Much of the structural work of Christian unity goes on in national dialogues between or among leaders in two or more denominations. These dialogues have produced several important agreements of full communion whereby separate denominations agree to denominational reconciliation, shared worship, and shared clergy.
One recent example of full communion, though, has the fingerprints of North Carolina and the NC Council of Churches all over it. In February, The Episcopal Church and the Moravian Church celebrated their full communion relationship. This agreement originated in a conversation between Bill McElveen, a Moravian and then chair of the NC Council’s Christian Unity Committee, and Tom Rightmyer, an Episcopal priest and member of the Christian Unity Committee. Read the whole exciting, moving story in an article written by Bill McElveen for The Moravian. Also note the photos of Bill and Gary Gloster, former suffragan bishop of the Diocese of NC and current chair of the Council’s Resource Development Committee and see Bill’s article about the historical significance of this reconciliation.
We congratulate and celebrate with The Episcopal Church and the Moravian Church in this significant step of Christian unity. And we are proud that the NC Council of Churches and people affiliated with the NC Council played an important role.
–George Reed, Executive Director
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