THE QUICK RUNDOWN:
ARE WE IN FULL COMMUNION: No.
ARE WE IN A EUCHARISTIC SHARING AGREEMENT: Yes.
CAN METHODIST CLERGY SERVE IN AN EPISCOPAL CHURCH: Not currently.
CAN METHODIST CLERGY BECOME EPISCOPAL CLERGY WITHOUT RE-ORDINATION: Not currently.
CAN EPISCOPAL CLERGY SERVE IN A METHODIST CHURCH: Yes, on a case-to-case basis with the permission of both the Episcopal Ordinary and the appropriate Methodist authority.
CAN METHODIST LAITY BE MEMBERS OF AN EPISCOPAL CHURCH: Yes.
ARE METHODIST LAITY CONFIRMED OR RECEIVED: Methodist Laity who have been confirmed are received into the Episcopal Church. (See Confirmation/Reception Guidelines.)
Updated 3/22/18
ARE WE IN A EUCHARISTIC SHARING AGREEMENT: Yes.
CAN METHODIST CLERGY SERVE IN AN EPISCOPAL CHURCH: Not currently.
CAN METHODIST CLERGY BECOME EPISCOPAL CLERGY WITHOUT RE-ORDINATION: Not currently.
CAN EPISCOPAL CLERGY SERVE IN A METHODIST CHURCH: Yes, on a case-to-case basis with the permission of both the Episcopal Ordinary and the appropriate Methodist authority.
CAN METHODIST LAITY BE MEMBERS OF AN EPISCOPAL CHURCH: Yes.
ARE METHODIST LAITY CONFIRMED OR RECEIVED: Methodist Laity who have been confirmed are received into the Episcopal Church. (See Confirmation/Reception Guidelines.)
Updated 3/22/18
ALL THE THINGS:
The 1988 Lambeth Conference, expressing regret that there was no international dialogue with churches of the Methodist tradition, proposed to the World Methodist Council that the omission be put right. The Council agreed, and the Anglican - Methodist International Commission met in 1992 and 1993, and an interim report was sent to the churches of both communions with a request for advice. The final report from the International Commission was issued in 1996. "Into All The World: Being and Becoming Apostolic Churches" was released by the Anglican-Methodist International Commission for Unity in Mission in 2014.
A pioneering regional North Carolina United Methodist - Episcopal Dialogue, begun in 1992, has explored relations between the churches and considered final report International Commission. In 1994 the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church, responding to General Convention - initiated explorations, voted to "affirm the bilateral conversation to begin between the United Methodist Church and the Episcopal Church, USA, initiated by the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns.”
The mandate for a United Methodist-Episcopal dialogue is found in resolution A029 of the 1994 General Convention, which calls for “...the development of relationships between congregations of the Episcopal Church and those of our sister churches in the Consultation on Church Union for the purpose of common worship and study along with joint efforts on behalf of the mission of the Church....”
Further, the 1998 Lambeth Conference, in resolution IV.17, recommends that member Churches of the Anglican Communion engage with their Methodist counterparts in study and the search for unity. Specifically, the Lambeth resolution recommends that a Joint Working Group with the World Methodist Council “prepare, in full accordance with the principles set out in the report of the Anglican-Methodist International Commission, guidelines for moving beyond acknowledgement to the reconciliation of churches and, within that, the reconciliation of ordained ministries and structures for common decision making.”
The United Methodist-Episcopal bilateral dialogue began meeting in June of 2002 and has met regularly, exploring questions of sacramental theology and the historic episcopate. In 2005, the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church approved a proposal for Interim Eucharistic Sharing with the Episcopal Church. The 2006 General Convention of the Episcopal Church approved the resolution, inaugurating the same relationship with The United Methodist Church as this church had with the ELCA and its predecessor bodies from 1982-2001. Guidelines for Interim Eucharistic sharing between the United Methodist Church and The Episcopal Church are available from the Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations. A study guide for use in congregations was issued in 2007, to facilitate dialogue and cooperation on the local level. In 2010, an interim agreed theological statement – summarizing the theological work of the dialogue so far – was issued. It is the hope that work will soon begin on drafting a proposal for full communion, which would involve resolving the question of reconciliation of ministries, including sharing in the historic episcopate.
