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The Convergence Movement, also known as the Ancient-Future Faith movement,[1] is a Protestant Christian movement that began during the Fourth Great Awakening (1960–1980) in the United States.

Largely a result of the ecumenical movement and its foundation primarily attributed to Robert E. Webber,[2] the Convergence Movement developed as an effort among evangelical, Pentecostal and charismatic, and liturgical Christians of varying denominational backgrounds to blend charismatic worship with liturgies from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer; they also made use of other liturgical sources common to Lutheranism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Roman Catholicism.[3][4] Christian denominations stemming from the Convergence Movement typically identify as Convergence, Ancient-Future Faith, Ancient Faith, Ancient Church, Ancient-Future Church, paleo-orthodox, Pentecostal Catholic or Orthodox,[5] or evangelical Episcopal.[6][7] Denominations in this movement have also been referred as some form of broader, or new Anglicanism or Episcopalianism.[8]

The pioneers of the Convergence Movement were seeking to restore a primitive form of Christianity different from what the Restoration Movement taught.[9] It was inspired by the spiritual pilgrimages of modern Protestant writers like Thomas Howard, Robert E. Webber, Peter E. Gillquist, and ancient Christian writers such as the Church Fathers and their communities. These men, along with theologians, scripture scholars, and pastors in a number of Protestant denominational traditions, were calling Christians back to what they saw as their roots in the early Church prior to the Great Schism and rise of the state church of the Roman Empire.[10][11][12][13]

History

All Saints Orthodox Church, served by Peter E. Guillquist after joining the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

In 1973, Campus Crusade for Christ missionary Peter E. Gillquist (1938–2012) of Chicago established a network of house churches throughout the United States of America, aiming to restore a primitive form of Christianity, which was called the New Covenant Apostolic Order. Researching the historical basis of the Christian faith, Gillquist and his colleagues found sources for this restoration in the writings of the early Church Fathers. This led the group to practice a more liturgical form of worship than in their previous evangelical background.[14]

In 1979, the Evangelical Orthodox Church was organized.[15] The belief of needing apostolic succession led most members of Evangelical Orthodoxy to join the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America in 1987.[16][17] Others later joined the Orthodox Church in America or Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. Today, the Evangelical Orthodox Church—remaining relatively small—has been categorized as Eastern Protestant.

In 1977, "The Chicago Call" was issued by the National Conference of Evangelicals for Historic Christianity, meeting in Warrenville, Illinois.[18] Led by Robert E. Webber (Assoc. Professor of Theology at Wheaton College), along with Peter Gillquist, Thomas Howard, Richard Holt, Donald Bloesch, Jan Dennis, Lane Dennis, and Victor Oliver, the conference discussed the need for evangelical Protestants to rediscover and re-attach to the Christian Church's historic roots. The conference issued several documents which together are known as "The Chicago Call". Components of the document include: "A Call to Historic Roots and Continuity; A Call to Biblical Fidelity; A Call to Creedal Identity; A Call to Holistic Salvation; A Call to Sacramental Integrity; A Call to Spirituality; A Call to Church Authority; and A Call to Church Unity".[18]

In 1984 Charisma magazine, one of the most influential magazines of the Charismatic Movement, published an article by Richard Lovelace entitled "The Three Streams, One River?" (Sept 1984).[19] Lovelace approvingly noted the trend of Catholics, Evangelicals, and Charismatic and Pentecostal Christians moving closer together.

Robert Webber's 1985 book Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail: Why Evangelicals are Attracted to the Liturgical Church documents the stories of six evangelical Protestants who, for various reasons, had transitioned to the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. Publication of this book stirred up a great deal of interest in the evangelical Protestant press, generating numerous reviews in Christianity Today and other widely read evangelical publications.[1] In the following years, Webber wrote several additional books that had great influence on evangelical churches seeking to incorporate liturgy and traditional practices into their worship, and numbers of evangelical Protestants and Charismatics continued to migrate to the historic liturgical denominations.

