|
The Background and History
of the
Ecumenical Catholic Communion
Our Bishop, Peter Hickman, was originally ordained for the American Baptists, the more liberal branch of the Baptist family. He was well trained in scripture and even today is known for his knowledge and use of scripture. He began, however, to sense in himself a need for something more in the Baptist worship and spirituality. He became interested in ritual and liturgy, exploring different faith traditions, especially Catholic, and incorporating elements into his Baptist services. Eventually it became clear to Peter and to his superiors that he had to make a choice between the Baptist tradition and the more liturgically oriented traditions. Peter chose to leave the Baptists. He was very attracted to the Catholic faith, doctrine, tradition and liturgy, but had trouble with the structure and discipline of the Roman Catholic Church, especially mandatory celibacy. He was with the Orthodox Catholics for a time but eventually discovered an Old Catholic parish in Los Angeles and was eventually ordained and served that parish.We are not sure of the exact chronology of the following events, but Peter was consecrated a bishop of the Old Catholic Church, moved to other parishes, the other bishop died, the Los Angeles parish gradually dissolved, Peter established St. Matthew’s parish in Orange, California.
In time other communities began to approach Bishop Peter asking for affiliation and for priests. In 2003 the communities held a Convocation to decide their future. Growth had created the need for clearer guidelines and operational structure so an experimental constitution was approved at this convocation providing a structure that was flexible, inclusive and representative of the different constituencies in the Communion.
From these beginnings the Ecumenical Catholic Communion was formed and continues to hold Synods every two years. You can read a lot more history and documents on the ECC website here.
A must read article is found on the St. Matthew's website here. And a wonderful article about the Old Catholics can be found here. Read the constitution for the Ecumenical Catholic Communion here. For an excellent history of the Catholic Church in the United States by Anthony Padovano go here. There is a lot we need to learn about the Catholic Church down through history, things that many of us have not heard before.
Copyright (c) 2008 Emmaus ECC. All rights reserved.