• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Participants in a Catholic-evangelical dialogue are pictured in an undated photo. They are Ben Homan, Jonathan Ciraulo, Dawn Eden Goldstein, Craig Higgins, Dominican Father Ignatius Schweitzer, Alexei Laushkin, Miranda Cruz, Howard Snyder and Nathan Smith. On Aug. 28, the group released a one-page document, "The Gift of Being Christian Together: An Ecumenical Statement of Fidelity and Recognition," which identifies areas of common ground among the two largest Christian groups in the world. (OSV News screenshot/Glenmary Home Missioners)

Catholics, evangelicals explore common ground rooted in shared ‘love of Jesus Christ’

September 7, 2024
By OSV News
OSV News
Filed Under: Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations, News, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

CINCINNATI (OSV News) — A group of Catholics and evangelicals has released a one-page document that identifies areas of common ground among the two largest Christian groups in the world.

“The Gift of Being Christian Together: An Ecumenical Statement of Fidelity and Recognition” is “the fruit of a new ecumenical dialogue,” according to a news release from Glenmary Home Missioners in Cincinnati on the document.

A group of Catholics and evangelicals has released a one-page document, “The Gift of Being Christian Together: An Ecumenical Statement of Fidelity and Recognition,” which identifies areas of common ground among the two largest Christian groups in the world. (OSV News screenshot/Glenmary)

“At the most basic level, Catholics and evangelicals share a love of Jesus Christ,” said Alexei Laushkin, founder of Kingdom Mission Society, an evangelical organization that helped spearhead the effort.

Catholic efforts were led by Nathan Smith, ecumenical director for Glenmary Home Missioners, a Catholic society of priests, brothers and laypeople who work in evangelical-dominant areas of Appalachia and the South.

Smith and Laushkin have established a website, thegiftofbeingchristiantogether.org, to disseminate the document and to gather signatures of support not only from evangelical and Catholic institutions, but also from everyday Christians from those traditions, they said.

The document was released Aug. 28, the feast of St. Augustine, and signatures are being accepted until the feast of Christ the King, Nov. 24.

“The feasts of St. Augustine and Christ the King both have ecumenical significance,” explained Smith. “Christians see Christ the King as the center of unity. It is then that we profess the Lordship of Christ. And St. Augustine is much beloved by evangelicals and Catholics.”

His writings are important, for example, in St. Thomas Aquinas’ writings and as well as those of Reformation theologian John Calvin, he said. “More important, Augustine dwells on the interior life, the conversion and change of heart that opens the door for unity,” Smith added.

Churches will be recruited to have liturgical events that resonate with their tradition on Nov. 24 to highlight the theme of unity. One recommended practice is that churches be lit with red lights around Nov. 24 as a sign of solidarity with modern Christian martyrs.

“Let’s put an emphasis on the evangelism that has often been the cause of their martyrdom,” Laushkin said. Congregations are also encouraged to recite the Nicene Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and to pray for Christian unity, along with sharing the document with their congregations.

The dialogue group was formed in 2021 to address the question of “how the two communities see one another as being Christian, as sharing in faith in Christ’s Lordship, even in the midst of our current differences,” Smith told OSV News in a Sept. 4 email.

He and Laushkin led a working group of Christian theologians from six traditions: Catholic, Methodist, Reformed, Wesleyan, Anglican and the Free Church.

Catholic theologians in the group included Jonathan Ciraulo, author Dawn Eden Goldstein, Alan Mostrom, Dominican Father Ignatius John Schweitzer and Father Walter Kedjierski, who was executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs until his appointment in June as director of seminarians for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y. Besides Laushkin, evangelical theologians included Howard Snyder, Ben Homan, the Rev. Craig Higgins and Miranda Cruz.

Dialogue participants “spent time highlighting ways that members of the two groups (evangelicals and Catholics) can see another as being Christian,” said Smith. “The effort was not focused on particular theological differences so much as a starting point: that each communion affirms the Lordship of Christ and the call to more closely align our lives to the Gospel.”

The Christian Forum of Switzerland has translated the document into French and is using it for a study group this fall, according to Smith. The news release added that the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs has recommended the document, and it is endorsed by the North American Baptist Fellowship.

Smith said he hopes for practical positive outcomes from better understanding among Catholics and evangelicals.

“For example,” he said, “it’s not uncommon for families to have both Catholics and evangelicals, or Pentecostals or other Christians within that one family. I’ve spoken to people in our mission whose kids marry evangelicals, and now they tell their parents that they’re not Christian, because they’re Catholic.” That causes a lot of division, he said.

“‘The Gift of Being Christian Together’ gives some language as to how we might see one another, even though we’re different, as being Christian,” Smith added. “It provides a starting point for further conversation.”

For more information on the document, visit: https://thegiftofbeingchristiantogether.org/

Read More Ecumenism & Interfaith Relations

Filled with hope, Christians know cries of the innocent will be heard, pope says

Nicene Creed presents ‘the mystery that unites’ Christians, pope says

Council of Nicaea anniversary is call to Christian unity, speakers say

Pope, Romanian bishops, Jewish officials pay tribute to martyred bishop

Bishop calls for prayer after deadly attack outside DC’s Capital Jewish Museum

Pope reaffirms commitment to ecumenical, interreligious dialogue

Copyright © 2024 OSV News

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

OSV News

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Hunt Valley parishioner recalls her former student – a future pope

  • superman Movie Review: ‘Superman’

  • Father Robert Wojsław dies at 52

  • Deacon Gary Elliott Dumer Jr., active in men’s ministry, dies

  • Loyola University Maryland graduate ordained Jesuit priest

| Latest Local News |

Quo Vadis attracts biggest crowd ever, promotes camaraderie and faith

Lay associates journey with the Oblate Sisters of Providence

Father Robert Wojsław dies at 52

Scopes Monkey Trial ignited century-long debate on evolution and belief 

Deacon Gary Elliott Dumer Jr., active in men’s ministry, dies

| Latest World News |

Three dead, Holy Family Gaza pastor injured after mid-morning Israeli attack

Proof of life for kidnapped Nigerian priest received by Alaska diocese where he served

Filled with hope, Christians know cries of the innocent will be heard, pope says

Pope calls for ceasefire, dialogue, peace after church hit in Gaza

School club gives students chance to benefit veterans, fosters Gospel value of serving others

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Quo Vadis attracts biggest crowd ever, promotes camaraderie and faith
  • Three dead, Holy Family Gaza pastor injured after mid-morning Israeli attack
  • Proof of life for kidnapped Nigerian priest received by Alaska diocese where he served
  • Filled with hope, Christians know cries of the innocent will be heard, pope says
  • Pope calls for ceasefire, dialogue, peace after church hit in Gaza
  • School club gives students chance to benefit veterans, fosters Gospel value of serving others
  • Top Republican appears to walk back probe of Catholic entities amid charged committee hearing
  • Mahmoud v. Taylor: A Supreme Court victory for parents, freedom
  • Church leaders, faithful in procession to Detroit ICE office call for just immigration policies

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en