Mass at the Cathedral of the King in Manila (Charismatic Episcopal Church)

In 2007, former Archbishop Randolph Sly of the Charismatic Episcopal Church joined the Roman Catholic Church and was ordained into the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, broadening recognition of the Convergence Movement among the ancient liturgical Christian denominations.[20][21] From 2008 to 2014, the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches held informal ecumenical dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church through Bishop Tony Palmer until his death, befriending Pope Francis.[22][8][23]

Within the Anglican Church in North America in 2019, the suspended priest Jack Lumanog was excommunicated upon their election to the episcopacy within the Apostolic Communion of Anglican Churches,[24][25][26] a Convergence and self-identified Continuing Anglican jurisdiction established in 2005 by Archbishop Darel Chase[27][28]—an episcopate known for also having consecrated a claimant to the Roman papacy.[29][28] In 2022, one of their provinces within the Apostolic Communion of Anglican Churches welcomed Archbishop Sterling Lands II of the Evangelical Episcopal Communion,[30] and Archbishop Deng Dau Deng, a former archbishop-elect of the Anglican Church of South Sudan.[31]

In 2020, the Convergence Movement was highlighted by Religion News Service after a trend of young Christians returning to traditional churches such as the Union of Charismatic Orthodox Churches;[32][33] leadership of the Union of Charismatic Orthodox Churches met with Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (Ecumenical Patriarchate) at the end of 2020.[34] By 2022, the founding bishop of the Union of Charismatic Orthodox Churches—Dr. Emilio Alvarez—was highlighted in the journal, Liturgy for their publication of Pentecostal Orthodoxy: Toward an Ecumenism of the Spirit.[35][5] They were also interviewed by Asbury Seminary which they became an associate provost of.[36][37]

Holy orders

Bishop Costa of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church is the source of many lines of apostolic succession among churches within the movement, specifically within the Charismatic Episcopal Church and Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches

Since the advent of Convergence Christianity, numerous denominations and organizations have sought or claimed apostolic succession through excommunicated Roman Catholic bishops and wandering bishops of Anglican and Orthodox traditions including Carlos Duarte Costa, Arnold Mathew, Joseph Vilatte, Aftimios Ofiesh, and others in order to preserve doctrinal and apostolic continuity and establish sacramental legitimacy.[38]

While excommunicated and characterized as wandering bishops from the churches they were ordained, Christians in this movement justify continued validity in those bishops through the concept of "valid but illicit" ordinations and continued practice of the faith as their predecessors. According to the Code of Canon Law within the Roman Catholic Church, all Catholic bishops are able to ordain in holy orders, yet ordinations without authorization are deemed illicit and result in automatic excommunication (and for some, laicization, i.e., Emmanuel Milingo).[39][40]

The additional Anglican argument of "once a bishop, always a bishop" gains prominence among those in the Convergence Movement;[41] there is also an understanding through Roman Catholic teaching on sacramental character. Roman Catholic dogma suggests those excommunicated for valid but illicit ordinations—even those deposed and laicized—cannot have their orders vacated or revoked though their use of the sacraments go unrecognized among those in communion with the Pope of Rome, as they have only been relieved of episcopal duties within the Roman Catholic Church and its Eastern Catholic Churches specifically.[42] In Roman Catholicism, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992), §1121 expresses:

The three sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders confer, in addition to grace, a sacramental character or seal by which the Christian shares in Christ's priesthood and is made a member of the Church according to different states and functions. This configuration to Christ and to the Church, brought about by the Spirit, is indelible; it remains for ever in the Christian as a positive disposition for grace, a promise and guarantee of divine protection, and as a vocation to divine worship and to the service of the Church. Therefore these sacraments can never be repeated.

From mainstream Eastern Orthodox teaching, no holy orders outside of their churches are recognized.[43]

