tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46644314531177834702024-03-12T21:18:03.037-07:00Virginia LARCUM CommitteeFather Don Rooneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02147422997898970365noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4664431453117783470.post-3830469915412944712012-01-11T12:54:00.000-08:002012-01-11T12:54:30.242-08:00Northern Virginia Celebrates Week of Prayer for Christian UnityPlease join us again for the annual
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity:<br />
<b>An Ecumenical Celebration of the Word of God</b><br />
<br />
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 at 7:30pm<br />
<i>“We will all be changed by the victory
of our Lord, Jesus Christ”</i><br />
P R E S I D I N G<br />
<b>BISHOP DAVID COLIN JONES</b>, <i>Episcopal Diocese of Virginia</i><br />
<b>BISHOP RICHARD GRAHAM</b>, <i>Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Metro DC Synod</i><br />
<b>BISHOP PAUL LOVERDE</b>, <i>Roman Catholic Diocese of Arlington</i><br />
<br />
Saint Christopher Episcopal Church
6320 Hanover Street, Springfield VA 22150<br />
703-451-1088Father Don Rooneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02147422997898970365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4664431453117783470.post-10980165010646950252011-12-10T15:19:00.000-08:002011-12-10T15:19:21.510-08:00A Covenant to Identify the LARCUM Committee in Virginia<span lang="EN"> <div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: large;">LARCUM COVENANT</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">State LARCUM Committee of Virginia</span></div><i><div align="left"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left"><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: large;">Preamble</span></div><div align="left"><br />
</div></i><div align="left"></div><div align="left">We Bishops are witnesses to two powerful experiences in our time which have impelled Lutherans, Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, and United Methodists toward church unity: the Ecumenical Movement and the Second Vatican Council. The Holy Spirit continues to use these graced events to enlighten and form God’s people as we begin the Third Millennium.</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">Unity is a Gospel imperative for the churches, not simply an option. We are mindful that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the night before he died prayed: <i>"...that they may all be one. Father! May they be in us, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they be one, so that the world will believe that you sent me. I gave them the same glory you gave me, so that they may be one, just as you and I are one: I in them and you in me, so that they may be completely one, in order that the world may know that you sent me and that you love them as you love me</i>" (Jn 17: 21-23). The Psalmist, too, reminds us: "<i>How wonderful it is, how pleasant, for God’s people to live together in harmony</i>" (Psalm 133).</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">Furthermore, it is our responsibility to <i>"make every effort to preserve the unity which has the Spirit as its origin and peace as its binding force" </i>because: <i>"There is but one Body and one Spirit, ...just as there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism; One God and Father of all, who is over all, and works through all and is in all"</i> (Eph. 4: 4-6).</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">We celebrate the faithful initiative of our church leaders, past and present, in fostering church unity. </div><a name='more'></a><div align="left">In our roles as pastoral leaders, we welcome Pope John Paul II’s and Archbishop Runcie’s challenge: <i>"Once more, then, we call on the bishops, clergy, and faithful people...in every country, diocese, and parish in which our faithful live side by side. We urge them all to pray for this work and to adopt every possible means of furthering it through their collaboration, in deepening their alliance to Christ and in witnessing to him before the world. Only by such collaboration and prayer can the memory of past enmities be healed and our past antagonisms overcome"</i>(Common Declaration #4, 29 May 1982).</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">In Virginia, we experience the call to full communion in various collaborative efforts among our four traditions: in particular, through the annual statewide Lutheran, Anglican, Roman Catholic, United Methodist (LARCUM) Conference, at regional LARCUM events for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, and in local parish initiatives. We hear this call also in the Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission’s (ARCIC’S) Final Report, in the Lutheran-Roman Catholic document, <i>Facing Unity</i>, in the Lutheran-Episcopal Niagara Report, <i>Sharing in the Apostolic Communion</i> (Anglican-Methodist), <i>The Gift of Authority</i> (ARCIC), <i>Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification</i> (Lutheran-Catholic), <i>Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ</i> (ARCIC), and, in the United States, in the agreement <i>Called to Common Mission</i> (Lutheran-Episcopal), <i>A Covenant of Interim Eucharistic Sharing</i> (Episcopal-Methodist), <i>Confessing Our Faith Together</i> and <i>Covenant of Interim Eucharistic Sharing</i> (ELCA-UMC), and <i>Yearning to Be One</i> (Catholic-United Methodist). In these joint undertakings our divisions are being healed and we become attuned to the Spirit who will make us one.</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left"></div><i><span style="font-size: large;"><div align="left"><span style="color: #45818e;">Declaration</span></div><div align="left"><br />
</div></span><div align="left"></div><div align="left">We recognize that it is the Holy Spirit who bestows unity. The same Spirit calls us to uncover convergences and to achieve consensus so that we can advance toward the goal of unity willed by Christ. Through conversion, this shared commitment opens us to new possibilities under the guidance of God’s Spirit as we seek to provide an effective expression of God’s love in Christ (cf. Sec. 2, <i>Ecumenism: The Vision of the ELCA</i>, adopted as a working document of the 1989 ELCA Biennial Assembly).</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">Four decades of dialogues have led our four traditions to establish full communion as our mutual goal. We understand that we will pursue this goal in a rich variety of ways which are consistent with the Gospel and the ordering of our four traditions.</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">We desire to do all things together which existing agreements permit to place no impediments to the cause of unity.</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">THEREFORE, relying on the faithful love of the Triune God, we commit ourselves to celebrate the unity already achieved through years of Lutheran-Anglican-Roman Catholic-United Methodist conversations and to strengthen the visible unity of the Body of Christ in Virginia.</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left"></div><i><span style="font-size: large;"><div align="left"><span style="color: #45818e;">A Call into Covenant</span></div><div align="left"><br />
