July 11, 2008
By Mary Frances Schjonberg

Participants in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 218th General Assembly recently agreed to move forward in a dialogue with the Episcopal Church aimed at encouraging closer relationships between congregations of the two denominations.

The agreement, which will be considered by the 76th General Convention in July 2009, would allow Presbyterian and Episcopal clergy to perform ministerial functions in each other's congregations "when requested and approved by the diocesan bishop and local presbytery." It stops short of being a full communion agreement.

The General Assembly's action must still be ratified by a simple majority of the denomination's 173 regional presbyteries. That ratification should be complete by the General Assembly's next meeting in 2010. The denomination's Committee on Ecumenical Relations is to oversee the continuing conversation on the agreement and report to the 220th General Assembly in 2012.

Bishop Christopher Epting, the Presiding Bishop's deputy for ecumenical and interreligious relations, told ENS that the agreement is "the way to take one step forward on a local level" which eventually "helps advance the whole ecumenical cause."

In the midst of an assembly meeting that dealt with many of the same issues confronting the Episcopal Church, especially concerning sexuality and the status of same-gender relationships, the vote on the agreement was "one of those really nice moments," according to the Rev. William Forbes, the corporate secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Pensions and its vice president for church relations. Forbes is an affiliated ecumenical pastor at Trinity Church in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

In giving its approval, the General Assembly also called for "further study and dialogue in the areas of diaconal ministries, historic episcopate, the office of elder, and other related subjects as a continued effort toward the full reconciliation of our ministries and interchangeability of our ministers."

Prior to the beginning of the June 21-28 meeting the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, the then-Stated Clerk of the General Assembly had said that proposed agreements with the Episcopal Church, the Korean Presbyterian Church in America, the Catholic Church, and the Moravian Church – along with consideration of a new PC(USA) ecumenical statement – were among the top 10 issues due to come before the assembly.

The Episcopal/Presbyterian agreement says that the denominations acknowledge:

• "…one another's churches as churches belonging to the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church."

• "…[that] in our churches the Word of God is authentically preached and the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist are duly administered."

• "…one another's ordained ministries as given by God and instruments of grace, and look forward to the time when the reconciliation of our churches makes possible the full interchangeability of ministers."

• "…personal and collegial oversight (episcope) is embodied and exercised in our churches in a variety of forms, episcopal and non-episcopal, as a visible sign of the Church's unity and continuity in apostolic life, mission and ministry."

The agreement approved says that the Episcopal Church will invite members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to receive Holy Communion in their churches and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will invite members of the Episcopal Church to receive Holy Communion in their churches.

"We encourage the members of our churches to accept this Eucharistic hospitality and thus express their unity with each other in the one Body of Christ," point 6 of the agreement states.

"We recognize the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as a church of Christ and we recognize ministers of the PC(USA) as gifts from God," the Rev. Dirk Reinken, rector of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Ewing, New Jersey, told the Presbyterian News Service on June 24 when the committee recommended the agreement to the entire assembly. Reinken participated in writing the agreement.

Clergy would not be interchangeable between the two denominations, such as is possible between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America by way of the Called to Common Mission agreement that has been in force since January 6, 2001.

The agreement also states that the two denominations will:

• continue to discuss the areas such as diaconal ministries, historic episcopate, the office of elder, etc., "that would lead to full reconciliation of our ministries and interchangeability of our ministers."

• encourage diocesan bishops and presbyteries "to provide regular occasion planning, discussing, resourcing for missional, educational, and liturgical life together," and to explore possibilities for new church development and redevelopment together.

• develop a process to support and implement the above recommendations.

"We affirm these proposals mark an important step in moving toward the full, visible unity of the Church," the agreement concludes. "We know that beyond this commitment lies a move from the recognition to the reconciliation of churches and ministries within the wider fellowship of the universal Church."

The Episcopal Church's Standing Commission on Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations has already voted to bring the agreement to the next meeting of General Convention, set for July 8-17, 2009 in Anaheim, California.

Part of a longer conversation The two denominations have discussed various ways to engage cooperatively in mission for a number of years. In 2000, the 73rd General Convention agreed, by way of Resolution A039 to enter into a "bilateral dialogue" with the Presbyterian Church.

The Episcopal members of the bilateral dialogue team, in addition to Reinken, are: James Foster; the Rev. Dan Krutz; the Rev. Saundra Richardson; Bishop Douglas Theuner, co-convener; and Dr. Fredrica Harris Thompsett.

