College of Levantine Churches: Difference between revisions

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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====

The largest change of the 1974 Reform was the establishment of the Episcopal Congregation of the Fraternal Church, merging together four separate institutions - the Chantist, Old Catholic, Lutheran, and Old Believer churches - into a single continuum of worship and governance. The {{wp|high church}} liturgical commonalities of these churches was apparent to both scholars and adherents by the early 20th century, given their origin as derivations of the old liturgy of the [[Anglei#The_Ænglish_Church|Ænglish Church]], which itself was derived from the {{wp|pre-Tridentine Mass}}. Once the College was formed and the theological differences between these four groups were set aside, calls were made as early as 1958 for dissolution of the boundaries between the churches, but calls were not taken seriously until late 1960s, and it was thought to be decades away before the Congress of Bishops suddenly instituted the merger in 1974. Recognition of ordination and streamlining {{wp|Holy Orders}} of the four churches occurred in [[1964]] in what is now viewed as the precursor of the establishment of the Fraternal Church.

The Congress of Bishops decree on the establishment of the Fraternal Church lead to administrative issues in the Fraternal Church's early years. Overlapping bishoprics lead to an unusual solution among the College, with the longest tenured bishop of any given place being made bishop of the Fraternal Church there and all other bishops being made {{wp|coadjutor bishop}}, the use of which was approved only for this occasion. Many bishops chose reassignment to empty sees rather than become a coadjutor, leading to an unexpected improvement in the number of well organized Metropoles by 1980. More complicated was the reorganization of clergy and church buildings at the congregation level, as most Protestants in any given area of [[Levantia]] were suddenly joined together into a single continuum of faith and administrative structure. How this was handled largely depended on the individual Metropole. Many Metropoles offered congregations the chance to vote to remain independent or be merged together, with many congregations voting to merge and pool resources with a few historic ones remaining independent. A minority of Metropoles, mostly concentrated in [[Fiannria]] saw their bishops force a reorganization plan, leading to discontentment and bitterness for years to come.

====Establishment of Metropoles====

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 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====
+The largest change of the 1974 Reform was the establishment of the Episcopal Congregation of the Fraternal Church, merging together four separate institutions - the Chantist, Old Catholic, Lutheran, and Old Believer churches - into a single continuum of worship and governance. The {{wp|high church}} liturgical commonalities of these churches was apparent to both scholars and adherents by the early 20th century, given their origin as derivations of the old liturgy of the [[Anglei#The_Ænglish_Church|Ænglish Church]], which itself was derived from the {{wp|pre-Tridentine Mass}}. Once the College was formed and the theological differences between these four groups were set aside, calls were made as early as 1958 for dissolution of the boundaries between the churches, but calls were not taken seriously until late 1960s, and it was thought to be decades away before the Congress of Bishops suddenly instituted the merger in 1974. Recognition of ordination and streamlining {{wp|Holy Orders}} of the four churches occurred in [[1964]] in what is now viewed as the precursor of the establishment of the Fraternal Church.
+The Congress of Bishops decree on the establishment of the Fraternal Church lead to administrative issues in the Fraternal Church's early years. Overlapping bishoprics lead to an unusual solution among the College, with the longest tenured bishop of any given place being made bishop of the Fraternal Church there and all other bishops being made {{wp|coadjutor bishop}}, the use of which was approved only for this occasion. Many bishops chose reassignment to empty sees rather than become a coadjutor, leading to an unexpected improvement in the number of well organized Metropoles by 1980. More complicated was the reorganization of clergy and church buildings at the congregation level, as most Protestants in any given area of [[Levantia]] were suddenly joined together into a single continuum of faith and administrative structure. How this was handled largely depended on the individual Metropole. Many Metropoles offered congregations the chance to vote to remain independent or be merged together, with many congregations voting to merge and pool resources with a few historic ones remaining independent. A minority of Metropoles, mostly concentrated in [[Fiannria]] saw their bishops force a reorganization plan, leading to discontentment and bitterness for years to come.
 ====Establishment of Metropoles====

College of Levantine Churches: Difference between revisions

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