QUITO, ECUADOR (April 8, 2009) – Brian Turnbow, an Evangelical Covenant Church missionary, participated in a worship service that celebrated a historic \u201cagreement of intercommunion and fraternity\u201d between the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ecuador (ELCE) and the Episcopal Diocese of Central Ecuador.
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\nTurnbow is pastor of the English-speaking Advent St. Nicholas Church, which technically is part of the ELCE, but functions as an ecumenical congregation. The celebration was held at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Quito, which also includes German-speaking and Spanish-speaking congregations.<\/p>\n
Church leaders asked Turnbow to plan the liturgy because of his expertise. Members of both churches read scripture. Episcopal Church Bishop Wilfrido Ramos-Orench followed by saying participants hope the agreement will be “an instrument to build up our churches and our ministries” and an example of unity in Christ.<\/p>\n
In his sermon, Felipe Adolf, pastor of the Spanish-speaking Lutheran congregation, said that, “it is easy to be divided, but so difficult to seek unity” and live in the reality “that in Christ there is one single body.”<\/p>\n
After representatives of the Lutheran and Episcopal churches signed the agreement, the celebration concluded with Holy Communion.<\/p>\n