“To be in full communion means that churches become interdependent while remaining autonomous. One is not elevated to be the judge of the other, nor can it remain insensitive to the other. […] Thus the corporate strength of the churches is enhanced in love, and an isolated independence restrained.”
Anglican-Lutheran Working Group (Cold Ash, 1983)
The Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) have been in full communion since 2001. This means that while each church maintains its own autonomy, it also fully recognizes the catholicity and apostolicity of the other. In practical terms, this means that Anglicans and Lutherans in Canada can share the Eucharist together, use each other’s liturgies, and participate in each other’s ordinations. Anglican and Lutheran clergy may also serve interchangeably in either church.
The Joint Anglican-Lutheran Commission (JALC) is a group of individuals from each church who meet twice yearly to explore ways our two churches can work even more closely together in full communion. One example of this growing cooperation is the 2013 Anglican-Lutheran Joint Assembly.
The members of the Joint Anglican-Lutheran Commission are:
Anglican Church of Canada
- The Very Rev. Peter Wall (co-chair)
- Bishop Chris Harper
- Ms. Marilyn Malton
- The Rev. Dr. William (Bill) Harrison
- Ms. Dorothy Patterson
- The Rev. Dcn. Maylanne Maybee
- The Rev. Canon Dr. Scott Sharman (staff)
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
- Bishop Larry Kochendorfer
- The Rev. Dr. Kayko Driedger Hesslein
- Ms. Kathryn Smith
- The Rev. Susan Climo
- The Rev. Paul Gehrs (staff)
Lutheran-Episcopal Coordinating Committee Partner
- Bishop Donald Kreiss
Anglican-Lutheran resources
- The Waterloo Declaration – The 2001 document officially bringing the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada into full communion.
- Waterloo Ministries Directory – A directory of Canadian Anglican-Lutheran ministries that give expression to the 2001 Waterloo Declaration by sharing facilities, programs, worship, clergy, and more.
- Anglican-Lutheran Guidelines for Clergy Serving in Each Other’s Churches – A guide to the process around full communion’s interchangeability of ministries.
- Anglican-Lutheran Worship Guidelines – A guide to assist those in planning worship in various contexts that might involve members and/or liturgies from each other’s churches.
- Anglican-Lutheran Cycle of Prayer– A year-long calendar of petitions with which to hold up our full communion partners in congregational and personal prayer.
- Background and Reflections on the Policy Regarding Authorized Lay Ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada – A report commissioned by the Joint Anglican-Lutheran Commission on the implications of the ELCIC’s policy on Authorized Lay Ministries.
Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar
The Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar has been in full communion with the churches of the Anglican Communion since 1961. One of several Christian churches in India tracing its ancestry back to the apostle Thomas, the Mar Thoma Church currently has more than one-million members in India and an increasing presence in North America. There are Mar Thoma parishes in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and British Columbia.
Church of South India
Created in 1947 by a union of Anglicans, Methodists, Congregationalists, and Presbyterians, the Church of South India (CSI) is one of four united churches in the Anglican Communion. While most of its four-million members are in 14 dioceses in southern India and Sri Lanka, the CSI also has congregations in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Middle East.