ECUMENICAL

Thank you all SO VERY MUCH for the lovely send off this past Sunday with the after Mass blessing and the “Lisa Brown Day” farewell gatherings. I am so grateful for all the touching and encouraging notes, cards, gifts, hugs, and very generous and kind words of love and well-wishing. I do believe I’m simply all out of tears.

The number one question I received at the farewell gathering is “are you becoming an Episcopalian?” I don’t pretend to know what God has in store in the years to come, but for now I will remain a Roman Catholic. I sincerely believe that good theology transcends denomination – because God is One – so too are all of us whether we know it or not. So, I’m simply accepting a wonderful opportunity to build another set of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS/Godly Play) Atria for the children at Christ Church Episcopal and the surrounding area…doing almost the exact same work at a different location.

CGS has always been and remains an “ecumenical” work. Ecumenical refers to our shared efforts to promote unity among all the world’s Christian Churches and denominations. So, all my Roman Catholic friends, neighbors, and children are MOST welcome to attend faith formation at the new atria I’m headed off to create and establish with a new team of colleagues – Montessori-styled sacred spaces in which we hope ALL our children encounter Christ, our Good Shepherd for ALL people of ALL time in a profound way.

“It is absolutely clear that ecumenism, the movement promoting Christian unity, is not just some sort of ‘appendix’ which is added to the Church’s traditional activity. Rather, ecumenism is an organic part of her life and work, and consequently must pervade all that she is and does.”

– Pope John Paul II, 1995 Encyclical Ut Unum Sint (in Latin: “That they may be one”)

FYI – When capitalized, the word “Catholic” generally refers to the Roman Catholic Church but when written with a lower-case “c,” catholic simply means “universal” and “inclusive” – it indicates something whole and entire, bringing various parts into unity, to be broad-minded and inclined to respect views and beliefs that differ from our own.

When we say “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church” in both our Nicene and Apostles creeds, the word catholic is written with a small “c” – so each week Episcopalians say the exact same creed as we do and believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. One would be hard pressed to find a difference in our weekly Masses with the exception that the presider may be a woman (woot!).

You can read more about how our Roman Catholic tradition embraces ecumenism in the 1964 Second Vatican Council decree entitled Unitatis Redintegratio and Pope John Paul II’s 1995 encyclical Ut Unum Sint (Latin: ‘That they may be one’). Both strongly underline the importance of respectful and peaceful dialogue, recognizing that “truth is truth” no matter where it is found, and that unity is a gift of God – a unity that Christ thought important enough to emphasize on the night before his death when he prayed for us “that they may all be one” (John 17).

I will miss you all something fierce. Thank you for your love and care of both me and my family and please DO stay in touch! My email is lisaannbrown@gmail.com, “friend me” at Facebook HERE and/or follow this blog by signing up HERE.

Love and gratitude to all of you! Forward in faith we go!

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Below are some photos of the CGS Montessori spaces our Formation Team has created together over the past nine years at CTR (more at this link CLICK HERE). Please hold our parish leaders in prayer as they continue to care for the children of the atria. Registration continues until Sept. 11!