Celebrating ecumenism on 'Reconciliation Day'

By REV. DR. ROBERT K. LOESCH- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

Reformation Day is recognized in many Protestant churches on Oct. 31, marking the actions of Martin Luther in 1517 which started the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

Many Protestant churches and leaders, including myself, prefer to call the day "Reconciliation Day," with an emphasis on ecumenical relations and common ground among Protestants and Roman Catholics.

One of the local area Protestant leaders who epitomized ecumenical leadership and reconciliation was Rev. John U. Miller, who died Sept. 11, 2010.

Rev. Miller was pastor of the Evangelical Protestant United Church of Christ in Albany from 1986-2010. The United Church of Christ is a national Protestant denomination created by the merger of two denominations in 1957: Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church, representing the English and German Protestant reformation movements.

Rev. Miller also served as executive director of the ecumenical Capital Area Council of Churches from 2001-2010.

During Rev. Miller's memorial service last year, Rev. James Kane, director of the Albany diocesan Commission for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, declared him "my model in ecumenical relations...the rare ecumenical leader who embodied the fullness of ecumenism: faith and order, life and work."

Also at the memorial service, Rev. Marian Shearer, United Church of Christ area conference minister, based her message on Thomas A Kempis' "Imitation of Christ" as the model for Rev. Miller's ministry as a servant leader following Jesus Christ.

Rev. Miller was active in serving the needs of the men, women, families and youth of the city of Albany, especially the South End community near his parish. The Rev. John U. Miller Community Justice Outreach Center was dedicated in his memory last September. The center houses programs of the Office of District Attorney P. David Soares to divert people from the courts to the community. A large part of Reverend Miller's ministry was the Incarceration Prevention Program, which keeps non-violent offenders out of jail by offering alternatives to incarceration, such as treatment programs, drug court, anger management counseling and community service.

Rev. Miller was succeeded as the CACC's executive director by Rev. George Brennan, the first Roman Catholic to lead the CACC in its 70-year history. In 2005, Father Brennan began working with Catholic Charities, ministering to the homeless throughout the Diocese of Albany.

In 2009, the CACC awarded Father Brennan its Joyce Stein-krause Giles pastoral service award for his work with the homeless. He has devoted much of his first 10 months as the CACC's executive director to visiting and listening to needs expressed by the CACC's 90 member congregations.

Rev. Miller and Father Brennan embody the spirit of ecumenical reconciliation that is central to the ecumenical movement across the Diocese of Albany.

(Rev. Dr. Loesch is pastor of Zion's United Church of Christ of Sand Lake and ecumenical officer of the United Church of Christ. He received the CACC's 2009 Carlyle Adams ecumenical/interfaith award. He is also the Protestant representative on the Albany Diocese's Commission for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs.)[[In-content Ad]]