“I’m full of joy, redeemed, set free” is the slogan being used by the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland for the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation in 2017. It is taken from the opening lines of a psalm-poem by the Rhineland cabaret artist and writer Hanns Dieter Hüsch (1925-2005).
Christians of all denominations are invited by the Rhineland Church to join in Holy Communion.
The most significant agreement is the “Leuenberg Concord” of 1973, in which almost all the Protestant Churches in Europe, together with some in Latin America have come together to form a so-called fellowship of church and table, known as the “Community of Protestant Churches in Europe” (CPCE). There are also formal agreements with the United Church of Christ in the USA, the Evangelical Methodist Church in Germany (part of the world-wide United Methodist Church) and the Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics.
There is no table fellowship with the Orthodox Churches and the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church refuses to allow table fellowship or Eucharistic hospitality (invitation to communion) - mainly because of a different understanding of the office of ministry. Exceptions are only allowed in particular circumstances. Because of the large number of inter-denominational married couples and families, the Evangelical Church is making efforts to achieve progress in the question of table fellowship.
ekir.de / 17.11.2016
© 2016 Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland
latest update:
04 December 2018 14:30
