The Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have chosen Buffalo and Fort Erie, Ont., to celebrate a decade of “full communion” between the two Protestant denominations, reports the Buffalo Evening News:
The presiding bishops of the denominations will be in the area May 1 to celebrate “Called to Common Mission,” a 1999 document that brought Episcopalians and Lutherans into full communion. ….
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and Canadian Anglicans also have had a full communion relationship since 2001, leading the denominations to select Buffalo and Fort Erie for a 10-year anniversary celebration because of the cities’ close proximity to each other on the border of the U. S. and Canada.
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, and the Rev. Frederick J. Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, will be on hand for the Buffalo service.
The Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, will join the Rev. Susan C. Johnson, national bishop of the ELCC, at the Fort Erie service.