The Presbyterian members are: Elder Freda Gardner, Dr. Dale Gruder, Elder Moon Lee, Elder Janice Sperry, the Rev. Dr. George Telford and the Rev. Dr. Philip Wickeri.

Such a dialogue begins, Epting said, with the members of the team getting to know one another and discovering where the two denominations agree and "celebrat[ing] that."

Then begins the work of parsing the perceived differences, he said. Often, a team finds that the differences are limited to linguistics rather than theology or polity.

"Other times you find you do have differences that are insurmountable," Epting said.

"During this dialogue the issue has always been about ministry," Epting explained, "and it's pretty clear we are both committed to our own versions of ordained ministry."

While the Episcopal Church requires Eucharist to be presided over by bishops or priests ordained by bishops in historic succession, the Presbyterian Church requires both a minister of word and sacrament and an elder to preside at the Lord's Supper.

Elders are both elected and ordained. "Through ordination they are officially set apart for service," according to the denomination's constitution, known as the Book of Order. Elders retain their ordination beyond their term in office.

All the ministers and at least one ruling elder from each congregation within a certain geographical district serve in a presbytery, which helps guide that geographical collection of congregations. Presbyteries ordain ministers. In PC(USA) a congregation's minister of word and sacrament is considered to be a bishop in that he or she "has the oversight of the flock of Christ," according to the Book of Order.

Continuation of ongoing relationships Episcopalians and Presbyterians have already been engaged in mission and ministry throughout the United States. Forbes, for example, has been affiliated at Trinity for nearly two and a half years. His relationship with Trinity was approved by the Presbytery of Elizabeth's committee on ministry and by Diocese of New Jersey Bishop George Councell. He preaches, teaches, consults with certain parish committees and assists in the distribution of communion.

"Everybody [at Trinity] treats me like one of the pastors," Forbes told ENS.

And, yet, there's a bit of a difference. "I am still at the table; I still dispense the gifts," Forbes explained, but he cannot preside at the Eucharist. Forbes said that while the difference is "okay with me," he welcomes the possibilities afforded by the agreement.

Forbes, who has a degree in liturgical theology and says he's always had an affinity for the more liturgical side of Presbyterianism, began attending Trinity after he left parish ministry to join the Board of Pensions. In part, that decision had to do with the fact that his wife, Patty, grew up in the Episcopal Church.

During his testimony about his experience at the Committee on Ecumenical Relations' hearing on the agreement, Forbes said he told the committee it was time to acknowledge "our close cousin, the Episcopal Church."

Relationships such as his with Trinity are "good for the whole ecumenical movement," Forbes said, adding "the Presbyterians are zealous about reuniting the family," and promoting more such cooperative moves are a "mission on my radar screen."

Elsewhere in the U.S., other congregations are involved in ecumenical relationships across the two denominations. In Cincinnati, Ohio, Indian Hill Episcopal and Presbyterian Church began nearly 50 years ago as a fully constituted dual denomination under the auspices of its two regional governing bodies: the Diocese of Southern Ohio and the Presbytery of Cincinnati. The church began as "an experiment in ecumenicity," according to its website.

"There were risks involved in this experiment owing mostly to denominational differences. And yet Episcopalians and Presbyterians here were prepared to make this gesture because the rewards so clearly seemed to outweigh those risks," the website says. "We have shown here that we can accept those denominational differences, be enriched by them, and use them in the creation of new traditions." Likewise, in September 1971, members of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Wilton, Connecticut, and Wilton Presbyterian Church began what they called "Joint Venture." They built a church complex to house both congregations and to be a center open to the whole Wilton community. The venture was seen both as a response to the ecumenical feeling of the times and as a way to share staff and space.

"This legal and practical and spiritual joint venture was created from both economic need and the desire to share Christian education programs, and offer an opportunity for joint outreach projects and fellowship," a history of the venture on St. Matthew's website says. "It is an ongoing exercise of faith and commitment that has its occasional challenges and frequent blessings."

And Trinity Ecumenical Parish in Moneta, Virginia (in the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia) combines Episcopal, Lutheran and Presbyterian members. "We are Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians and other Christians from many backgrounds who are learning that we are enriched by sharing one another's traditions and strengthened by working and serving together," the parish's website says.

Epting said those examples typify his hopes that with the agreement more people "will take a look at their neighboring churches and explore what we can do together."

Episcopal News Service
The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is Episcopal Life Media correspondent for Episcopal Church governance, structure, and trends, as well as news of the dioceses of Province II. She is based in Neptune, New Jersey, and New York City.