Miles Baker Hunt, pastor in the NC Conference, recently experienced immersive ecumenism at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute in Switzerland. He shared learnings with the Christian Unity and Interreligious Relationships Committee upon his return.
Bossey: The Ecumenical Laboratory
What happens when 32 students from some 27 countries and church confessions live, learn, eat, pray, worship, and travel together for almost six months? Bossey Ecumenical Institute is undoubtedly one of the most unique places in the world, tucked away just outside beautiful Geneva, Switzerland in Bogis-Bossey, the Institute sits just off of Lake Geneva. Each morning, students are greeted by the snowcapped mountain ranges as the chapel bells peal, gathering us together in the 12th-century remains of the Cistercian wine press and cellar.
Through this article, I attempt to sketch the Bossey experience, sharing some insights into our shared common mission for Christian unity as exemplified in Jesus’ priestly prayer of John 17:21: that “they will be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. I pray that they also will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me.”
It is hard to describe the Bossey experience. Bossy is not simply a post-graduate programme in which students attend class in the morning and go back to their respective homes in the evening. Rather, our cohort participates in life together in every aspect. Conversations do not cease at the conclusion of a lecture, but continue throughout each meal and often into the common space of our shared home, Petit-Bossey.
The former WCC Director of Biblical Studies, the Rev Dr Hans-Ruedi Weber characterized the Ecumenical Institute as a “laboratory for ecumenical life.” This could not be a more accurate description. Day in and day out, students at the Institute engage in the experiment of ecumenical life; we propose hypotheses, we test theories, we discuss what is going right and what is going wrong, we participate in conferences, we publish results, but most importantly we build community together.
The basis of Bossey is the academic life, it seemed at the start. It is, overall, why we have gathered in the first place. Each of us from our respective church traditions has arrived at the Institute on recommendation of our Churches to study ecumenism. The course schedule is rigorous, with students engaging in multiple courses and elective modules. These included the Core Course on the History of the Ecumenical Movement, Intercultural Biblical Studies, and Practical Ecumenical Theology. To pursue individual interests, students elect one or two modules as well. In my case, I took Ecumenical Theology and Ecumenical Missiology while other students engaged in Ecumenical Social Ethics or Ecumenical Hermeneutics.
As classes began, it was easy to think academic courses were the main objective. This perspective changed quickly for me. As we engaged in class, we were all learning that relationality and community development quickly took a center stage. Our academic schedule provided a basis for such development, lending endless topics of conversation to have with one another.
We live in such a divided and divisive world. While the world embraces an “us vs. them” mentality, it so often seems the Church does, too. We see this in our own denomination as we timidly emerge from schism, a time in which members from both the United Methodist Church and the Global Methodist Church have both felt and dealt hurt and harm through words and actions against those with whom we theologically disagree. This is not a unique story in Christian history. And yet, throughout the ages, our traditions continue confessing the “oneness” of the Church which Christ has founded while choosing to go our separate ways. So often, our diversity caused us to approach topics with different perspectives and opinions – both of our Church traditions and our personal opinions. Nevertheless, our goal in ecumenism is visible unity.
It was Archbishop of Uppsala Nathan Söderblom who famously declared, “The world is too strong for a divided Church.” His statement rings just as true in today’s landscape as it did at the Life and Work Conference of 1925. When we confess the Church as ‘catholic,’ we affirm that it is universal, transcending borders, cultures, and confessional divides. What shared witness do Christians make to the world when we do not live in Christian love within our own ecclesial identities? In each relationship created at Bossey, I believe we moved one step closer to such Christian love and unity – even if each step was small, we are moving forward into the realization of Christ’s prayer. Christian unity is a gift from God; it is not something we have to create, but rather we have to acknowledge we have departed from such unity, working and serving to bring it about once again.
Over the course of the time at Bossey, the cohort had several opportunities to engage in various study trips. For many of us, myself included, these trips were a highlight of the programme. Not only did these opportunities provide time to explore surrounding areas, but more importantly to engage and observe practical, lived ecumenism. These study trips exemplified that while not easy, ecumenism can be a reality. Our first study trip was to Taizé, an ecumenical monastic community in Taizé, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France. The centrality of the community are the communal prayers, most often sung. The prayers began, Scripture was read and the singing carried throughout the community. In the distance, the pealing of the community bells could be heard. Laudate omnes gentes / Laudate Dominum. The refrain harmonized amongst the community time and time again. No one had to conduct the choir, but voices matched with one another; no one tried to sing above another – harmony and peaceful content in the moment resonated amongst the worshipping community. What a beautiful expression of our shared worship and praise of our Triune God. At this moment, we were not Orthodox or Catholic, Anglicans or Methodists, Baptists or Pentecostals, but simply Christians. This was a foretaste of the Kingdom, each of us as the great hymn writer Charles Wesley phrased it, “lost in wonder, love, and praise.”
