Driving around I have seen fast food places where there are two restaurants merged together, such as Taco Bell and KFC or A&W and KFC.
In Virginia Beach, Va there is a church called Church of the Holy Apostles that has two priests – one Catholic and one Episcopal, and two altars.
Their web site says
Established on All Saints Day, 1977, in Norfolk, Virginia, at the request of Bishop Walter Sullivan of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond and Bishop David Rose of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia.
Services
Services are held each week at 10:00 a.m. There are two altars in the worship space. Roman Catholics are invited to receive from the Roman Catholic priest; all other Baptized Christians in good standing with their own church are invited to receive from the Episcopal priest. Christian Formation for all ages is held from September 20 until May at 11:00 a.m.
I was rather doubtful about this being endorsed by the Diocese at first, but this Church is listed in the parish and their listing mentions that it is a joint church. Now I am all for true ecumenism, but how can they state that they are “eucharistically centered” when the Catholic Church has stated that Anglicans/Episcopalians do not have valid holy orders, thus no Eucharist. I would be curious how they handle the differences to make sure that there is no confusion in understanding the real differences between the two churches.
Another vision statement they made was “creative in liturgy”. If I was still living in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area that statement would send me running away.
5 comments
Parody Alert! I’d love to see the Curt Jester create a bulletin for this parish. Some ideas:
Confessionals and altar rails: Catholics are invited to confess their sins in the confessionals between 4:00 and 4:55 PM on Saturdays; Episcopalians can heed the altar call at the 5 PM vigil service.
Bingo night, sponsored by the Catholics, is at 7 PM Thursday evenings; Gamblers Anonymous, sponsored by the Protestants, is at 7 PM Friday evenings.
Reformation Day is October 31! Be sure to buy indulgences for all your relatives by that date to be placed on the altar for our All Souls Day celebration on November 2!
Would love to see your contributions, Jeff! 🙂
Good idea Michelle. I’ll have something up later.
I know the church, though I’ve not attended Mass there. There is, though, a Catholic church just down the street, where I go on holy days when I’m working.
I’ve seen a similar church…sorry two churches…here in Aus…very interesting the way it worked…unique to say the least!
Richmond will never cease to amaze.
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