The Decline of Real Ecumenism: Robert Bilheimer and the Vietnam War

Abstract

Robert Bilheimer headed the International Affairs Commission of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCC) during the Vietnam War. His experiences illustrate that Christian liberals were divided over what constituted ecumenism and the methods by which churches should confront sociopolitical crisis. As a traditional ecumenist shaped by the World Council of Churches, Bilheimer struggled with activist new-breed leaders over how the NCC should witness against the Vietnam War. Ultimately, the churches' captivity to cultural pressures, the hegemony gained by new-breed ideas, adherence to top-down communication methods, the turf-driven nature of the denominations, and the era's divisiveness sunk Bilheimer's efforts and the traditional ecumenists'vision.