St. Peter’s receives full communion greetings from The United Methodist Church
The Rev. Laura Hewett Becker, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Goliad, brought greetings on behalf of her congregation and The United Methodist Church to the members of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Ander on Aug. 22.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The United Methodist Church have had a relationship of full communion since 2009, when the agreement was adopted by the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. In 2008, the General Conference of The United Methodist Church had adopted the same agreement.
This is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s sixth full communion relationship and the first for The United Methodist Church.
Full communion is not a merger between the two church bodies. It means that the two churches express a common confession of Christian faith; mutual recognition of Baptism and sharing Holy Communion; joint worship and freedom to exchange members; agree to mutual recognition of ordained ministers for service in either church; express a common commitment to evangelism, witness and service; engage in common decision-making on critical matters; and a mutual lifting of criticisms that may exist between the churches.
Members of St. Peter’s welcomed the Rev. Laura Hewett Becker to St. Peter’s on Aug. 22. Pictured are congregational president David Bowman, Dorothy Bowman, Becker, St. Peter’s minister John Dellis, Arlene DeForest, and congregational secretary Alvin DeForest.