Posted Wednesday 20 October 2010
The Scottish Episcopal Church now in full communion with the Church of Denmark
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark became a full member of the Porvoo Communion when representatives of the church signed the Porvoo Declaration in Copenhagen Cathedral on 3 October.
This historic occasion was celebrated after a service in Copenhagen Cathedral where representatives of ten Porvoo churches, which includes the Scottish Episcopal Church, participated along with the congregation of the cathedral and many guests from the Anglican congregation in Copenhagen.
The Porvoo Communion is a communion of churches, mostly in Northern Europe, that have signed a declaration to “share a common life in mission and service”. The churches that signed the agreement are The Evangelical-Lutheran Churches of Estonia, Lithuania, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Finland and the Anglican churches of Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England. Two churches from Southern Europe also belong to the Porvoo Communion. They are the Lusitanian Church in Portugal and the Reformed Episcopal Church of Spain. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, The Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad and The Lutheran Church in Great Britain have observer status.
The Most Rev David Chillingworth, Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church attended the signing ceremony and says “I was delighted to be present when the Church of Denmark signed the Porvoo Agreement. This marks the completion of the establishment of the Porvoo Communion of Churches. Speaking before the signing of the Agreement, the Bishop of Copenhagan suggested that we might now move on to engage with other Lutheran Churches in Europe. The Porvoo Communion has enriched our life. I look forward to the possibility of other ecumenical relationships within the churches of Europe.”
Category: General