Churches

The following is not a complete list, but aims to provide a comprehensible overview of the diversity among denominations of Convergence Christianity. Only organizations with Wikipedia articles will be listed.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Yang, Tabby. "Remembering Bob Webber". Christianitytoday.com. Christianity Today. Archived from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  2. ^ "The Convergence Movement". Association of Religion Data Archives. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  3. ^ Schmit, Clayton J. (2009). Sent and Gathered: A Worship Manual for the Missional Church. Baker Academic. pp. 58, 59, 79. ISBN 978-0-8010-3165-6.
  4. ^ "The Convergence Movement". Basileians. Hendrickson Pub. October 1, 1995. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  5. ^ a b Alvarez, Emilio (2022). Pentecostal Orthodoxy. InterVarsity Press. ISBN 978-1-5140-0090-8.
  6. ^ "What is Convergence?". The Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-19. As a Convergence communion, the CEEC embraces the Anglican precedent and seeks to be a true expression of the Ancient/Future Church, making visible the Kingdom of God, fulfilling the Great Commission, and manifesting fully the beauty, glory and power of the One Church and its Lord.
  7. ^ "About the ICCEC". The International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church. 2020-06-09. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-19. In this respect the ICCEC exists as a "convergence of streams" — a unifier of the liturgical/sacramental, evangelical, and charismatic tributaries of the Church Universal, which flow into the one river, whose streams make glad the city of God, the Holy Place where the Most High dwells" (Psalm 46:4). The seeds of this convergence movement were planted in May, 1977, when a group of evangelical leaders came together to issue a powerful call to all evangelicals to rediscover their roots in historic Christianity.
  8. ^ a b "Tony Palmer, who captured Pope Francis' bid for Christian unity with a cellphone, dies after motorcycle crash". Religion News Service. Religion News Foundation. 2014-07-22. Archived from the original on January 7, 2019. Retrieved 2021-02-15. Retired Pope Benedict XVI invited Anglicans to join the Catholic Church, allowing priests to remain married and continue to have some autonomy. With a Catholic wife, an international background and a charismatic evangelical blend, Longenecker wrote, Palmer served as the perfect "face" for new Anglicanism.
  9. ^ Kurian, George Thomas; Lamport, Mark A. (2016-11-10). Convergence Movement. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 629–630. ISBN 978-1-4422-4432-0. The Convergence Movement focused on the blending of different worship traditions into one. For this reason, it had several defining characteristics corresponding with the different worship backgrounds that were being blended together. One characteristic of the movement was the focus given to unity. Rather than being divided by the different denominations, the movement rejoiced in the one body of Christ seen throughout the whole world. The Convergence Movement was also defined by its focus on the early church. It sought to live in accordance with apostolic teaching and trace its authority back to apostolic origins. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |work= ignored (help)
  10. ^ J. Gordon Melton Encyclopedia of American religions - 2003 "In the years after World War I, negotiations began to create a broad union that would include the Anglican and ... the "convergence movement," the term referring to the "convergence" of various streams of renewal that shared an understanding of the church as one Body with a variety of diverse but contributing parts. Following the lead of British bishop Lesslie Newbigin, the convergence movement affirmed the threefold essence of the church as Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox/Pentecostal. The church is Catholic as it relates to the emphases of "incarnation and creation," Protestant with an emphasis on "biblical proclamation and conversion, " and Orthodox/Pentecostal in relation to "the mystical and the Holy Spirit."
  11. ^ Vinson Synan The Holiness-Pentecostal tradition: Charismatic movements in the ... - 1997 p294 "By 1990, like minded pastors were banding together in what they called a "convergence movement" designed to bring the three streams together in a new and powerful spiritual configuration. Even more striking were the cases of charismatic ..."
  12. ^ The Encyclopedia of Christian Literature 1 p93 e.d George Thomas Kurian, James D. Smith, III - 2010 "It foreshadows the convergence movement of the late twentieth- and early-twenty-first-century churches that are liturgical/sacramental and evangelical/ reformed."
  13. ^ "What We Believe". Holy Communion of Churches. Archived from the original on 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2022-08-18. With each church having a primary base, three different types of convergence churches seem to be most common today: blended churches, inclusion churches, and network churches. Blended churches have maintained their original identity, denominational connection and distinctive theologically. From this base they then are adding elements from the other two streams in their worship and ministry practices. While most common among Liturgical/Sacramental churches, blended churches are found in Evangelical and Charismatic streams as well.
