What is an "Interchurch Family"?

An interchurch family:

(from the book Double Belonging by George Kilcourse)

This possibility is well worth exploring.

Interchurch Families - Saskatoon is a small group of interchurch families that have come together since 1992 -- for mutual support, exchange of experience, study and action. Interchurch Families - Saskatoon is sponsored by the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism and is in association with the Canadian Association of Interchurch Families (CAIF) and other associations of Interchurch Families worldwide.

We are interested in sharing the experiences of interchurch families. As well we are, at the present time preparing to offer some input in marriage preparation experiences and engaged and marriage encounter sessions.

You are invited...

to contact Interchurch Families - Saskatoon -- see names and addresses below.

"For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body... and we were all made to drink of one Spirit." I Cor. 12:13

   History - in England

The Association of Interchurch Families was formed in 1968, in England, by a small group of inter-church couples. They had discovered that they were not alone, and that the exchange of experiences with others in similar situations could help each couple find its own unique way forward.

The Association of Interchurch Families publishes a twice-yearly journal, Interchurch Families, which helps interchurch families, relatives, godparents, clergy and ministers, marriage counsellors and all involved in pastoral care to keep abreast of developments which concern mixed marriages and interchurch families, in the context of the wider ecumenical movement. The Association has made a video (available at the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism) which reflects the experience and concerns of interchurch families.

"You live in your marriage the hopes and difficulties of the path to Christian unity. Express that hope in prayer together, in the unity of love." (Pope John Paul II, 1982)

Smile!

When an interchurch couple moved to their new neighbourhood, the Episcopal (Anglican) wife and Roman Catholic husband began the search for new churches where they would gather for worship. Once they found pastors who seemed ecumenically sensitive, the question of a pattern for Sunday liturgy surfaced. Because the mother found an excellent religious education program for children at the Episcopal church (and the Roman Catholic parish offered nothing outside of mass), she usually took her nine and six year old daughters there on Sundays. The father customarily went to the Roman Catholic church, and joined them for a brunch outing afterward. Several months had passed when the pastor of the Episcopal church greeted the mother in the vestibule and remarked to her that the congregation had a group for single parents and the widowed. He invited her to join them. "My husband's not dead!" she exclaimed. "He's just a Roman Catholic."

(Double Belonging)

Leaders of Interchurch Families - Saskatoon

Marcel & Alison de la Gorgendiere
(306) 652-6501

Paul & Juanita Juneau
(306) 374-3841

Bernie & Shirley Karstad
(306) 373-4946

Mark & Colleen Stoecklein

Nicholas Jesson & Amanda Currie
(306) 652-1595

For information about the Association of Interchurch Families (AIF) or about the Canadian Association of Interchurch Families (CAIF), contact:


AIF & CAIF webmaster
CAIF national contact

For further information about the Interchurch Families - Saskatoon or about concerns related to mixed-marriage, contact:

The Prairie Centre for Ecumenism
600 - 45th Street West
Saskatoon, SK, S7L 5W9, CANADA

Phone (306) 653-1633
Fax (306) 653-1821
or e-mail the

Join the AIFW list

AIFW is the international Association of Interchurch Families listserv. Membership is open to those who are interested in the issues and concerns of inter-church families and/or mixed marriages. Particular concerns regarding inter-communion, eucharistic theology, weddings and baptism. List owner: . Message volume moderate (2-3 per day; occasional increases)

Subscribe to Aifw by filling out the following form. You will be sent email requesting confirmation, to prevent others from gratuitously subscribing you. This is a hidden list, which means that the list of members is available only to the list administrator.

Your email address:
Your name (optional):
You may enter a privacy password below. Do not use a valuable password as it will occasionally be emailed back to you in cleartext. You can always request a mail-back of your password when you edit your personal options.
Pick a password:
Re-enter password to confirm:

If there are any problems with this form, please connect directly to this other AIFW subscription form.

Helpful online resources