I represent the Atlantic District of the Lutheran Church Missouri-Synod on the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialog of New York. In doing so, I find myself in a unique place. Not only do I represent a district of a national church body that has largely been on the periphery of ecumenical dialog in recent decades, but I am also easily the youngest person on the dialog. My 35 puts me at least a decade younger than anyone else on the dialog and a good 25 years younger than the median age.

My youth has not gone unnoticed. At our recent meeting the question was raised, “why has your generation not expressed much interest in ecumenical dialog?” A cursory examination of the major dialogs both in the US and around the world reveal that there are few “young theologians” making their mark in ecumenical circles. While part of the reason can no doubt be attributed to selecting experienced theologians for dialog, my own experience has led me to conclude that there are other factors involved. My generation simply does not seem to have the same concern for formal, academic ecumenical dialog.

The reasons for this are manifold and I offer the following as a non-exhaustive list, and welcome your thoughts on additional reasons, the value of formal ecumenical dialog, and possible solutions to the generation gap. 

1. The success of the Ecumenical movement has also been its undoing. In bygone generations it would have been unlikely that a Lutheran would go into a Roman Catholic Church or vice-versa. Today those barriers have long since been broken down. There has been a mutual acceptance and tolerance throughout my lifetime that did not exist in previous generations. This increased tolerance and familiarity has led to a decreased urgency. 

2. Ecumenism is happening on local levels. It is not unusual on any given day to find pro-life Lutherans and Roman Catholics praying together outside of an abortion clinic, working in food pantries, or providing leadership in community organizations. While not “theological” ecumenism, it is nevertheless a sharing in the koinonia of the church. Koinonia seems to be more important to my generation than doctrine. 

3. My generation isn’t as interested in “formal theology” Readership in theological journals is declining and aging. Online theology via web-chats and blog postings has taken precedent over the more traditional forms of theology. Theological texts are money losers for publishing houses while practice-oriented devotional and worship material are money makers. There seems to be a growing concern for pragmatism in theological education as fewer and fewer seminarians come in with the rigorous theological formation once common among students entering the seminary. 

4. There is a feeling that national and international ecumenical dialogs are irrelevant. The major theological problems of generations gone by have given way to the major moral questions of our day – abortion, homosexuality – as well as women’s ordination. Those non-central theological issues are ones that seem to engender passion in young theologians today. Coupled with this is a feeling that the agreements reached by previous dialogs have had little practical impact in moving churches toward the goal of visible unity. Ecclesiastical life still goes on as it always has.