May 5, 2011

BUFFALO, N.Y. – In the ethnically diverse community of Marina, Calif., a joint ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Episcopal Church (USA) is living proof of the benefits of the ELCA's full communion partnership.

Not all of the members of Epiphany Lutheran Church and St. Barbara's Episcopal Church, which has since closed, wanted to form a single, unified congregation when they began discussions in 1996. But members of both congregations felt so strongly about maintaining an ELCA and Episcopal Church witness in Marina that they tried an experiment, with the help of All Saints Episcopal Church, Carmel, Calif. That experiment is known today as Epiphany Lutheran & Episcopal Church.

On May 1, the ELCA and The Episcopal Church, formally celebrated 10 years of full communion, a relationship in which the churches commit to joint ministry, witness and service. Both churches formalized their relationship in "Called to Common Mission," a document they each adopted. Lutheran and Anglican churches in Canada also celebrated 10 years of a similar full communion agreement this week.

For Epiphany Lutheran & Episcopal Church, Called to Common Mission validated the congregation's joint witness in Marina.

"Called to Common Mission gave us legitimacy," said Father Jon A. Perez, an Episcopal priest who serves the congregation. "We were no longer just an experiment of two little churches doing a nice thing – this was a legitimate way of doing ministry. It took (the ministry) from a novelty to a tool that we have."

The joint ministry's growing membership of 53 families embraces a wide spectrum of ages, abilities and ethnicities, highlighted by its public declaration of "Unity + Diversity + Charity." The congregation used its strengths to develop a significant community ministry through worship, faith formation education, outreach development and ministries such as a food pantry. Yet its membership is constantly changing. About 25 percent of the congregation turns over each year, mostly because of the local economy in the blue-collar community of Marina, Perez said.

Full communion has meant the congregation is recognized by and participates in the ministries and legislative meetings of both the ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod and the El Camino Real Episcopal Diocese. It has also maintained distinct ELCA and Episcopal Church practices in its worship.

"I'm always sensitive to the fact that when we start talking about doing joint ministry together some people feel they're going to lose their identity," Perez said. "We're holding two identities up together." Perez said ELCA and Episcopal congregations seeking to share ministry should focus on worship as a starting point, because it is what brings the traditions together.

"People will be surprised at how many familiar hymns are in both hymn books," he said.

The example of Epiphany Lutheran & Episcopal Church is one of many joint ministries that have evolved as a result of Called to Common Mission. Today there are approximately 30 such congregations across the United States. At least 31 ELCA pastors are serving congregations of The Episcopal Church, and at least 20 Episcopal priests are serving ELCA congregations.

Mitzi J. Budde, Alexandria, Va., is an ELCA associate in ministry and Lutheran co-chair of the Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee, which helps guide the churches in implementing Called to Common Mission. Budde, professor and head librarian at the Episcopal Church's Virginia Theological Seminary, points to other joint ministries such as an affordable housing program, disaster response and a host of campus ministries.

For example, Shalom Ecumenical Center, Richland, Wash., is a nonprofit corporation whose members include All Saints Episcopal Church, Lord of Life Lutheran Church, Richland Lutheran Church and Riverview United Methodist Church. The corporation sponsors development of affordable housing for low-income seniors and for adults with developmental disabilities.

Lutheran Episcopal Services in Mississippi provides social services to residents, including coordinated disaster response. ELCA members and Episcopalians have also worked together in disaster response in Iowa, Budde said.

Joint campus ministries of the ELCA and The Episcopal Church are at higher education institutions such as Howard University, Washington; University of Wisconsin-Whitewater; San Diego State University; University of Kentucky, Lexington; Wayne State University, Detroit; University of California-Davis; University of Utah, Salt Lake City; Texas State University-San Marcos; Northeastern University, Boston; and Sacramento (Calif.) Area Ministry.

In addition, churchwide ELCA-Episcopal partnerships have sprung up in advocacy, with both churches this year supporting a new staff position in Washington, D.C. The ELCA and The Episcopal Church are also training missionaries together, working in federal chaplaincies, theological education, and in HIV and AIDS ministries.

In addition to The Episcopal Church, the ELCA has full communion partnerships with the Moravian Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Reformed Church in America, United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church.

Information about Epiphany Lutheran & Episcopal Church, along with information about other ELCA-Episcopal joint ministries, is at http://www.epiphanymarina.org/, on the Web.

Information about ELCA's full communion partnerships is at http://www.ELCA.org/ecumenical/, on the ELCA website.

ELCA News Service