In 2017, the proposed text of the Full Communion Agreement, "A Gift to the World: Co-laborers for the Healing of Brokenness" was released. It is currently being studied and will need to be approved by both the Episcopal General Convention and the UMC General Conference before going into effect.
IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS FOR THIS RELATIONSHIP:
Make Us One with Christ: Study Guide
UMC/TEC Common Guidelines (Covers the Current Interim Eucharistic Sharing Agreement)
A Gift to the World: Co-laborers for the Healing of Brokenness (Current proposal for Full Communion)
The Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations has a Frequently Asked Questions page on the dialogue.
IMPORTANT WEBSITES FOR THIS RELATIONSHIP
UMC-TEC.org - an EDEIO hosted website to support the proposal for full communion.
Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations United-Methodist/Episcopal Dialogue Page
Episcopal Church-UMC Dialogue Facebook Page
The (UMC) Council of Bishops Office of Christian Unity and Interreligious Relationships
A pioneering regional North Carolina United Methodist - Episcopal Dialogue, begun in 1992, has explored relations between the churches and considered final report International Commission. In 1994 the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church, responding to General Convention - initiated explorations, voted to "affirm the bilateral conversation to begin between the United Methodist Church and the Episcopal Church, USA, initiated by the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns.”
The mandate for a United Methodist-Episcopal dialogue is found in resolution A029 of the 1994 General Convention, which calls for “...the development of relationships between congregations of the Episcopal Church and those of our sister churches in the Consultation on Church Union for the purpose of common worship and study along with joint efforts on behalf of the mission of the Church....”
Further, the 1998 Lambeth Conference, in resolution IV.17, recommends that member Churches of the Anglican Communion engage with their Methodist counterparts in study and the search for unity. Specifically, the Lambeth resolution recommends that a Joint Working Group with the World Methodist Council “prepare, in full accordance with the principles set out in the report of the Anglican-Methodist International Commission, guidelines for moving beyond acknowledgement to the reconciliation of churches and, within that, the reconciliation of ordained ministries and structures for common decision making.”
The United Methodist-Episcopal bilateral dialogue began meeting in June of 2002 and has met regularly, exploring questions of sacramental theology and the historic episcopate. In 2005, the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church approved a proposal for Interim Eucharistic Sharing with the Episcopal Church. The 2006 General Convention of the Episcopal Church approved the resolution, inaugurating the same relationship with The United Methodist Church as this church had with the ELCA and its predecessor bodies from 1982-2001. Guidelines for Interim Eucharistic sharing between the United Methodist Church and The Episcopal Church are available from the Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations. A study guide for use in congregations was issued in 2007, to facilitate dialogue and cooperation on the local level. In 2010, an interim agreed theological statement – summarizing the theological work of the dialogue so far – was issued. It is the hope that work will soon begin on drafting a proposal for full communion, which would involve resolving the question of reconciliation of ministries, including sharing in the historic episcopate.
In 2017, the proposed text of the Full Communion Agreement, "A Gift to the World: Co-laborers for the Healing of Brokenness" was released. It is currently being studied and will need to be approved by both the Episcopal General Convention and the UMC General Conference before going into effect.
IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS FOR THIS RELATIONSHIP:
Make Us One with Christ: Study Guide
UMC/TEC Common Guidelines (Covers the Current Interim Eucharistic Sharing Agreement)
A Gift to the World: Co-laborers for the Healing of Brokenness (Current proposal for Full Communion)
The Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations has a Frequently Asked Questions page on the dialogue.
IMPORTANT WEBSITES FOR THIS RELATIONSHIP
UMC-TEC.org - an EDEIO hosted website to support the proposal for full communion.
Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations United-Methodist/Episcopal Dialogue Page
Episcopal Church-UMC Dialogue Facebook Page
The (UMC) Council of Bishops Office of Christian Unity and Interreligious Relationships