The Church 
| About the Church |
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| Sunday, 10 June 2007 | |
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Page 1 of 2 Mission: reunify the faithIN THE BEGINNING was the Church, and the Church was one.But in 1054 AD, a great cataclysm happened. Increasingly estranged over issues of turf, liturgy and doctrine, the heads of the Western and Eastern branches of the Church excommunicated each other. The great schism precipitated by Pope Leo IX and Patriarch Michael Cerularius nine centuries ago lasts to this day, the divide between the "Orthodox" East and the "Roman Catholic" West seemingly irreconcilable. Other bloody divisions would follow. The Anglican Church split from Rome over the pope's refusal to sanction King Henry VIII's divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Martin Luther led a worldwide reformation that gave rise to the Protestant church and its many denominations. Seminal stateThe dream of reunifying the Christian Church, of bringing it back to its seminal state of oneness, has fired up many pious hearts. The current Pope, John Paul II, has devoted much of his papacy to forging relations with various faiths. He has emphasized dialogue and mutual respect, focusing on the similarities rather than the differences among congregations of kindred belief."Convergence movement" is the loose term given to similar efforts by many quarters around the world to reunite all Christians under one Church. At the vanguard of this movement is the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (ICCEC), which has established a communion that blends the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox traditions into one faith. ICCEC adopts major elements of these churches to create a community of convergence and inclusion. It has its own See in San Clemente, California, USA, with Archbishop Austin Randolph Adler as the worldwide Patriarch. Not a Pope, but a Patriarch. It's but one of many Eastern Orthodox influences in the church, which has its Philippine base in the Cathedral of the King, a former warehouse converted into a majestic place of worship along Reliance Street in Mandaluyong City. The primate for Southeast Asia, Archbishop Loren Thomas Hines, holds office in a rectory adjoining this cathedral. He oversees a Philippine congregation that now counts around 50 churches nationwide, 56 ordained priests and five local bishops. There are also 24 chapters established in nine European countries, mostly with Filipino overseas workers as members. "The beginning of the convergence movement was the feeling among many people that something needed to be done to bring about unity among Orthodox, Catholic, Episcopalian, Anglican, Evangelical and other believers," says Hines. "The consensus was to begin respecting each other more and work toward becoming one by appreciating what's valuable in each other's church and pulling the foundations back together." |