The History of the CEEC

The CEEC was birthed as a result of a more general work of the Holy Spirit among the Christian churches now known as "the convergence movement", or "convergence of the streams" renewal. This, as most of you are aware, is the spiritual vision, rooted in the New Testament revelation and the experience of the early Christians, that saw the Church as one Body with many diverse and contributing parts. Or, to put it another way: one river with many streams.

In the 1940's the well-known mission pioneer of the union Church of South India, Bishop Lesslie Newbigin, wrote a seminal work called The Household Of God, examining the spiritual and functional nature of the Lord's one Church from a missions perspective. His prophetic observation at one point in the book noted the revelation of Scripture in Ephesians 4; ...there is one Body, one Faith, one Lord, one Spirit, one Baptism, one hope of our calling, one God and Father of us all. However, through history this one Body of Christ has been fragmented into separated and often competing groups, camps, or streams, all having been originally a part of the one river of God's saving grace poured out into the world through the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Newbigin goes on to make a startling statement for his time; that the one Church of Jesus Christ, which has been so fractured by human sin and political/cultural circumstance through history, is by its nature threefold in the spiritual essence of its historical and existential makeup. This threefold nature he describes as being Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox/Pentecostal or charismatic. In describing this threefold reality, he goes on to remark that these three streams represent emphases that are all necessary for the wholeness and fullness of the Church on earth as God has decreed it in Christ and revealed it in the apostolic tradition of Holy Scripture. The Catholic he relates to the emphases of "incarnation and creation"; the Protestant to "biblical proclamation and conversion"; and the Orthodox/Pentecostal to "the mystical and the Spirit".

At this point in the 20th century, Bishop Newbigin was a lone voice calling for an holistic understanding of the nature of the Church of Jesus Christ that was born out of an apostolic missionary activity in the nation of India.

Not until the 1970's did this vision begin to gain a wider hearing. It was through the fruits of the ecumenical movement, the charismatic renewal of the mainline churches, and the Liturgical Renewal movement that was trans-denominational in its scope, that this understanding of the Church as one river made up of many streams began to gain impetus. Dr. Robert Webber, professor of Theology at Wheaton College in Illinois began to publicly give voice to this concept in his efforts at ecumenical and evangelical renewal. His 1978 book, Common Roots, looked at foundational elements of the Church's life; its worship, witness, and spirituality that had roots in the second century experience of Christianity. In this work, he urged leaders across the evangelical spectrum of the Church to take serious notice of the models presented in the second century Church for renewal of these aspects of the Church's life today.

This was followed in the 1980's by his landmark book, Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail: Why Evangelical Christians Are Attracted to the Liturgical Church. He chronicled his own personal spiritual journey from a fundamentalist evangelical background into the Anglican tradition and the six reasons for this attraction.

GRASSROOTS JOURNEYING TOWARD CONVERGENCE

Other authors began to share their experiences and searching in the same direction, pointing everyone back to the writings of the early Church Fathers, the key leaders and theologians in the life of the early Church. Pastors and leaders from a variety of backgrounds began to discover a similar desire to experience 'convergence' worship as a lived reality.

Soon, a common body of Scripture passages began to come to the fore among these leaders, giving scriptural language and confirmation to these discoveries and common desires. Passages such as Matthew 13:52, Jeremiah 6:16, Malachi 4:5,6, and Job 8:8-10, in addition to our Lord's prayer for the unity of His people in John 17, were key prophetic indicators that God was indeed speaking to many at a grassroots level about His desire to restore the fullness of the river by bringing the separated streams or strands back together (Psalm 46:4,5).

In the summer of 1993 a conference was held in Oklahoma City in the United States called Treasures Old and New: The Convergence of the Streams of Christianity, sponsored by the newly formed Fellowship of St. Barnabas the Encourager. The fellowship was an ecumenical group of pastors and leaders having found themselves on this common 'journey' or 'pilgrimage' and wanting to come together to share their discoveries, experiences, and ideas. About 75 leaders gathered that summer at the Church of the Holy Spirit, pastored by Fr. Michael Owen, who had also formerly been a Vineyard pastor. Present at that small but historic event were the founders of the newly formed Charismatic Episcopal Church, Fr. Peter Gillquist of the Antiochian Orthodox Church (formerly an evangelist with Campus Crusade for Christ), Professor Thomas Howard (author of Evangelical Is Not Enough and other books on his own journey toward catholicity from a fundamentalist evangelical background), The Rev. Bob Stamps (former chaplain of Oral Roberts University and pioneer of this concept on the ORU campus in the early 70's), Dr. Thomas Oden (Professor of Patristics at Drew University School of Divinity and a United Methodist Pastor), and Dr. Robert Webber. In addition a number of other leaders were present who later became bishops and archbishops in the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches.

FORMATION OF THE CEEC

Sometime in early 1994 a handful of members from a charismatic renewal parish in the Episcopal Church USA, together with their rector, began to conceptualize a vision identical to the one being discussed and considered in the 93 conference. Prayerful efforts began to put on paper the vision of a new communion of churches that would share the historic Anglican spiritual tradition and would allow for the coming together of churches and leaders from all backgrounds who had a hunger toward the vision of the convergence of the streams of the Church. After preliminary attempts to recruit the leadership covering of others over this fledgling vision, Bishop John Kivuva agreed to serve in a transitional way as the Presiding Bishop. Bishop Kivuva at that time was a bishop with the Africa Inland Mission movement and had a number of churches planted under his ministry and oversight in Kenya. While attending seminary in the U.S., he worked with the leadership core that was developing the concept. Eventually, that which was initially known as the Evangelical Episcopal Church was described on paper and began to be shared with other leaders on the same journey.

