Episcopalians, Lutherans cross border to celebrate full communion
Episcopal News Service. May 2, 2011 [050211-01]
Mary Frances Schjonberg
U.S. Episcopalians, Canadian Anglicans and Lutherans in both countries came together May 1 to honor the 10th anniversaries of their denominations' declarations of full communion.
Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, Anglican Church in Canada Archbishop Fred Hiltz and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada National Bishop Susan Johnson participated in unique simultaneous liturgies on either side of the U.S.-Canadian border.
Johnson presided and Jefferts Schori preached at St. Paul's Anglican Church, Fort Erie, Ontario. Hanson presided and Hiltz preached at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Buffalo, New York (Diocese of Western New York). Both services began at 3 p.m. EDT.
The celebrations included elements of the worship services of the four denominations.
"The world around us is in urgent need of our shared gifts," Jefferts Schori said during her sermon.
"These ten years are a good start," she added.
In his sermon, Hiltz echoed her sentiments. "There is a heartfelt joy among us today," he said. "And I cannot help but think there is some heartfelt joy in heaven as well."
"Called to Common Mission," the full-communion agreement between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and "The Waterloo Declaration" between the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada both took effect in 2001. But no formal agreements exist between the different denominations across the border, a situation the leaders have said they hope to change.
For instance, during her sermon, Jefferts Schori asked, "why are we still starting separate Episcopal and Lutheran congregations?" She added that crossing denominational borders " is going to mean letting go of our anxiety over counting heads and claiming members or turf."
Indeed, Hiltz said Canadian Anglicans and Lutheran had already engaged in what he called "joint church plantings."
Churches in full communion formally recognize that they share essential doctrines, including baptism and Eucharist; agree to accept the service of each other's clergy; and pledge to work together in evangelism and mission. The churches become interdependent while remaining autonomous.
Jefferts Schori said in her sermon that "in the last few decades we have seen a remarkable shift from a predominantly Christian culture to one in which the fastest growing religious preference is 'none of the above.'"
"Some of those 'none of the above' folk have seen only small-minded zealots or children fighting over their inheritance," the presiding bishop said of denominational divisions. "We have a lot of history to overcome, but the reign of God lies in the direction of more porous borders."
At the same time, she noted, "our respective traditions have all suffered the departure of individuals and groups of Christians who have taken offense at some change or attempts to expand … human borders between 'our kind' and 'those people.'"
Saying "the current border skirmishes within our denominations reflect an anxiety about identity," Jefferts Schori said "the skirmishers have lost track of their common roots."
The denomination's full communion agreements are "an opportunity that in some ways is moving far more slowly than the culture around us," the presiding bishop said. "Most 20-somethings have little interest in denominational differences – they do want to make a difference in the world, and they don't much care who their partners are."
Jefferts Schori suggested that the church ought to meet young adults where they are instead of waiting for them to come to the church, and to offer them "a sense of being part of God's family reunion."
"We can learn much from their impatience with borders that seem all too normal to their elders," she added, describing what she called a "parallel gift of disinterest in wars over identity."
Meanwhile, Hiltz asked the worshippers gathered in Buffalo to "think of the delight this moment brings to the heart" of Jesus, who he called "the Ever-Eastering Christ, the Ever-Interceding Lord."
"Think of his prayer that they all may be one, … think of the smile it brings to his face, for what we celebrate today is a growing movement toward that end for which he prays and eagerly awaits – the healing of his body the church, the re-gathering of his followers into one Eucharistic fellowship in which he nourishes us for our work in the world."
Hiltz outlined the ways in which Anglicans and Lutherans in Canada are already working together at the church-wide and congregational levels. In addition, he said, Anglicans, Episcopalians and Lutherans around the world are tackling poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa, addressing human rights violations in Latin America and working for reconciliation in the Middle East.
The archbishop reminded the congregation that he, Jefferts Schori, Hanson and Johnson said in a recent pastoral letter that the four churches ought to pay attention to issues of building compassionate and sustainable economies and addressing systemic issues of poverty, enhancing social safety nets, reforming immigration policies, renewing relations with the First Nations People in these lands and taking care of the earth for future generations.
"Jesus' prayer, the church's faith, God's dream for this world – that's what we're about as churches in full communion," Hiltz said.
Hiltz noted that the central focus of the International Commission for Anglican Lutheran Relations has been on "diakonia," -- the servant ministry of the church – that he said has a prophetic dimension.
"In God's name, may we never be afraid to break new ground," he said.