The Lord Is My Shepherd Koinonia Mp3 Download [PORTABLE]
Jai Weil
Thus, the vision rested on the shoulders of the Body and they sought the leadership under a shepherd who would share in this great assignment. The Lord responded faithfully and presented Apostle Cedric Taylor and Prophetess Miranda Taylor to navigate the ministry according to His divine purpose.
7. As we have dealt with structures and ministries, we have been mindful of how rounds four and five (1968-80) took up the topic of ministry in connection with the eucharist and then papal ministry (also in six, Teaching Authority and Infallibility). Our review of much of the work done in rounds four and five made us aware of how helpful and significant these contributions were. Round four dealt only with local ministry in the local congregation where the eucharist is celebrated and the Word preached. Round five dealt with a universal ministry and the possibility of a renewed papacy. The present round considers the interrelation among local, regional, national, and worldwide ministries and church structures, in the context of an understanding of the church as koinonia of salvation.8 Thus, in continuity with past dialogues and the Joint Declaration, our analysis moves from Christ and the gospel of salvation to koinonia. We understand this gospel particularly as the message of justification by grace through faith, and treat koinonia as a lens through which to view ecclesiology and ministries of those ordained, within the whole people of God.
8. This report will proceed from a general consideration of koinonia ecclesiology (Section I) and the specific concept of the "local church" (Section II) to a consideration of the particular structures of koinonia in our two churches (Section III) and the ordained ministries that serve them (Section IV). A brief discussion of the ecumenically significant question of apostolic succession and its relation to ministry follows (Section V). All of this analysis and description then forms the background for an argument for a fresh vision of how structures and ministry can be understood including recommendations (Sections VI, VII, and VIII).
10. There are good reasons why viewing the church as koinonia came into prominence ecumenically in the latter decades of the twentieth century (see B. (15-20) below). The basic word, koinÇnia in Greek, is ancient, occurring 22 times in the Bible,9 but it was not a term or concept prominent in Catholic or Lutheran documents of the sixteenth century. Thus it has been spared some of the partisan usage that often has made other concepts divisive. Koinonia has never been a church-dividing issue for Lutherans and Catholics. It is a useful lens through which this present dialogue reconsiders our differences concerning ministry and church structures. We speak together about this lens in three propositions: the church shares in salvation; the church shares salvation with others; and the church is a community shaped by salvation. All three are expressed in Scripture through words related to koinonia.
12. Koinonia characterizes not only the way we receive salvation but the way it is offered to others through the church. Through evangelization we share the gospel with others (Phil. 1:5, 7) as part of its advance (Phil. 1:12, 25; 4:14-15) in mission (Matt. 28:19-20). This sharing transforms the church itself as well as the world. The agreement between Paul and other church leaders to evangelize both Jews and Gentiles cuts across boundaries of racial and ethnic divisions of the day; it was a mutual pledge for mission, unity, and support for the poor (Gal. 2:9-10). We support the proclamation of the gospel through our financial gifts (Phil. 4:15); we share our resources with the poor and those in need throughout the world. In Paul's time, that meant a collection from his Gentile churches for "the saints," impoverished Jewish Christians in Jerusalem (2 Cor. 8:4; 9:13; Rom. 15:26-27), economic aid that showed concern for the unity of the church (Gal. 2:9-10).12 Acts depicts Christians in Jerusalem as sharing not only the gospel message but also their temporal resources (Acts 2:42, 45; 4:32). In subsequent centuries, such active sharing, koinonia, has become the norm for Christian life and has been manifested in sharing food, time, and the results of all sorts of human abilities, as well as money.
13. The koinonia of salvation has called forth a type of community, the church, appropriate to the grace and calling we have received. We are a koinonia called in Christ by and for the gospel (1 Cor. 1:9; Phil. 1:5), a community that comes from the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 13:13). The vertical and horizontal fellowship with God and fellow believers (1 John 1:2-7) results in a people conformed to Christ's death on the cross (Phil. 3:10, cross and resurrection of Jesus; 1 Pet. 4:13, suffering and rejoicing). That means for the justified an existence determined by God's love and faithfulness, a life lived with love, in faith and trust, marked by hope. This vertical and horizontal fellowship exists in and with the world and its institutions. It is shaped internally by its relationship with God through Christ and the Spirit and by the participation in Christ and salvation of all members of Christ's body. Externally the church relates to the world, not merely as a social institution, amid the other public structures (ta koina) of the Greco-Roman world,13 but more importantly as a sign of God's will that all share in salvation. Divisions in fellowship blunt the impact of our witness to salvation.