</div></span><div align="left"></div><div align="left">The unity of the church is the gift of the Spirit and a task of the church. We hereby CALL INTO COVENANT our respective Synods, Dioceses and Conferences and COMMIT OURSELVES to the following actions. In behalf of the unity of the church, WE WILL:</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">1. <i>pray for each other</i>, particularly at the principal Sunday celebration;</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">2. <i>sponsor seasonal prayer services</i>, especially during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity;</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">3. <i>encourage shared lectionary studies</i>;</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">4. <i>promote pulpit exchanges</i> in accord with the respective guidelines of each tradition;</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">5. <i>encourage cooperation</i> among member churches in providing premarital preparation for ecumenical marriages;</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">6. <i>encourage shared religious formational and educational events</i>, e.g. youth ministry, vacation Bible school, living room dialogue;</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">7. <i>develop joint efforts in evangelism and social justice</i>;</div><div align="left"></div>8. <i>develop covenants among our congregations, institutions and chaplaincies</i>;<br />
<div align="left"></div><div align="left">9. <i>support statewide, regional and local LARCUM Conferences</i>, and estalish annually a joint meeting of our ecumenical bodies;</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">10. <i>encourage each diocese and synod to develop supportive prayer services and covenanting models</i> for its congregations through their respective ecumenical and liturgical committees;</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">11. <i>urge congregations to study </i>the existing dialogues among our churches;</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">12. <i>develop covenants among schools and academies</i> for shared programs;</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">13. <i>ask congregations to develop and reflect on their cooperative ministries</i> to discover areas of convergence among our four churches;</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">14. <i>sponsor shared retreats and formational events</i> for clergy and parish leadership;</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">15. <i>develop campus ministry covenants</i> among Catholic Campus Ministry, Canterbury Association, Lutheran Student Union, and Wesley Foundation, and support covenants at existing ecumenical ministries and with college chaplains;</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">16. <i>seek ways to coordinate program and planning</i> at the district/synodical/diocesan/conference level; </div><div align="left"></div>17. <i>collaborate at the judicatory level</i> on justice issues and social concerns;<br />
<div align="left"></div><div align="left">18. <i>review and evaluate this Covenant annually</i> at a meeting of the state LARCUM Committee representatives with Bishops;</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">19. <i>establish goals annually</i> which advance this Covenant;</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">20. <i>celebrate the renewal of this Covenant annually</i> at the statewide LARCUM conference.</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">May the Holy Spirit, who has brought us to this moment of covenanting, bring us to ever deepening levels of unity. To this end we affix our names and recommend it to our respective judicatories, this 1st day of December, 2006.</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: small;"><div align="left">This document has been ratified by signature of all current presiding bishops and judicatory leaders for the following sees:</div></span><div align="left"><span style="color: #45818e;"></span></div><div align="left"><span style="color: #45818e;">Catholic Diocese of Arlington/<i>The Most Rev. Paul S. Loverde</i></span><div align="left"><span style="color: #45818e;">Catholic Diocese of Richmond/<i>The Most Rev. Francis X. DiLorenzo</i></span><div align="left"><span style="color: #45818e;">Episcopal Diocese of Virginia/<i>The Rt. Rev. Shannon Johnston</i> and <i>The Rt. Rev. David C. Jones</i></span><div align="left"><span style="color: #45818e;">Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia/<i>The Rt. Rev. Holly Hollerith</i></span><div align="left"><span style="color: #45818e;">Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia/<i>The Rt. Rev. F. Neff Powell</i></span><span style="color: #45818e;">Metro DC Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America/<i>The Rev. Richard H. Graham</i></span><div align="left"><span style="color: #45818e;">Virginia Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America/<i>The Rev. James F. Mauney</i></span><div align="left"><span style="color: #45818e;">Virginia Conference United Methodist Church/<i>The Rev. Charlene Kammerer</i></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></i></i></span>Father Don Rooneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02147422997898970365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4664431453117783470.post-5370362830164524522011-12-09T11:38:00.000-08:002011-12-09T11:38:29.502-08:00Welcome to the Virginia LARCUM Committee BlogHaving just closed our Annual LARCUM Conference in Waynesboro, we have many developments to report with regard to resolutions made by our judicatory leaders and State Committee. Please watch here, they will follow in coming days.Father Don Rooneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02147422997898970365noreply@blogger.com