Day Forty One- 2/10/11 MC at the Episcopal/Moravian Full Communion Service

Day Forty One: 2/10/11
New Thing: Being the one of the MC's at the Inaugural Service to Celebrate the Full Communion Between the Episcopal Church and the Northern & Southern Provinces of the Moravian Church in America. 
Inspiration: The Episcopal Church, The Moravian Church, and John 17:21
Cost: $0
Time: All day and a good part of the night.  
Bottom Line: A beautiful service to celebrate a landmark moment in Christendom.

Helping to set the table at the Eucharist.

Reflection: You might remember the post that I wrote back in January about the prayer session that I had dedicated to the joy of being in Full Communion. (You can find that post here.) In that post I described the new union that we have entered into as the Episcopal Church by joining with our Moravian brothers and sister in Full Communion which is defined by the national church as:

A relation between distinct churches in which each recognizes the other as a catholic and apostolic church holding the essentials of the Christian faith.  Within this new relation, churches become interdependent while remaining autonomous...Diversity is preserved, but this diversity is not static.  Neither church seeks to remake the other in its own image, but each is open t the gifts of the other as it seeks to be faithful to Christ and his mission.  They are together committed to a visible unity in the church's mission to proclaim the Word and administer the Sacraments...The historic special service will commemorate and celebrate the Full Communion relationship between The Episcopal Church and The Moravian Church In North America. This relationship, which brings a greater unity to the Christian church, was approved by the Episcopal Church in 2009 and by the Northern and Southern Provinces of the Moravian Church in 2010. Full Communion is not a merger; the relationship fosters mutual recognition and ordained ministries while maintaining what makes each denomination special or unique to its members.

The Bishops Knelling

To quote myself in the previously mentioned post, when two churches enter into a Full Communion with each other, we are saying that we agree on the most important matters of theology and we express these beliefs in such a way as to consider each other family. In practice, it means that our clergy can celebrate communion almost interchangeably (as long as permission from superiors has been granted) and there are greater partnerships which are formed between them. This is a very big deal because in John 17:21 Jesus prays that his followers "may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me." He is calling for a unity of spirit and love that will witness to the world the same unity and love that is found in the Trinity. Full Communion relationships are a step closer to the fullness that Jesus longed for his Church and which makes the kingdom of God a reality in the here and now.

This service is truly a once in a life time moment and was held at the Central Moravian Church here in Bethlehem. It began with the Moravian Service for Christian Unity and included the Bishops of both denominations kneeling before one another and laying hands of each other to seal and confirm the ministries and successions of both traditions before extending the Right Hand of Fellowship.  We finished the service with the Episcopal Eucharist Prayer D. There were many blended elements of both denominations liturgies, music and worship traditions. Leaders of both denominations, including Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Moravian Church Provincial Elders' Conference Presidents the Rev. Dr. Elizabeth D. Miller and the Rev.David Guthrie, along with bishops, clergy, guests and members from both churches were there.

That blur in the right hand part of this picture is me.

My role in this whole thing has evolved of the last few months. Originally, I was asked to be on the planning committee to help with catering. But, by the time we reached the service I was somehow uprated to one of the two Masters of Ceremonies along with the National Church's Chief Ecumenical Officer. My roles included things like meeting with the people of Central to work out all the logistics, help move all the people and things around before, during, and after the service and trying not to trip. It was alot to handle, and there were some definite slip-ups. I could never have done it without the help of many friends and loved ones (Laura, Liz, Maria, Mariclair, Ken, Andy, and more--thank you so much!). But even though there were some mistakes, the good news is that the service never came to a crashing halt (in fact we got out earlier then we had expected), we are indeed in Full Communion, and God was praised. I am honored to have been a part of this amazing moment in Christian History.

Here is a video to the whole thing if you missed it:

http://episcopalchurch.org/multimedia/celebration-of-full-communion