Whatever Happened to True Ecumenism?
Ecumenism is a word that has great value but has lost much of its meaning due to the frequent misuse of the term over the course of the past eighty years or so. In the late 19th and early 20th century 
the term arose in a missionary context, where Christians shared a common concern not to promote denominational distinctions so much as the gospel of Christ. As the liberal social agenda was joined to this movement the word began to loose its original meaning. Thus left-leaning pietism joined with a left-learning political and social agenda came to define liberalism by the 1960s. This kind of emphasis is what most conservative Christians think of when they hear the term “ecumenism” today. I find this response very sad since this is neither the true history of the ecumenical movement nor the meaning of the term itself. The movement owes much to Puritans like Richard Baxter than to more radical modern liberals.
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