  14. ^ Hopkins, Joseph (April 21, 1978). "Schism in the Order". Christianity Today. Vol. 22 no. 14. p. 45.
  15. ^ Walker, Gordon (September 1983). "Odyssey to Orthodoxy". Again. Vol. 6 no. 3. p. 10.
  16. ^ "Evangelical Orthodox Join Antiochian Jurisdiction". Theosis. Vol. 9 no. 9. September 1986. p. 8.
  17. ^ "Retrospective on the EOC Reception into the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese | Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese". ww1.antiochian.org. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
  18. ^ a b "The Chicago Call - Collection 33". Wheaton College. Archived from the original on August 16, 2011. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
  19. ^ Kurian, George Thomas; Lamport, Mark A. (2016-11-10). Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-4432-0.
  20. ^ "Former Charismatic Episcopal archbishop joins Roman Catholic Church". Catholic News Agency. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved 2021-02-15. Prior to his time with the CEC, Sly was an important voice of the "Convergence Movement", which worked to draw together the evangelical, charismatic, and liturgical/sacramental streams of the church.
  21. ^ "Local man ordained to Anglican ordinariate- The Arlington Catholic Herald". The Arlington Catholic Herald. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  22. ^ "The CEEC Remembers Bishop Tony Palmer, who passed 6 years ago today". The Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches. July 20, 2020. Archived from the original on December 18, 2020. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  23. ^ "Pope and Late Evangelical Bishop were Like 'Father and Son'". America Magazine. 2014-07-22. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  24. ^ Andrew Gross (2019-05-23). "Jon Ignatius Jack Lumanog Inhibited from Ministry". The Anglican Church in North America. Archived from the original on 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2022-08-18. Mr Lumanog's status is with one of the myriad of non-Anglican groups who loosely use a type of Anglican polity – that includes the use of Anglican titles. While we understand that he is titled as a "bishop" with this group, Mr. Lumanog is not a bishop with the ACNA or with any recognized ACNA or GAFCON communion body.
  25. ^ Lumanog, Jack (2020-05-15). "Bishop Jack Lumanog: ordained and consecrated an Anglican Bishop". jacklumanog.com. Archived from the original on 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
  26. ^ Lumanog, Jack (2019-04-27). "The Venerable Canon Dr. Jon Ignatius Lumanog ordained and consecrated as Anglican Bishop". jacklumanog.com. Archived from the original on 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
  27. ^ "Our Communion". Apostolic Communion of Anglican Churches. Archived from the original on 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2022-08-18. The Apostolic Communion of Anglican Churches was founded in April of 2005 for the sole purpose of restoring the Church back to its ancient roots by uniting the three major streams of Evangelical, Charismatic/Pentecostal, and Sacramental/Liturgical. We are an independent and international communion of the Anglican Rite, observing the faith and maintaining the witness of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church throughout the world.
  28. ^ a b "N.B. a False ORC Directory". The Canonical Old Roman Catholic Directory. 2017-06-27. Archived from the original on 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
  29. ^ Dreher, Rod (2011-12-29). "Behold, the patriarch". The American Conservative. Archived from the original on 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2022-08-18. Christopher Johnson at Midwestern Conservative Journal draws our eyes to Rutherford Johnson — that's His Royal Highness Prince Rutherford Johnson of Etruria, who is also Rutherford Cardinal Johnson, the patriarch of the recently invented Anglican Rite Roman Catholic Church.
  30. ^ "Leadership". Evangelical Episcopal Communion. Archived from the original on 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  31. ^ "Clergy Directory". The African Episcopal Church. Archived from the original on 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  32. ^ "Liturgy-hungry young Christians trade altar calls for Communion rails". Religion News Service. Religion News Foundation. 2020-06-18. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
  33. ^ Berg, Megan van der (2020-07-12). "The Rise Of 'Charismatic Orthodox' Churches". JOY! News. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  34. ^ "Archbishop of America met the leadership of the Union of Charismatic Orthodox Churches". Orthodox Times. December 11, 2020. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; December 11, 2020 suggested (help)
  35. ^ Alvarez, Emilio (2022-07-03). "The Union of Charismatic Orthodox Churches". Liturgy. 37 (3): 28–35. doi:10.1080/0458063X.2022.2085966. ISSN 0458-063X.
  36. ^ Wilcox, Heidi (2021-10-19). "Rev. Dr. Emilio Alvarez: Living an Integrated Faith". Thrive. Archived from the original on 2021-10-19. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
  37. ^ "Dr. Emilio Alvarez". Asbury Theological Seminary. Archived from the original on 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