Another highlight of life at Bossey was the rich prayer life each of us had the opportunity to facilitate. So much of theological study is focused on academia and finds itself centered on and in the mind. As I mentioned earlier, this is the case of much of the study here at Bossey, and rightly so. Nevertheless, what is the purpose of theological study and discourse if it is not implemented in the reality of the world in which we find ourselves? As such, our course on Practical Ecumenical Theology became perhaps the most important part of our ecumenical theological formation as we ask the question of where now for visible unity. At its genesis, on paper it seems to be an impossible task: 32 students from almost as many varieties of traditions and countries with differing theological backgrounds come together to plan worship together. So many of us asked questions in the beginning – [How] can this work? In the face of what seemed to be an impossible task, we progressed on, journeying together on a pilgrimage of spirituality, coming to meet God through our unique diversity together.
The dynamic nature of this visible unity extends into the planning of worship in inter-confessional nature. This is exemplified in the planning of worship between students coming from widely different confessional backgrounds. For example, I had the joy to plan worship with a colleague from the Armenian Apostolic Church. We sat together and were able to explore the unique traditions, prayers, and aspects of our churches. Our service then was truly ecumenical, engaging both traditions and a combination of English and Armenian languages. In some aspects, this is difficult – choices had to be made; what to include and what to exclude. In this process, however, we came to understand our traditions better, receiving what each other had to offer as a gift, an approach termed as receptive ecumenism. Visible unity, in that moment, was being realized.
As a Provisional Elder in our denomination, much of my call story revolves around the sacramental life of the Church. When I arrived at Bossey, one of the questions I had was how we could celebrate the Eucharist together. I knew some confessions have a closed table, while mine does not. Perhaps, I thought, we would celebrate anyway. Quickly I realized that Eucharistic fellowship was a goal that we must continually work towards (cf. Article III, WCC Constitution) While we are grounded in our common baptism, we cannot all approach the same table. Our doctrinal differences divide us, providing a stumbling block to such a vital aspect of our life in Christ. As I reflected on this, I was delighted to hear my colleagues in the last session suggest some sort of Eucharistic fellowship with one another. I would fully support such an action, and personally believe it would be a unifying and grace-filled moment of visible unity in our ecumenical pilgrimage together. Perhaps, I thought, in January we could utilize the Lima Liturgy. Though, upon more reflection, I realized not everyone would give the same support of such a Eucharistic fellowship that I do. For some colleagues, it is an impossible venture. Should, then, Eucharistic sharing be experienced in our community if not all feel comfortable or able to participate?
Unfortunately, as we approached the close of the semester, our time quickly came to an end and our hope of joining together in a Eucharistic meal went unrealized. As such, I am left with these thoughts. Must Eucharistic Fellowship only be a goal towards which we work in the Ecumenical Movement, waiting until the heavenly banquet is prepared in our eschatological reality? Perhaps we could try, those who wish, realizing that once again, our morning prayers seemed to be an impossible venture at the start. Who knows? Perhaps in trying what we seem to be the impossible could lead us to an unexpected reality; a glimpse of the eschatological reality in the here and now. How beautiful that would be.
When I received the Council of Bishops’ Scholarship to attend Bossey, former Ecumenical Officer Bishop Sally Dyck told me that she believed that Bossey, for her, represented one of the few times one gets in their life which is a truly life transforming experience. Returning from Bossey myself, I share Bishop Dyck’s words. Bossey is a life transforming experience. I will take the relationships, learning, memories, and knowledge I received at Bossey and apply them to every aspect of my life and ministry. The Bossey story does not end when each of us stepped on a plane to go back to our homes. Rather, I know beyond certainty that I will continue serving with my friends and colleagues from Bossey as we continue on the pilgrimage toward Christian unity.
Reverend Miles Baker Hunt
Fourth Thursday after Epiphany, 2025
Photos and descriptions:
The Rev. Miles Baker Hunt and His Eminence Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, at the Concluding Prayer for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, Rome.
Left to Right: The Rev. Miles Baker Hunt (The United Methodist Church), Bishop Rosemarie Wenner (World Methodist Council Geneva Secretary), and the Rev Ha SeongUng (Korean Methodist Church)
The Bossey Cohort 2024-2025 | Photo: Gloria Charles/WCC
Ms. Ani Torosyan (Armenian Apostolic Church) and the Rev. Miles Baker Hunt (The United Methodist Church) present on their Churches’ responses to the WCC Convergence Document, The Church: Towards a Common Vision.