14. In sum, therefore, koinonia in the New Testament especially concerns the relationship of justified believers with God and Christ (1 Cor. 1:9; 1 John 1:2-7) and the Spirit (2 Cor. 13:13), thus with the Trinity (The word koinonia does not refer in the New Testament to fellowship within the Godhead, as it does in patristic writers who spoke of koinonia between the Father and the Son14). Koinonia has also ecclesiological (Gal. 2:9; 2 Cor.13:13) and eucharistic connotations (1 Cor. 10:16). The concept appears as a basis for ethical admonitions (Phil. 2:1) and can also itself be an admonition to share, both in the church and with the poor (Rom. 15:26-27). The New Testament references speak of sharing in sufferings (Phil. 3:10) and console people through sharing in consolation (2 Cor. 1:7). Koinonia connects with themes like mission, life together (Acts 2:42), stewardship, and future hope.
15. From New Testament usage, koinonia came to be employed over the centuries as "communion" (communio) and in many other renderings, particularly with reference to the church. While the terminology did not play a role of any importance in sixteenth century Reformation or Catholic theology, it became more prominent in the twentieth century.15
16. In Eastern Orthodoxy, koinonia ecclesiology has recently centered on eucharistic communion with Christ.16 Ecclesiology can be called "a chapter of Christology"17 as long as it also is pneumatological. The terminology also came into the World Council of Churches, especially through the work of the Faith and Order Commission: "fuller koinonia" is the goal of life together in Christ.18 Bilateral dialogues have found the theme helpful,19 as have theologians from a variety of traditions.20
18. For Lutherans, the term koinonia was used in German discussions in the 1950s on Protestant church fellowship.28 In the latter part of the twentieth century the Lutheran World Federation increasingly employed koinonia/communio themes.29 In 1990 it defined itself as "a communion of churches which confess the triune God, agree in the proclamation of the Word of God and are united in pulpit and altar fellowship."30 Lutherans and Catholics in dialogue have related koinonia to the doctrine of the Trinity and ecclesiology.31
19. Koinonia encompasses all Christians and the salvation of all who share in the gospel. Koinonia ecclesiology has many aspects but no uniform definition. The New Testament references to koinonia do not directly relate the term to "church," let alone to "ministries," but repeatedly deal with all the faithful. In presenting the church as koinonia, the Lutheran-Roman Catholic International Commission placed the church within a series of biblical images, beginning with "people of God," and added that in both our traditions "we rightly speak of the 'priesthood of all the baptized' or the 'priesthood of all believers.'"32 All structures and ministries, as instruments of koinonia, serve God's people. Whatever is said, then, of "koinonia ecclesiology" and "ministry in service of community" is to be embedded in this context: the people of God, all Christian believers.
20. This dialogue now wishes to contribute further to these varied understandings of the church as koinonia. The following sections will focus on koinonia ecclesiology in the context of historical and current Lutheran-Catholic relationships. Our ecclesiologies and our ordained ministries of presbyters and bishops are viewed afresh through the lens of koinonia. Our dialogue is intended to foster reconciliation between our churches and is offered to the wider ecumenical community for study and reflection.
21. An important element in much recent koinonia ecclesiology of particular significance for this report's analysis is the concept of the "local church," understood in similar but different ways by our two traditions. On the one hand, both Lutherans and Catholics agree that there is a local body which is not merely a part of the church, but is wholly church, even if not the whole church and not in isolation from the rest of the church. Our traditions agree: "The local church is truly church. It has everything it needs to be church in its own situation.... The local church is the place where the church of God becomes concretely realized."33 To say that the local church is "church" in an integral sense is to say that the essential elements of the community which participates in, shares, and is shaped by salvation are present in a complete and integral way.
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