Talk will celebrate two faiths' agreement

To celebrate both Pentecost and 30 years of ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Protestants in the Capital Region, Rev. Dr. Gregg Mast will give a talk May 18 titled "The Dance of Grace and Faith."

Open to the public, the afternoon program will also include a dinner and worship service with Rev. Donna Elia, director of the ecumenical Troy Area United Ministries (TAUM).

Rev. Mast, president of New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Jersey and a minister of the Reformed Church of America who has served in the Capital Region, will address the historic "Agreement on Justification" signed jointly by the Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches in 1999.

That document was also embraced recently by the Methodist Church of America.

Split

The speaker will highlight how the document put to rest a long-standing theological controversy that arose in the 16th century between the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant reformers.

"This was a major point of the Protestant Reformation," he said, explaining that Catholics have always believed that they are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews people's hearts while empowering and calling them to perform good works.

In contrast, "Protestants believed that people were justified [saved] by God's grace alone and that good works were not necessary for salvation," explained Rev. Mast.

The Protestant Reformation was started by Martin Luther in 1517, when he nailed 95 theses stating such beliefs to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church -- declarations that were in direct opposition to practices of the Roman Catholic Church and fueled growing resentment.

Healing rift

Rev. Mast's talk will address how the 1999 agreement finally lifted condemnations placed on the Protestant reformers, who included Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin and other eventual founders of various Protestant faiths.

"The condemnations were set forth at the Council of Trent in 1545 by the Catholic Church. They reaffirmed Catholic teaching on issues of dissention including the buying and granting of indulgences; priestly celibacy; and salvation, or justification, by works as well as by faith," the speaker noted.

"The 1999 document finally lifted those condemnations by clearing past differences of opinion on these issues. In effect, it reaches a place where we can all say what we have in common.

"It is an affirmation of what we, as Christians, believe together rather than what separates us. Finally, it points out what can be done to improve relations among the different denominations," Rev. Mast explained.

For all

Justification has been seen as the "theological fault line" that divided the two faiths for almost 500 years and "this document puts that all to rest," he added.

Rev. Mast hopes that "church leaders [can] make the ordinary Christian understand what this document means and what it has to do with each Christian individual."

Rev. Elia, coordinator for the program, is also a local Presbyterian minister and ecumenical officer for her presbytery.

"We asked Rev. Mast to speak to our group because of the level of credibility and respect that he holds among ecumenical leaders in the Capital District," she noted. "Every faith tradition has its own strengths and weaknesses. As an ecumenical group, we celebrate the opportunity for open dialogue."

(From 1988-2002, Rev. Mast was pastor of First Church in Albany. He founded a baptismal witness program through which members of different faiths attended baptisms at the churches of other faiths. The program, "Faith or Works: An Ecumenical Indulgence," will be held May 18, 4 p.m., at First Congregational Church in Albany. For information, call the diocesan Ecumenical Office at 453-6660.)

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