When I first encountered interchurch families in my early ecumenical work, I had no idea that I would eventually marry someone from another church and become an interchurch family. I am now married to the Rev. Amanda Currie, a Presbyterian minister. Yet, at the time, I had little experience with theological or pastoral questions of marriage and family and no clue about how these would be significant in ecumenical relations in Canada.

Various surveys of Canadian dioceses since the 1980s have confirmed that 60% or more of marriages in Catholic parishes are what we used to call “mixed marriages”. This catch-all term includes marriages of a Catholic with anyone who is not Catholic, including other Christians, people of various other religions, and people with nominal or no religion. Most couples come to marriage with differing religious experiences or commitment levels, so most churches have historically cautioned against “inter-marriage” on practical grounds and sometimes with rather peculiar preconceptions about the other.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

The Interchurch Families International Network, a loose network of groups of interchurch families from across the world, has submitted a response to one of the questions posed by the Vatican in its preparatory document – “Does current legislation provide a valid response to the challenges resulting from mixed marriages or interreligious marriages?” Following the circulation of an initial late last year a number of comments were received and a final paper was submitted to Cardinal Baldisseri at the Synod Office in Rome by the co-ordinator of the network, Professor Thomas Knieps of Leuven University in Belgium.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

A husband and wife each active in their own Christian community can be models of an important step in the movement toward Christian unity: not just recognizing their diversity, but loving it despite the pain it sometimes can bring, said couples at a conference on ecumenism.

“The churches need to work at their unity the way married couples have to work at theirs,” said Ray Temmerman, an active and involved Canadian Catholic married to an active and involved Anglican, Fenella.

“It is important that our churches begin to recognize that it is not only what they have to offer each other that is important; their capacity to receive and love the other … will also be the key element in calling both churches to become what God calls them to become,” Temmerman told the International Receptive Ecumenism conference June 10 at Fairfield University.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

A new response to the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity and Mission (IARCCUM) report entitled “Growing Together in Unity and Mission: Building on 40 years of Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue” has been published by Ruth Reardon from the Interchurch Families International Network (IFIN). Reardon’s response is published in the October issue of the IFIN newsletter, “Issues and Reflections.”

The recent agreed statement between the two churches represents the first practical results of the Mississauga meeting in 2000 that charged the new commission with the task “to oversee the preparation of a Joint Declaration of Agreement, and promote and monitor the reception of ARCIC agreements, as well as facilitate the development of strategies for translating the degree of spiritual communion that has been achieved into visible and practical outcomes.” (#12) In Reardon’s response, she assesses the new statement in light of the mandate issued to IARCCUM by the bishops meeting in Mississauga.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

By Nicholas Jesson In his address to a gathering of ecumenical leaders in Warsaw on May 25, Pope Benedict XVI has expressed strong support for pastoral care of interchurch families. Speaking to the Polish Council for Ecumenism and leaders of other religious groups, Benedict encouraged the work of a bilateral commission of the Catholic bishops’ conference
… Read more » … lire la suite »

Nous faisons partie de l’histoire de Dieu, comme vous faites partie d’une histoire qui
se déroule au jour le jour. Nous avons le privilège de partager les moments
significatifs de l’espoir et de la douleur d’être un foyer interconfessionnel. Un foyer
interconfessionnel est celui où deux époux croyants sont unis au-delà des frontières
confessionnelles. Tous deux gardent leur appartenance confessionnelle, mais ils s’engagent
également dans la vie, les célébrations et les activités de l’Église de leur
conjoint.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

We are part of God’s Story as you are part of The Story which unfolds daily. We are
privileged to share significant highlights of the hope and pain of being an Interchurch
family. Interchurch families are practising Christians married across denominational or
confessional frontiers. Each of us retains his/her original church membership and is also
committed to live, worship and participate in the other’s church.
… Read more » … lire la suite »

When Bernie and Shirley Karstad were considering marriage, they had an added twist to consider. While both were dedicated, devoted and active church members, the catch was that they belonged to different churches. Neither had any interest in switching to another church tradition. Adding further complication, each was bringing children from a previous marriage into
… Read more » … lire la suite »