Receptive Ecumenism is the spiritual discipline of receiving gifts the Holy Spirit has entrusted to another part of the Body of Christ in order to become more faithful, more united, and more fully ourselves in Christ.

Traditional ecumenism often begins by asking what Christians can agree upon. Receptive Ecumenism asks a different question: What gifts has Christ given to other Christian communities that we need to receive? It invites Christians to approach one another with humility, vulnerability, and holy curiosity—not beginning with how others should change, but with an honest examination of what our own churches may need to learn, recover, or deepen. Reception is therefore more than appreciation. It allows the faith, wisdom, and witness of another tradition to reveal our own needs and open us to transformation.

At Christian Churches Together, we practice what we call Transformational Receptive Ecumenism. Through sustained relationships, faith-sharing, receptive listening, and contextual discernment, leaders from across Catholic, Orthodox, Historic Black, Mainline Protestant, Evangelical, and Pentecostal traditions learn to receive one another as fellow members of Christ’s Body. We describe this journey through five movements: Ready, Relate, Receive, Repent, and Respond. The goal is not uniformity or the surrender of theological identity. Rather, churches are invited to become more deeply and faithfully themselves by receiving the profound slivers of truth, wisdom, courage, and grace the Spirit may reveal through others. As reception leads to repentance and response, Christian unity becomes not merely an aspiration but a lived practice that strengthens the church’s common witness to Christ’s reconciling love.

At Christian Churches Together, every conversation is shaped by the practice of Receptive Ecumenism—a way of listening deeply and learning from one another across traditions. To help prepare participants for ecumenical encounter, CCT offers the following 5-day devotional guide with Scripture, reflection, and prayer prompts.