  38. ^ "Convergence Ecclesiology | Addendum 4: Apostolic Succession" (PDF). The International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church. 2018. A summary of Apostolic Succession may be described as Three Streams coming together to make one river including: Apostolic Faith/Doctrine (the Evangelical Stream); Apostolic Authority (the Liturgical/Sacramental Stream) and Apostolic Anointing (the Charismatic Stream). Using these categories, we note that the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey summarized the essential elements of Apostolic Succession as including: "First of all, the succession of Bishop to Bishop in office secured a continuity of Christian teaching and tradition in every See. Each followed the teachings of his predecessor, and so the succession of Bishops was a guarantee that everywhere the Christians were taught the true Gospel of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Having no such succession, the Gnostics had no claim to be the authorized teachers of the faith….Thus the succession of Bishops is a safeguard of continuous teaching…."
  39. ^ "Automatic excommunication for bishop over illicit ordination". Catholic News Agency. Archived from the original on 2022-09-25. Retrieved 2022-09-25. According to canon 1382, both "A bishop who consecrates some one a bishop without a pontifical mandate and the person who receives the consecration from him incur a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See."
  40. ^ "Vatican defrocks exorcist archbishop who married". Reuters. 2009-12-17. Archived from the original on 2022-09-25. Retrieved 2022-09-25.
  41. ^ "Once a Bishop, Always a Bishop" (PDF). Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth. Retrieved April 10, 2022. The Church of England's Canon C.1, sec.2, explicitly agrees with the rest of Catholic tradition in this regard: "No person who has been admitted to the order of bishop, priest, or deacon can ever be divested of the character of his order," though he may be deprived or deposed from exercising it. The Episcopal Church accepts the same principle in practice by providing for the restoration of someone under the discipline of suspension, inhibition, or deposition without requiring re-ordination (Canon IV.13). Like baptism and confirmation, ordination seals someone permanently with the seal of the Holy Spirit, or to use similar language common in Western theology and in our Anglican formularies, it confers an indelible character. If a bishop is deposed for "abandoning the communion of this church," then "this church" must surely refer to our particular province over which we have a rightful control, and not to any other provinces of the Catholic Church for which he was also ordained. Is that perhaps why the Presiding Bishop does not seem to be bothered that Bishop Jeffrey Steenson and others are "abandoning the communion of this church" for the Roman Catholic Church, but seems very upset about bishops and parishes "abandoning the communion of this church" for some other province in the Anglican Communion, even so far as being willing to sell our property to Roman Catholics or Methodists or anyone else except Anglicans?{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  42. ^ "If a priest leaves the priesthood, is he still able to perform the sacraments?". Catholic Straight Answers. So what happens when a priest leaves the priesthood? Since Holy Orders is a character sacrament, once it has been validly received, it never is invalidated for any reason whatsoever. Granted, a cleric– deacon, priest, or bishop– may be freed from the clerical state and dispensed from the promise of celibacy by the proper authority. He may no longer have the obligations or the privileges to function as a cleric, but nevertheless he remains a cleric. Commonly, this practice is called laicization, meaning "returned to the state of the laity." (Code of Canon Law, #290-293.) Even though the cleric has been laicized and no longer functions as a deacon, priest, or bishop, he still has the sacramental character of Holy Orders. Technically, if he were to perform a sacrament in accord with the norms of the Church, that sacrament would indeed be valid. However, the sacrament would be illicit, meaning he violated Church law and would be culpable for this infraction since he no longer has the faculties to function as a priest.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  43. ^ Pheidas, Vlassios. "Chapter I". The limits of the church in an orthodox perspective. Myriobiblos: The online library of the Church of Greece. Online Cultural Center of the Church of Greece. Archived from the original on 30 October 2005. Retrieved 14 May 2013. "Chapter II". Archived from the original on 30 October 2005. Retrieved March 14, 2022.

Further reading

  • Gillquist, Rev. Peter E. Becoming Orthodox: A Journey to the Ancient Christian Faith. Ben Lomond, CA: Conciliar Press, 1989. (ISBN 0-9622713-3-0)
  • "Sound of Rushing Waters", by Daniel W. Williams, ACW Press/DQuest Publications, 2005. ISBN 1-932124-66-7
  • "Forgotten Power", William L. DeArteaga, 2002 Zondervan Publishing, Grand Rapids Michigan, 49530, ISBN 0-310-24567-2
  • "Evangelical, Sacramental, and Pentecostal: Why the Church Should Be All Three", Gordon T. Smith, 2017 IVP Academic, ISBN 978-0830851607
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