User:Kennethmyers/CEC
The International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (also known as the ICCEC) is an international Christian communion established as an Autocephalous Patriarchate in 1992 with over 1,000 churches worldwide. The ICCEC is not a splinter group of any other denomination or communion, but is a convergence of the Sacramental, Evangelical, and Charismatic traditions of the Church Catholic. The Communion has its apostolic succession through the Rebiban line via Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa, who founded the Catholic Apostolic National Church of Brazil.
The Charismatic Episcopal Church believes orthodoxy and orthopraxy to be the essence of the apostolic faith of the New Testament Church, and holds the ancient Apostles' and Nicene Creeds as their official doctrinal statements. The CEC is not, nor has it ever been, affiliated with the Protestant Episcopal Church (PECUSA) or of any other denomination. The word episcopal is used to describe its hierarchy of bishops.
Origins
[edit]The Charismatic Episcopal Church began when a few charismatic churches in the western United States which were influenced by the covergence movement began to blend charismatic worship with Episcopal liturgy. On June 26, 1992, Randolph Adler was consecrated the first bishop and primate of the CEC with Timothy Michael Barker of the International Free Catholic Communion functioning as the principal consecrator. Being doctrinally bound by only the Apostles' and Nicean creeds, and being originally governed by episcopal consensus, the Charismatic Episcopal Church soon came to be largely comprised of churches which chose to leave the Anglican Communion because of its liberal attitudes towards homosexuality, the ordination of women, and the authority of scripture. Notable examples of Anglican defections to the CEC include those of Holy Trinity Church of Recife Brazil, which had previously been the largest Anglican parish in the world, and mulitple diocescan defections from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Because of the CEC's credal minimalism and its "Vincentian" approach to church doctrine, it was possible for these churches to enter the CEC without making drastic changes to their doctrine or practices.
In 1997, upon discovering that thier line of apostolic succession was invalid, the Charismatic Episcopal Church sought and acquired reconsecration and reordination of all of its clergy by the Catholic Apostolic National Church of Brazil. This change in lines of succession resulted in the tacit recgnition of the CEC's orders as "valid but illicit" by the Roman Catholic Church.
Government
[edit]In its early days, in an attempt to reconstruct the ecclesiastical goverment of the undivided Chrisitan church, the CEC operated under a form of collegial government which recognized the assembled body of the CEC bishops as its governing body. In later times, as the church's official canons were written, a group of about ten bishops (called the Patriarch's Council), along with the Patriarch, became the executive branch of the denomination.
Beliefs
[edit]An absence of official doctrinal literature other than the creeds and the Bible allows for a great deal of variation within the CEC. Individual churches hold opposing stances on the issues of the dormition of the Virgin Mary, the filioque clause, eschatology, ecclesiology, the proper uses of the charismatic gifts, and the canonicity of the deuterocanonical books. However, a general consensus and perhaps unanimity exist with regards to the necessity of apostolic succession, the real presence of Christ in the eucharist, the authority of scripture, and the validity of the charismatic revival as a genuine movement of God.
Present Crisis
[edit]In May of 2006, the Bishop Frederick Fick and the Diocese of the Great Lakes left the CEC, beginning a series of departures from the denomination at diocesan, parish, individual levels. In July, Bishop Rick Painter left the denomination, along with the diocese of Arizona, citing a list of greivances against the partriach, and calling for his resignation. Bishop Kenneth Myers who administers the diocese of the American Southwest has also issued a letter calling for the resignation of the patriarch, and left the denomination in October. The crisis has been exacerbated by the spread of information via blogs, which have resulted in the resignations of various parishoners, and calls for the resignation of various officials. Also of issue with defecting and dissenting members are allegations of oligarchic and un-orthodox church government, corruption, and immorality among the bishops.