College of Levantine Churches: Difference between revisions

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 ====Other churches====
 ===1974 Reform===
+Following nearly two decades of function, it was clear to College leaders and observers that the organization had been a success. The success necessitated the need for change, however, as the original vision of a loosely aligned association of mostly independent Churches was not the structure best serving the needs of the faithful. By the early 1960s, co-mingling of many congregations and clergy had begun in earnest. In some areas, churches began to close and merge as smaller congregations of different branches of the College - especially Chantric Christians and Old Believers - began to worship as one congregation. These began as one-off arrangements agreed to between the Episcopal Congregations mostly to suit the needs of rural or remote congregations, but by the late 1960s consolidation requests became commonplace. It became clear to Church leaders that the political and historic differences between many of the Episcopal Congregations were just that; largely self-imposed. Once the groups were bounded together by a common communion, differences began to rapidly melt away, especially among the four primary "high liturgical" groups - the Old Believers, the Chantists, the Old Catholics, and Lutherans. Consolidation in remote and rural areas was joined in the late 1960s by the "congregation wars" in large cities. As adherents of the four largest Episcopal Congregations began to view their churches as mostly interchangeable, some congregations began to poach believers from other Collegiate Congregations due to a number of factors including convenient locations of churches and newly built structures capable of comfortably holding much larger congregations. While consolidation was viewed positively, the congregation wars were viewed negatively by the public and Church leaders, and by 1970 it became clear that serious structural reform of the Church was needed.
+In summer 1973, the Congress of Bishops met and agreed to meet later that year in {{wp|plenary session}} as a standing body of the Church, reforming itself from an ad hoc arbitrating body to a full blown authority in the Church. The five Episcopal Congregations met that summer and all gave their approval for the Congress to meet in this fashion and make changes to the structure of the College as set forth in the 1954 agreement. While the original concept behind the standing session was to create new streamlined methods for consolidation and giving the Congress the authority to mediate the congregation wars, it would soon take a life of its own. With all of the Bishops of the College gathered in [[Corcra]] in November 1973, the initial recommendations proposed to it by the meeting earlier in the year were debated but surprisingly set aside. The Bishops residing together in close confines, speaking to each other for the first time in many cases, lead to a new spirit of reform and change, and the Congress resolved to expand its mandate and fully reform the College. The session would continue through early 1974, during which time congregation consolidations increased in pace as the public became aware of major changes coming to the College. By March 1974, the Congress of Bishops voted on a comprehensive reform package that took the unprecedented step of merging four of the five Episcopal Conferences into one Fraternal Church, a high church liturgy amalgamation of the former Old Believer, Chantist, Old Catholic, and Lutheran congregations. The Bishops also voted to reform local governance of the Church by creating "Metropoles". The changes were ratified by the Episcopal Conferences by June 1974 and took effect 1 December, 1974.
 ====Fraternal Church Merger====
 ====Establishment of Metropoles====