Charismatic Episcopal Church

A symbol of the ICCEC

The Charismatic Episcopal Church began when a variety of independent churches throughout the United States, as part of the Convergence Movement, began to blend evangelical teaching and charismatic worship with liturgies from the Book of Common Prayer inspired by the spiritual pilgrimages of modern Evangelical writers like Thomas Howard, Robert E. Webber, Peter E. Gillquist and the ancient Christian writers and their communities.[2] These men, along with theologians, scripture scholars, and pastors in a number of traditions, were calling Christians back to their roots in the primitive church.

On June 26, 1992, Randolph Adler was consecrated the first bishop and primate of the ICCEC with Timothy Michael Barker of the International Free Catholic Communion (who was consecrated by Archbishop-Patriarch Herman Adrian Spruit and his wife) functioning as the principal consecrator. A few years after the consecration of Adler, the ICCEC's clergy began to express concern about Barker's embrace of theological liberalism, Gnosticism, Theosophy, non-traditional sexual ethics, and the ordination of women to the priesthood, all of which are contrary to ICCEC beliefs. In 1996, Adler was named the communion's first patriarch. In 1997, the ICCEC sought and acquired consecration and ordination of all of its clergy by the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (see Charismatic Episcopal Church timeline).[3]

The ICCEC adopted the following vision statement: "The Charismatic Episcopal Church exists to make visible the Kingdom of God; to bring the rich sacramental and liturgical life of the early church to searching evangelicals and charismatics; to carry the power of Pentecost to our brothers and sisters in the historic churches; and finally, to provide a home for all Christians who seek a liturgical-sacramental, evangelical, charismatic church and a foundation for their lives and gifts of ministry."[4]

In an attempt to reconstruct what its founders perceived the ecclesiastical government of the early Christian Church, the ICCEC operates under a form of collegial government which recognizes the assembled body of the bishops as its governing body. More recently, as international congregations joined and the church's official canons were written, a representative group of bishops comprising the Patriarch's Council became the executive branch of the denomination—as fathers among equals.

The ICCEC believes in the dogmatic statements of the seven ecumenical councils of the state church of Rome, apostolic succession, the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the authority of scripture, and the validity of the charismatic revival as a genuine movement of God.[5] The ICCEC accepts the Protestant canon of the Old and New Testament as the Word of God, containing all things necessary to salvation. The additional deuterocanonical books may be read in public worship, but are not used to formulate dogma or doctrine.[6]

In September 2006, the Patriarch's Council began an initiative to establish an official Catechism of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, designating the catechism of the American Book of Common Prayer (1979) as a starting point. The council's stated goal is that the new catechism will reflect the fullness of the ancient catholic and orthodox faith, and the Reformation, as it is expressed in the world today.

Worship

African bishops

Worship in the ICCEC is formulated off the principals of the Convergence Movement.[1] Clergy dress in traditional clerical attire and vestments (alb, stole, etc.) in liturgical worship. The principal worship service of the week is the Holy Eucharist. Many parishes follow the liturgy of the American version of the Book of Common Prayer (1979). A provisional sacramentary drafted by the Worship & Music Committee of the Northeast [US] Diocese, which includes Roman, Anglican and Eastern rites, is in wide trial use. Some parishes use other worship rites, such as the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, or other Anglican, Roman, or Eastern rites.

Worship in the ICCEC is to follow “the shape of the historic liturgy” while maintaining “that blessed liberty with which Christ has set us free”. Music is often contemporary and lively, but ancient hymns and chants are also incorporated in most parishes. Many worship services have times of “ministry in the Holy Spirit”, during which such things as prophetic messages, anointing and prayers for healing, and other charismatic gifts are active.

With 117 parishes in the United States,[7] the ICCEC experienced considerable growth within its national churches outside of the United States since the late-1990s. The greatest growth has been in Kenya, Uganda, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Brazil, where that nation's largest Anglican congregation joined the ICCEC in 2002. When the ICCEC admitted this Anglican congregation, however, they did so without the consent of the Brazilian church (ICAB), a violation of the Inter-Communion Agreement established in 1997 that had provided the ICCEC with its apostolic succession, leading to the dissolution of the relationship between the ICAB and the ICCEC.

The ICCEC has established congregations in Canada, Burundi, Congo, Rwanda, the Sudan, Tanzania, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Portugal, and Switzerland, but at a lesser growth rate than in the aforementioned nations. In all, the ICCEC has established over 1,700 congregations outside of the United States.

Cathedral Church of the Resurrection in Miramar, Florida

In the United States, the ICCEC experienced rapid growth for the first ten years of its existence. However, the US growth rate plateaued in the present decade. In 2006 the US church experienced a crisis resulting in the departure of approximately 30% of its clergy and congregations, including seven actively serving bishops and one retired bishop. Though from diocese to diocese a variety of reasons were given for these departures, the crisis stemmed from allegations against some ICCEC leadership in America. These allegations were heard and adjudicated in June and September 2006 by the Patriarch's Council. In September 2006, the council issued a statement of its findings, which was then followed by several more US departures. Some of the departing clergy and congregations found new homes within the Antiochian Orthodox Church as Western-Rite clergy and parishes, some became Roman Catholic, while some are now affiliated with various Anglican bodies.

On October 15, 2007, at a scheduled patriarch's council meeting, the patriarch, Randolph Adler, requested to retire as patriarch of the ICCEC and as primate of the United States. The patriarch's council accepted his request, expressing gratitude for all he had done in the formation and launching of the vision which led to the ICCEC. Archbishop Hines of the Philippines, as senior bishop on the patriarch's council, was appointed as acting patriarch (supervising bishop) for the ICCEC until a formal election could be held.

On January 9, 2008, Archbishop Hines announced that the patriarch's council, in accordance with the canons, had elected Craig W. Bates as the ICCEC's new patriarch. On July 30, 2008, during the ICCEC's 4th International Convocation, Bates was enthroned as the second patriarch and primate of the ICCEC in North America. The celebration was presided over by Loren Thomas Hines, Archbishop of Manila and the ICCEC's primate in the Philippines and Asia.

• ICCEC website
• Official CEC news, information, and resources
• Worship resource site for CEC