Trinity Episcopal Church: The Trinity-St Mary's Covenant

In God's Name and led by the Holy Spirit, we support and equip one
another to implement Jesus' mission in Baptism for all people, in all places
and at all times.

Milford churches mark 30 years of togetherness

Article and pictures published on 19 April 2002 in the The Catholic Free Press, Worcester, Mass. Reproduced by permission.

By Tanya Connor

Bishops blessing the congregation MILFORD -- Catholics and Episcopalians here have prayed for each other when each church suffered. Now their unity and dialogue must extend further, for the faith and salvation of the world.

That's what Bishop George E. Rueger, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester, and Bishop Gordon P. Scruton, of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts, told members of their flocks Sunday.

They were preaching at a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the covenant between St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church and Trinity Episcopal Church. During the service they led the priests and congregation in a renewal of the covenant.

"This covenant is an Easter covenant," Bishop Scruton said, explaining that it was originally formed in April and making a connection between the cross and resurrection of Christ and the two churches sharing sorrows and joys. When the media was not pleased with Episcopalians, "you prayed with us," he told the Catholics.

"You know where I'm going, don't you?" he asked, and indicated the Episcopalians are praying with the Catholics now.

"I hope you're praying for Christians in the Middle East," he added, and said they need to pray that "the unity we're able to share here today" may come there.

He said Christians need to be one "so that the world may believe." When St. Mary's and Trinity worked together to resettle Bosnian Muslim refugees here, that was a witness to the world, so the world might believe, he said.

He said he thought Jesus felt Sunday the joy parents feel when their married children come back and the whole family is together as one.

"As Bishop Scruton so generously observed, when we are in pain, you too at Trinity are hurting," Bishop Rueger told the Episcopalians. Nothing broke down the divisions of the early church more quickly than the blood of the martyrs, he said.

The early Christians knew that when they gathered, Christ was in their midst, when they touched each other, they touched Christ, he said. They prayed and listened to Scripture together.

"You modeled yourself on the early church," Bishop Rueger told his listeners, adding that when people see them, they know it can be done in other places.

Now dialog with Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists is essential for the salvation of the world, he said. He said what the two churches have done is evangelization, and it cannot stop there.

This covenant was the second of several formed between neighboring Catholic and Episcopal parishes in Central Massachusetts. They were initiated at the suggestion of the Anglican-Roman Catholic study group made up of representatives of the two dioceses, according to Catholic Free Press reports.

Renewing the Covenant The Milford churches modeled their covenant on the one Notre Dame Catholic Church and Trinity Episcopal Church in Southbridge had formed, according to Allan G. Hopkinson, of the Milford Episcopal church. The Southbridge covenant is said to be the first of its kind in the world.

Bishop Flanagan, a renowned leader in post-Vatican II ecumenical efforts, then headed the Worcester Diocese. Bishop Alexander D. Stewart headed the Diocese of Western Massachusetts.

Mr. Hopkinson said that when Bishop Stewart visited the Archbishop of Canterbury in England the archbishop asked, "How are your churches in Milford and Southbridge?"

The Milford churches' decision to consider a covenant came from talking the rector of Trinity, the Rev. David Tontonoz, and associate pastor of St. Mary's, Father Blaise Ciambelli, did while carpooling to college courses, Mr. Hopkinson said. They and a few lay people from each of their churches started meeting in January 1972, he said.

Some time later, people sought an official document with the covenant's wording and didn't find one, he said, explaining that it started out basically as a commitment to pray for each other. But it became much more.

Mr. Hopkinson said he thought one of the highlights for Trinity was when Father Henry G. Bowen, then co-pastor of St. Mary's, celebrated Christmas liturgies for the Episcopalians because their rector, the Rev. George H. Warren, had the flu.

Father Bowen said he said Mass there, but would not say whether he used Catholic or Episcopal prayers.

In forming the covenant, some people sought intercommunion between the two churches, Mr. Hopkinson said, but realized they couldn't have it.

"We decided to do those things that we could do, and grow together," he said.

Sister of Providence Theresa Lucier, now pastoral associate at St. Mary's, who has been involved with the covenant since 1994, said what people really want out of the covenant is intercommunion. They need permission from the Vatican and are still praying about it, she said.

Father Michael G. Foley, current pastor of St. Mary's, said Sunday that in a world of instant gratification the perseverance of the two churches is a shining star. He said they might be sad not to have full communion yet, but God has not called them to be successful, just faithful.

Afterwards he said the two churches might provide leadership for dialog between Catholics and Episcopalians and Anglicans, and that he hopes at some point there will be intercommunion.

"I'd like us to be at the outer boundary," doing as much as possible ecumenically, he said.

"The covenant was well known to me and it was part of what excited me about receiving the assignment to Trinity," said the Rev. Paul Andersen, who officially begins duties there June 9. He said his hopes include working together on summer Bible schools and youth ministry and getting Episcopalian children enrolled in Catholic schools.

Members of St. Mary's were on Trinity's search committees for a new rector several times over the years "to stress the importance of the covenant," Mr. Hopkinson said. He said he thought that when St. Mary's was to get a new pastor, members told their bishop they wanted someone who would continue the covenant.

Rev. Warren said the people made a grassroots effort, but the enthusiasm of the clergy was needed to keep it going. He indicated that he thought he and Father Bowen were chosen because they had that enthusiasm.

Father Bowen said he came to St. Mary's about a year after the covenant was formed and Rev. Warren came to Trinity about a year after that. Rev. Warren said they worked together nine years.

"I was heartbroken when he left," he said, adding that he stayed at Trinity another six or seven years.

Father Bowen said they co-chaired the Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission of their dioceses for 10 years during that time. They and Mr. Hopkinson and Leo Harlow, now deceased, of St. Mary's, gave talks to encourage other churches to form covenants, he said.

The covenant could have become exclusive, so St. Mary's and Trinity got involved with the other churches in town, Rev. Warren said. Their covenant helped enliven the whole ecumenical spirit, he said.

Those involved said that over the years St. Mary's and Trinity have prayed for each other, held ecumenical services, pulpit swaps, Lenten teaching programs, youth overnights, and fundraisers, and done housecleaning for the elderly, operated a used clothing shop and delivered Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners to those in need.

Now it is not unusual for them to do things together, Mr. Hopkinson said, adding, "It's like family."

Sometimes when he travels and can't quickly find an Episcopal Church to attend, he has gone to a Catholic Mass, he said.

"I grew up in Milford and we were always taught you never went in a Protestant Church because you would commit a sin," said Sister Lucier. She thanked God that those barriers have been broken down and now "our relationship is so good."