The Ecumenical Gift Exchange

by Margaret O'Gara

In short, readable essays, The Ecumenical Gift Exchange looks at what ecumenical dialogue can teach about mutual ground and also about where reform is needed in the Church.

180 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1998

Reviews

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although, by the author's own admission, a somewhat repetitive collection of essays, each one of these is a gem of critical engagement between Roman Catholic theology (Catholics being the primary audience O'Gara seems to address in the collection) and the ecumenical movement. Highly creative and engaging with primary and secondary sources, O'Gara uses the metaphor of "gift exchange" as an indication that those involved in the ecumenical encounter are participating in a work of the Holy Spirit in our time as different confessional denominations in Christianity discover more of what binds them together, even as they seriously discuss and assess crucial differences. O'Gara intelligently defends the movement against misinformed detractors who see in it only relativism and capitulation, and instead touches on a number of topics related to church life in all of their myriad expressions in the various dialogue partners (Lutherans, Catholics, and Orthodox dialogues are the focus of much of her work). Insight into how the ecumenical movement is also a significant part of the renewal of each confessional tradition is presented too. Indeed, her chapter on dissent in the Roman Catholic Church in light of ecumenical efforts is an especially good highlight. Her argument that ecumenism must be at the heart of contemporary Christian theology in all denominations, and not on its periphery (where sadly it is often relegated) and that it must have a lived component at the grassroots level of all churches is a strong one.



A book that is a worthwhile introductory text for ecumenism with many essays that can lead the student or reader to a number of primary and secondary sources. Well worth the read!