The year 2011 marks 10 years of full communion between Lutherans and Anglicans in both Canada and the United States. In 2001, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) and the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) signed the Waterloo Declaration. In that same year the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America signed a similar agreement with The Episcopal Church, USA, Called to Common Mission.
On May 1, 2011, the four churches will celebrate this landmark year with parallel services in Fort Erie, Ont. and Buffalo, N.Y. Lutherans and Anglicans will gather to mark the anniversaries and honour the possibility for future collaboration.
In a statement issued Ash Wednesday, National Bishop Susan C. Johnson (ELCIC) and Archbishop Fred Hiltz (ACC) call for wide participation: "We invite the people of the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada to pray for each other and for this holy endeavour. At the same time, communities are encouraged to host their own celebrations, on the Second Sunday of Easter or sometime thereafter, in their own churches."
The full statement from National Bishop Johnson and Archbishop Hiltz is available for download and includes liturgical material for a service celebrating full communion.
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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada’s largest Lutheran denomination with 152,500 baptized members in 607 congregations. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, the Canadian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.
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