Trinity Episcopal Twinning Covenant

Many Roman Catholics who were living before the Second Vatican Council are cognizant of the differences between Christian denominations that were identified and strengthened through the centuries following the first objections of Martin Luther in the sixteenth century.  The fathers of the Second Vatican Council identified the need to promote our common ground as united disciples of the Lord Jesus in a world that was shrinking through the advances of travel and communication whereby non-Christians were present in larger numbers in the formerly traditional Christian countries of Europe and the Americas.  An outgrowth of this was the promotion of ecumenical events and activities between churches that embraced the same Lord and Gospel to try to accomplish the unity that Our Lord prayed for at the Last Supper.
Standing at the threshold of a half century of this covenant, both communities can take pride that for all that has changed in the last fifty years, the covenant has endured and been strengthened despite and perhaps because of the changes of leadership, societal upheaval, domestic terrorism, the uncertainty and even the challenges of a modern pandemic.  Approaching 2022, the covenant between the two church is a strong one having encouraged the efforts of each congregation through the years with social and fundraising events and in the pandemic the ability to gather for Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday for shared services when indoor gatherings were restricted.  It is believed to be the oldest continuous covenant still in existence in the United States, if not even in the world. 

Following the Council, among the prime movers of this ecumenical interest and activity were the Roman Catholic Bishop of Worcester, Bernard J. Flanagan and the Episcopal Bishop of Western Massachusetts, Alexander Stewart.  They each encouraged selected churches in their dioceses to form covenants between local Catholic and Anglican parishes.  Beginning in June of 1971, the ecumenical commissions of both dioceses met to discuss the possibility of creating these inter-church relationships as a covenant.  With one already established between Notre Dame and Holy Trinity Episcopal in Southbridge, the churches in Milford, Saint Mary of the Assumption and Trinity Episcopal investigated the possibility of their own covenant as well. 

The Anglican-Roman Catholic Joint Preparatory Commission (ARC) held several meetings following the initial reconciliation between Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey of Canterbury in March of 1966.  These meeting recognized the common ground between the two traditions regarding the sacraments of Baptism. Eucharist and Ministry (that of orders: deacon, priest, and bishop).  Recognizing that the larger differences were not theological but sociological and historical, they encouraged a grass roots activity to promote a unity between the churches on their common and shared beliefs rather than the historical and ministerial differences.

To that end, the Parish Council of Saint Mary’s Parish and the vestry of Trinity Episcopal studied individually and together their positions for three months.  Comprised of clergy and lay leaders from each congregation, representatives from Saint Mary’s were Fr. Blaise Ciambelli, William Dugan, Leo Harlow and Sister Eilleen with Trinity Episcopal represented by Rev. David Tontonoz, Robert Blodgett, Dorothy Eaton and Allan Hopkinson.  The adoption by both churches in an announcement in The Milford Daily News on Monday, April 24, 1972, hoped to be “a concrete step toward reunion and the basis for future sharing of programs, resources, and common ministry.”

On Sunday, April 30, 1972, the two congregations gathered at 7:30 pm in Trinity Church for a service that was a “melding of traditional and modern elements of worship involving organ, guitars, slides and followed by a reception and toast."  During the week, a letter of invitation with a combined letterhead of the two churches had been mailed to each household to invite them to participate.  It was articulated that the covenant was not a merger, “but an agreement to move in the direction of organic union of the two churches.  The goal is eventual intercommunion, not political absorption into one or the other or into a new super-structure.”