Members of the Presbyterian-Episcopal Dialogue met October 7-9 at the Transfiguration Spirituality Center in Glendale, Ohio, to begin the third round of their bilateral dialogue talks, which are scheduled to extend until 2024. According to the Episcopal Church’s Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations Office, the third round of dialogue will work to resolve remaining issues that prevent full reconciliation of ministries, a goal affirmed by both denominations in 2008. Dialogue members acknowledged that considerable differences remain between Episcopal and Presbyterian understandings of the historic episcopate and of the way episcope (spiritual oversight) functions in the life of the Church.
Dialogue members also met with the leaders of Indian Hill Church, a 72-year old federated Presbyterian and Episcopal congregation in Cincinnati. The congregation, which is served by a Presbyterian pastor and an Episcopal priest, has shared finances, governance and worship services, while retaining a distinct dual identity. The group also identified a series of other joint Episcopal-Presbyterian ministries, including campus ministries, congregations, hospitals, retirement communities, creation care work, and food pantries, and discussed issues that affect such partnerships, including maintaining appropriate safeguarding standards and reporting procedures.
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Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
