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Ship of Fools: Saint Paul Lutheran & Catholic Community of Faith, Denver, Colorado, USA

The Mystery WorshipperThe Mystery Worshipper Shipmate
edited June 2021 in The Mystery Worshipper
imageShip of Fools: Saint Paul Lutheran & Catholic Community of Faith, Denver, Colorado, USA

A nicely done Lutheran service in a beautiful old building shared by Lutheran and Catholic congregations

Read the full Mystery Worshipper report here


Comments

  • St GermanSt German Shipmate
    This a big step for Catholics, well done!
  • Alan29Alan29 Shipmate
    Just to clarify ..... from the Church's website
    "Saint Paul is an open, affirming, and diverse community of faith representing two Christian traditions, that of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and that of the Ecumenical Catholic Communion."
    They're Catholic, Jim, but not as we know it.
  • ForthviewForthview Shipmate
    Interestingly enough most of the European outposts of the Ecumenical Catholic Communiont seem to be in Poland.
    I wonder if they have some sort of link with the Polish National Catholic Church,although I don't think that that body would recognise women priests or bishops.
  • Amanda B ReckondwythAmanda B Reckondwyth Shipmate
    Further fact-checking would seem to indicate that they are not in communion with the Vatican. I'll edit the report to clarify this.
  • PaterfamiliasPaterfamilias Shipmate Posts: 6
    When I wrote the report, St. Paul's advertised itself as a "Roman Catholic and Lutheran community of faith." However, the Catholic priest at St. Paul's had lost his faculties some years prior, and the Catholic congregation was not recognized by the Archdiocese of Denver. Shortly after the report appeared, the Rocky Mountain Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America issued a report on the parish, and, reading between the lines (the report was posted on the parish's Webpage), it was clear that the Synod felt the situation at St. Paul's hindered their discussions with the Archdiocese of Denver. It was then that discussions with the Ecumenical Catholic Church (not in communion with Rome) began. Eventually the Catholic priest at St. Paul's was incardinated in that body. An agreement was drawn up between ELCA and the ECC, addressing the situation at St. Paul's, while also making clear that the agreement was not to be interpreted as a full communion agreement between ELCA and the ECC. (In general, the Episcopal Church and ELCA have felt that these small, non-Roman, Catholic bodies have neither the theological stability nor the membership to be reliable ecumenical partners).
    Neither the ECC nor ELCA is in communion with the Polish National Catholic Church. The PNCC was at one time a part of the Old Catholic Communion of Utrecht and in full communion with The Episcopal Church. Due to their adamant refusal to ordain women to the priesthood, they are no longer part of the Utrecht Communion and are no longer in communion with TEC.
    A fascinating book about groups like the ECC is Julie Bryne's "The Other Catholics: Remaking America's Largest Religion" (Columbia Univ. Press, 2016).
  • Amanda B ReckondwythAmanda B Reckondwyth Shipmate
    "In my Father's house are many mansions" -- but it seems to me they could use a visit from the cleaning lady.
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