Through a series of divinely orchestrated events, then Bishop Michael Owen was contacted and asked if he would be open to participating in the inaugural service and serving as the chief consecrator for the first two bishops of the EEC. After much prayer and discussion under Bishop Owen's oversight, it was sensed that this was the connection looked for in the journey; many of those involved having been trained and ordained in differing branches of Continuing Anglican Churches.

And so it was, that in October of 1995, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, approximately 300 people gathered, representing a wide variety of denominational backgrounds and 25 independent congregations who had come into relationship with the new group. Bishop Owen, Bishop Wayne Boosahda, and two other bishops in apostolic succession from Orthodox and Old Catholic jurisdictions were present to assist in the consecrations of the first two bishops of the EEC and the ordination of 25 pastors and 7 deacons. The first two bishops consecrated included one of our current Archbishops, the Most Reverend Dr. Russell McClanahan of the CEEC Province of St. Peter, who was one of the initial leaders brought into the formation process of the fledgling EEC.

In November of 1995, Bishop Owen was asked unanimously by the founding leadership and new bishops of the Evangelical Episcopal Church to serve as its first Presiding Bishop. Bishop John Kivuva, still relating primarily to the Africa Inland Mission, stood aside from his role as the Bishop oversighting the foundation of the EEC.

International interest also began to emerge, and by the fall of 1996 interest from churches in five other nations were being seriously expressed. New missionary bishops were consecrated and new missionary dioceses here and abroad began to develop.

DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH SINCE 1997

Through the fall of 1996 and into January of 1997 international interest and expansion continued to develop. The House of Bishops of the EEC, five as of January 1st 1997, began to realize the Lord was moving in a way not completely prepared for in the founding documents of the Communion and in response met in synod at the end of January 1997 to consider these new issues. By this time, one of our current Archbishops, Robert L. Wise, had been consecrated as a new missionary bishop with a focus on the United Kingdom, Europe and Canada. Five of the six bishops making up the House at this time voted to reconstitute and reincorporate the Evangelical Episcopal Church as 'The Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches' to reflect the international growth and the needs for eventual provincial structuring. Six nations were now represented in affiliation and strong interest was being shown by others.

The Rev. Duraisingh James, a priest and church planter with the Church of South India for seventeen years at that time and long-time head of Christian Education for the Church Union of South India, travelled to meet with CEEC Bishops and indicated his desire to affiliate, together with the 30 churches under his oversight. Shortly thereafter, Fr. Duraisingh was consecrated as Missionary Bishop for India, and later as Archbishop for the CEEC Province of India. His ministry and the number of churches in India have continued to flourish. In 1999 Archbishop James was awarded the Billy Graham Foundation international scholarship grant to finish his doctorate in theology at one of the prestigious universities in South Korea. Since that time he has founded new seminaries in India with a flourishing number of students eager to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout India. Since 1999 two new bishops have been consecrated/received into the Province of India with three flourishing dioceses. Archbishop James also travels widely conducting leaders seminars for Alpha as the Christian Churches' head of Alpha in that country.

Archbishop Robert Wise's ministry expanded into Eastern Europe and includes congregations in Canada, England, Italy, the US and Romania, with another seminary being offered to the CEEC in Hungary through his oversight. In addition to his Provincial duties, Archbishop Wise serves as the Ecumenical Officer and Historian for the CEEC.

The West Indies, Haiti, Mexico, Guyana, Africa and Australia are under the oversight of Archbishop Dr. Russell McClanahan, one of the original bishops of the founding of this Communion. His ministry oversees and is in relationship with over 150 congregations in these countries. In July of 2003 Archbishop McClanahan was unanimously elected as the new Presiding Bishop for the CEEC around the world by the CEEC International College of Archbishops after Archbishop Wayne Boosahda, who served as the second Presiding Bishop for 6 years, stepped down for health reasons.

Archbishop Wayne Boosahda now serves as the overseer of the Province of the USA (now renamed the Communion of Convergence Churches USA) and the Archdiocese of St. Patrick with 11 bishops and 9 dioceses/missionary dioceses in its jurisdictional family based in the USA, with apostolic missions in India, Africa and the Middle East.

Archbishop Michael Owen, the first Presiding Bishop of the CEEC, now serves as the Chaplain to the International College of Archbishops while also overseeing the development of new congregations in various parts of the Communion.

There are many places within worldwide Christianity where the vision of the convergence of streams is being practiced and experienced. The CEEC is just one of those and our prayer is that we may join with others across the globe in lifting up the Name of Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world and Lord of history, creation and the Church. Our prayer and mission is that all might be drawn to Him and find the grace and fullness of the new life that the triune God so freely gives. May He make us one and enrich us all as we learn with love and openness to draw from His riches in every stream that flows from the Divine Fountainhead of all grace, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.