Our Statement on Intercommunion between Churches

The Inclusive Celtic Church takes very seriously Jesus' prayer that all be one as he and God are one. We believe the pursuit of Christian Unity is an important and noble endeavor and is the will of God. Sadly, we look around at the various branches of the Church and see so many broken spirits as all struggle for common belief, practice, theology or doctrine. With this in mind the ICC holds to the following:


1. By its very nature, the signing of agreements of Communion harm rather than help further the process of Communion. Implicit in agreements is an exclusive attitude that if one group of people do not sign a particular statement they are not welcome to the table of another group. The ICC holds that all people who feel drawn to the table are to be welcomed regardless of their particular station in life, economic, social, physical, sexual identities or gender. This too holds true for belief in particular doctrines or theologies. For it is God alone who sees and can judge the secrets of the heart.


2. The ICC holds that all people of faith who strive to witness to the life, ministry and teaching of Jesus Christ, are in fact already in communion with one another, for Christ cannot be divided in himself and in recognizing Christ in each other we are all a part of the whole body.


3. The ICC holds that there are a variety of expressions of this body of Christ in terms of practice, custom, tradition, theological emphasis and doctrine. We therefore recognize that all these things are simply a way to express our interaction with God and God's interaction with us. The criteria is to be open to that movement; and Communion is the simple holding dear of one another's struggles to live this out in faith.


4. Therefore, the ICC holds all communities and individuals of faith in Communion with us, who live out the All Inclusive Love of God, who follow the radical message of Jesus, and who recognize the face of Christ in all they encounter, thereby upholding the dignity of every human being. We recognize the validity of the various ministries, lay and ordained and are always open to their participating fully in the life of this Church.


5. Thus it is not the custom of the ICC to sign contracts or agreements with other groups, thereby being bound by word or law but rather we are committed in a Communion of the Heart and Spirit, thus struggling to be one AS Jesus and God are one.