| Evangelical Catholic Church | |
|---|---|
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| Classification | Lutheran |
| Orientation | Evangelical Catholic |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Founder | Karl Barwin |
| Origin | 1976 Arizona |
| Merged into | North American Lutheran Church (2016) |
| Defunct | 2016 |
| Part of a series on |
| Lutheranism in the United States |
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Heritage of theSynodical Conference of North America |
TheEvangelical Catholic Church (ECC) was founded in 1976 by former pastors and members of theLutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS) who were influenced by or interested inEastern Orthodoxy.[1] Originally a smallHigh Church,Evangelical Catholic denomination, it later became anIndependent Catholic Church, but it remained theologicallyLutheran. The ECC became inactive in 2009, was revived in 2014 and disbanded in 2016, with its remaining parishes joining theNorth American Lutheran Church.
On May 27, 1965, several members of the Congregation of the Servants of Christ, aLutheran religious order based inOxford, Michigan, together with some students atConcordia Senior College inFort Wayne, Indiana, founded a religious society called the Order of the Servants of the Holy Cross. Due to their displeasure with the LCMS's conservative turn in theSeminex controversy of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Order of the Servants of the Holy Cross withdrew from the LCMS and, in 1976, helped to organize the ECC.[2][3] The order was officially accepted as monastic community under the jurisdiction of the ECC on November 30, 1977.[2] The order disbanded in the 1980s.[3]
The first bishop of the ECC was Karl Julius Barwin, who was elected at the church body's organizational meeting inPeoria, Arizona, in 1976. In 1982, Barwin was reordained a priest and in 1984, was consecrated as a bishop by three independent bishops who claimed validApostolic succession. Five years later, he was reconsecrated by eight other bishops who also claimed valid Apostolic succession.[4] After Barwin's death on March 30, 2009,[4] the ECC became inactive, but it was revived in 2014, when it received a new bishop. At that time, the ECC reported parishes in five states.[1] The ECC disbanded in 2016, and its last parish joined theNorth American Lutheran Church.[5][6]
The ECC accepted theApostles',Nicene (minus thefilioque), andAthanasian creeds, as well as all the writings contained within theBook of Concord of 1580. Unlike most American Lutheran churches, the ECC taught the necessity of Apostolic succession andepiscopal polity, and rejected the forms ofcongregational polity practiced by the LCMS and theEvangelical Lutheran Church in America.[7] Unique among American Lutheran church bodies, the ECC supported the practice ofinfant communion.[8][9] Other notable teachings included rejection of theordination of women,[10] identification ofMuhammad as "Satan's Disciple",[11] and forceful condemnation ofillegal immigration.[12] In 2003, it declared fellowship with theOrthodox Anglican Church.[13]