Yesterday afternoon the Southern Province of the Moravian Church in the United States joined its sister Northern Province in voting to affirm the full communion agreement with the Episcopal Church. The Synod defeated resolutions criticizing the Episcopal Church and an effort to table the agreement indefinitely.
If the agreement is approved by the full Unitas Fratrum of the Moravian world-wide communion, this agreement, when added to what the Lutherans have already achieved will be the first trilateral agreement that any of these churches have entered into.
The ENS report is here:
The 121-74 vote came after two hours of debate during an afternoon session on the second day of the church’s Sept. 9-12 quadrennial Provincial Synod at Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, North Carolina.
[…]During the ensuing debate, members voted 129-65 against an amendment to table the issue indefinitely. Earlier in the synod, a legislative committee rejected as out of order a substitute resolution that was critical of what it called the Episcopal Church’s “rejection of the authority of the scriptures” and other theological standards, and noted the tension between parts of the church and the Anglican Communion. The substitute resolution would have postponed any decision until the 2014 synod.
The resolution passed by the synod noted that “the purpose from the beginning of our dialogue with the Episcopalians was clearly stated and remains that together we might work to further the witness and mission of Christ’s Church.”