"All unity comes from the unity of the triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit; we are called to make that given unity more visible among us."

These words were recited by the Rt. Rev. Russell Jacobus, Bishop of Fond du Lac, Bishop John Been of the East Central Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and Bishop Robert Banks of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, as part of the annual renewal of their tripartite covenant, first signed in 1991, and renewed recently at a service at the Church of the Holy Apostles - the Episcopal church of the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin.

Two United Methodist District superintendents, the Rev. Hee-Soo Jung and the Rev. Stephen Polster, joined the three bishops for the signing. A number of tripartite ecumenical covenants have been formed in the last decade, but the entrance of the Methodists makes this covenant unusual among local judicatories.

The event also brought together Episcopal and United Methodist members of the Oneida Nation. For many years, there was religious rivalry between these two branches of the tribe. The Methodist members arrived in the 1830s, a decade after the first Oneida migration arrived from their original home in New York State. The first Oneidas in Wisconsin were accompanied by the Rev. Eleazer Williams, an Episcopal deacon. In 1825, they built the first Episcopal church in the state.

The covenant binds the judicatories to "pray together in joint services and reflect on the Word; pray for each other and for the reconciliation of (the four) communions as (they) celebrate the Lord's Supper in (their) respective communities; strive toward the full realization of unity by identifying and resolving present obstacles; work together for the common good and for peace and justice as an essential response to the Gospel; encourage and enable parishes to establish this covenant with each other," to collaborate in planning for effective ministry, and commits the participants to study and discuss ongoing national and international ecumenical dialogues among their churches. It is renewed yearly. Since 1991, this covenant has inspired many parishes to covenant locally.