In a meeting that both affirmed and celebrated the past while moving towards the future, over three hundred bishops, lay and clerical deputies, observers and invited guests gathered in suburban Dallas at Church of the Holy Communion (REC) for the fifty-third General Council of the Reformed Episcopal Church.
Founded in 1873, the oldest traditional Anglican body in the United States and Canada embraced both its tradition and comprehensiveness in three days that were marked by consensus and a spirit of cooperation.
This began with the unanimous re-election of Presiding Bishop Leonard Riches to a sixth term in office as president of the General Council. The council also re-elected the Rt. Reverend Royal U. Grote, Jr. as Vice President. It is largely under their leadership that the Reformed Episcopal Church has fully recovered it Anglican roots and become more focused on evangelism, mission and cooperation with other orthodox Anglicans.
In three days of worship and fellowship, services were taken from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, the REC's 2003 prayer book, and the Book of Occasional Offices approved at the Fifty-second General Council. Worship included two services at the Church of the Holy Communion: a traditional choral Eucharist and a choral evensong presented by the combined choirs of Church of the Holy Communion and Good Shepherd School in Tyler, Texas. Other special music was provided by a gospel choir from the parishes of the Diocese of the Southeast, in Charleston, SC.
In its business sessions, among the unanimous actions taken by the council were....
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Robin:
ReplyDeleteAffirmed:
"* Maintenance of full intercommunion with the Anglican Province in America, but by mutual agreement, not to proceed with plans for organic union."
This entire history in the late 90's early 2000 period was the beginning of public expressions of where the REC was headed.
The proposal of merger was alive and real.
In 2011, we get this.