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The Church Of Ireland
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STANDING COMMITTEE
REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS
laid before
The General Synod at its
One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Ordinary Session
1999
APPENDIX J
THE PORVOO DECLARATION - AN INTRODUCTORY LEAFLET
INTRODUCING THE PORVOO COMMUNION
The Porvoo Communion is a fellowship of Anglican and Lutheran churches in northern Europe who celebrate their unity as churches and who share a common sacramental life and ministry through the Porvoo Declaration.
WHERE IS PORVOO?Porvoo (pronounced Pore-voe) is a town in south-eastern Finland (also known as Borgå – its name in Swedish) where the members of the consultation worshipped on the final weekend of their work.
WHO SIGNED THE PORVOO DECLARATION?Ten of the twelve churches which drafted the Porvoo Declaration endorsed it. The Lutheran Churches are the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania, the Church of Norway and the Church of Sweden. The Anglican churches are the Church of England, the Church of Ireland, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Church in Wales.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark declined to sign and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia has not yet made its decision.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?The Porvoo Declaration means that signatory churches:
- regard baptized members of each other’s churches as members of their own;
- welcome overseas congregation into the life of the receiving churches;
- welcome those who are ordained as bishops, priests and deacons in any of the ten churches to minister in accordance with the receiving churches’ regulations;
- and consult on significant matters of faith and order, life and work.
This makes the Porvoo Communion an integral part of the day to day life of our own church. It is like our membership of the Anglican Communion. Porvoo Communion matters are dealt with by the Standing Committee of the General Synod.
HOW IS THIS WORK SUSTAINED?The work of the Porvoo Communion is sustained in a number of practical ways:
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE IN IRELAND?a A Contact Group with a representative of each signatory and each observer church meets annually.
b By the participation of bishops in Episcopal ordinations.
c Every four years there is a Church Leaders’ Consultation. The first was held in Turku, Finland in March 1998.
d Every four years there is a conference of theologians. The first is to be held in Edinburgh in September 2000.
e The Primates of the Porvoo Communion churches meet from time to time. They met at Trondheim, Norway in 1996 and will meet again in London in 1999.
f Diocesan and parish links have been organized. The Diocese of Connor is linked with the Diocese of Linköping in Sweden.
g Consultations of various kinds have been organized. Church lawyers met in 1998 and it is planned for Press and Information Officers also to meet soon.
h There is a Porvoo Cycle of Prayer.
i In general it is envisaged to build up contact in many areas of Church life, work and witness.
We already know that some Church of Ireland people working in the Nordic and Baltic countries are already invoking the benefits of the Porvoo Agreement. Each year there are about 112,000 tourists to the Republic of Ireland alone from "Porvoo" countries. The probability is that most of these would be Lutherans. Of more immediate relevance is the fact that within the terms of marriage legislation Lutherans are "Protestant Episcopalians" and may, therefore, be married by banns or by Ordinary Licence.
THE CONTACT GROUP
MORE INFORMATIONCo-Chairmen
Anglican The Right Rev John Neill, Bishop of Cashel and Ossory
Lutheran The Right Rev Erik Vikström, Bishop of PorvooCo-Secretaries
Anglican Dr Colin Podmore, Council for Christian Unity, Church House, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3NZ
Lutheran The Rev Dr Johan Dalman, Church of Sweden, S-75170 Uppsala
More information about the Porvoo Communion is available from:
- The Co-Chairmen or the Co-Secretaries of the Contact Group
- In Ireland from the Church of Ireland member of the Contact Group:
Canon Paul Colton, Castleknock Rectory, 12 Hawthorn Lawn, Castleknock, Dublin 15
Or from
- The Porvoo Communion Website: http://www.svenskakyrkan.se/porvoo
The Church of Ireland is also involved in some other ecclesial agreements which govern our relationships with some other churches. It should not be assumed that the Porvoo Agreement automatically governs our relationship with, for example, all Lutheran Churches.
Return to Standing Committee Report 1999
Further information from:
THE CHURCH OF IRELAND PRESS OFFICE
Church of Ireland House
61 - 67 Donegall Street
Belfast BT1 2QH
Tel: (028) 9023 2909
Fax: (028) 9032 3554
Email: The Press Office