I often find myself moved by the dedication and commitment of lay people and clergy who give so much of themselves, their time and their energy to serving the church in order to advance her mission. This would entail serving on vestries and parish councils, diocesan committees and commissions, and national church bodies as well. These are often unglamorous and even tedious assignments, but the mission of the church would be severely hampered without them.
We have just completed the Spring meeting of our Standing Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations (SCEIR) in Los Angeles at the diocesan headquarters and conference center. We were hosted with kind hospitality joining the community for their daily Eucharist in the cathedral church as well as saying our own morning and evening prayers together.
Our discussions included: receiving a new proposal from the Episcopal-Presbyterian dialogue group for closer work together on the local level; approving the next draft of a theological statement for General Convention on why Episcopalians should be, and are, involved in interreligious dialogue; and struggling together over issues of racism in church and society and the impact of that particularly on recent development in Churches Uniting in Christ (CUIC). This most appropriate on the anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination and, yesterday, of his “I have been to the mountaintop” speech.
We also received updates on Anglican – Roman Catholic relations, our interim Eucharistic sharing arrangement with the United Methodists, and next steps toward a full communion proposal with the Moravian Church. I am so grateful for the work of these women and men, clergy and laity, young and older adults who assist in this work — “that we all may be one.”
That We All May Be One 
April 6, 2008 at 1:01 am |
Christopher,
I have been following the Episcopal / Moravian Dialogue as an interested Moravian.
You are the only posting I can find about the recent meeting.
I wonder if you can give me some additional information regarding the next steps towards full communion. Do you recall who attended in behalf of the Moravian Church? Finally do you have any electronic documentation you could email me on the meeting or a Web Site where minuets of the meeting is posted.
Thanks for your help.
Lee
May 2, 2008 at 1:46 pm |
Dear Bishop,
I am very interested and attracted to ecumenical and interfaith work on the local level. What are some things being done about “recieving” documents of agreement? Specifically, how can I become more involved in this process?
I am an Aspirant with Anamchara Fellowship and will be clothed as a novice Brother in three weeks. I also am a p/t Youth Director for a Cumberland Presbyterian church. Do we have any formal or informal dialogue with the Cumberland Presbyterians? The Cumberlands do work closely with the PCUSA and so I am especially interested in documents and work being done with our Presbyterian brothers and sisters.
I would be very grateful for any guidance or direction you can provide. I live in the diocese of Fort Worth but travel to Dallas to attend a more progressive parish…St. Thomas the Apostle (where we were recently thrilled to host the Presiding Bishop for a Rogation blessing of our Community Garden).
Peace,
Christopher
May 2, 2008 at 9:48 pm |
The best “reception” of ecumenical agreements I know of are when there are local coordinating committees on the ground making the agreements real.
These would include local Lutheran Episcopal Coordinating Committees, Lutheran Anglican Roman Catholic (LARC) groups, local Churches Uniting in Christ (CUIC) committees, etc.
We have no formal or informal dialogues wth the Cumberland Presbyterians but we do have a bilateral with the PCUSA. In fact, we’ll probably be bringing a proposal to General Convention about ways to work more closely together locally.