Moravians and Episcopalians celebrate full communion

Last night the inaugural service celebrating full communion between the Episcopal Church and the Northern and Southern Provinces of the Moravian Church in North America was held at at Central Moravian Church in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori joined the Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Miller and the Rev. David Guthrie, the presidents of the two Moravian Provincial Elders' Conferences celebrated.

Bishop Stephen Miller of Milwaukee and member of the Moravian-Episcopal dialogue preached. In his sermon, MIller emphasized the importance of our putting what was done symbolically at the service into concrete action.

Dr. Bonnie Anderson, president of the House of Deputies also participated.

The liturgy formalized agreements voted by the General Convention in 2009 and the Northern and Southern Provinces of the Moravian church at their conferences in June and September, 2010. The Moravian Church is formally known as the Unitas Fratum.

The Reconciliation of Episcopal Ministries took place in this way: the Episcopal Bishops present faced the Unitas Fratum bishops. The Moravian bishops knelt and received laying on of hands and the "Right Hand of Fellowship" from the Episcopal Bishops. After that, the Episcopal Bishops knelt before their counterparts, and then received the laying on of hands and "Right Hand of Fellowship" from the Unitas Fratrum Bishops.

In an e-mail to the people of the Diocese of Bethlehem, Bishop Paul Marshall wrote:

In the 1780s, the Episcopal Church's leadership chose not to receive episcopal orders at the hands of Moravians, so our kneeling before each other tonight for the laying-on of hands and the right hand of fellowship was more than symbolic--it was a moment of healing. Ghosts can indeed become ancestors.

Read this introduction to the Moravian Church in this post on the Diocese of Pittsburgh blog.

The full text of Finding Our Delight in the Lord:A Proposal for Full Communion Between The Episcopal Church; the Moravian Church–Northern Province; and the Moravian Church–Southern Province may be found here.

Posted by Andrew Gerns on February 11, 2011 9:00 AM | |
Comments (4)

This is so fantastic! The Moravians are wonderful people and their Communion a rich and historic one. This form of "reconciliation of (episcopal) ministries" gives us a pattern which might some day be used with our sisters and brothers in the United Methodist Church.

Posted by Chris Epting [TypeKey Profile Page] | February 11, 2011 10:26 AM

It was moving for me personally to witness the kneeling and laying on of hands alternately by Unitas Fratrum (Moravian) Bishops and Episcopal Bishops. Centuries old alienations can be reconciled after all and no one was worse for it and all were inspired! I count it a wonderful grace to have witnessed this occasion for the Church's unity to be "revealed" as we so often pray n that collect!

Posted by The Rev. T. Scott Allen [TypeKey Profile Page] | February 11, 2011 11:30 AM

The Episcopal bishops knelt first, not second. Important to point out since we were the ones obsessed with the Historic Episcopate.

Posted by FrSimmons [TypeKey Profile Page] | February 11, 2011 11:44 AM

TBTG! :-D

JC Fisher

Posted by tgflux [TypeKey Profile Page] | February 11, 2011 5:14 PM

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