ's disciples.
  6. We are agreed that baptism is commanded by the Lord Jesus to be practiced by all of His followers. This baptism is to be by the immersion in water of penitent believers. Baptism is symbolic of the atoning death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. By its nature as well as by biblical teaching, baptism is involved with forgiveness of sin. We take pains, however, to repudiate any doctrine of baptismal regeneration, holding that forgiveness is wholly a matter of God's grace.
  7. We rejoice in the Lord's Supper and reaffirm the new covenant of God's love poured out through Christ, the crucified, risen, reigning, and returning Lord.
  8. We encourage our brothers and sisters in the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ and in the Church of God to give careful attention to thse affirmations and to continue discussion of other issues concerning which there is a range of opinion among us. These include: footwashing as an ordinance; women in ministry; the most desirable frequency of participating in the Lord's supper; and the meanings and processes of the "sanctification" of Christian believers.

Adjournment

The group concluded this meeting by participating together in the Lord's Supper, led by James North, with devotional thoughts and prayer led by Lloyd Pelfry, Kenneth Cable, and Wayne Shaw. Adjourned at 12:15 p.m.

Barry L. Callen, Secretary