It was 1986, and Atonement Lutheran Church was seeing little opportunity for growth. Nestled between three thriving larger Lutheran churches, there was fear that the community would have to close its doors. But in a trusting stance of openness to the Spirit, Atonement’s pastor Rev. Bill Morrissey saw another way. He approached auxiliary bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, Kenneth Steiner, about the possibility of sharing facilities with another church- a Roman Catholic Church. With enthusiasm from both members of Atonement and St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, the partnership quickly evolved from simply sharing space to becoming an ecumenical community of believers. With both a Lutheran minister and a Roman Catholic priest at the helm, they began sharing ministries and resources, and praying together in “simultaneous yet separate” worship services, where each denomination could continue to authentically practice the nuances of their respective traditions.
For 37 years, Spirit of Grace (called Mission of the Atonement until 2016) was a thriving example of ecumenical community– a community with blossoming outward-facing ministries. But in 2023, the Catholic priests who would often celebrate Mass with the community were informed that they were no longer authorized to celebrate mass with Spirit of Grace. While members were devastated by the lack of support from the diocese, they remained steadfast to the community they had built together. When the archbishop declared that the ecumenical experience was over and the Roman Catholics in the community should find a local parish in the diocese to join, not one person ended up leaving (“Well,” laughed Lutheran pastor Robyn Harwig, “one person did. But he came back three weeks later!”)
When asked what has changed since the diocese stopped supporting the community, Pastor Robyn shared that “the thing that has changed isn’t so much the [amount of] people that are coming, but the freedom that we feel.” And one proud display of that freedom is the co-leadership of Pastor Robyn and Roman Catholic Woman Priest Rev. Vinci Halbrook-Paterson. Rev. Vinci began serving Spirit of Grace in 2021 as the Director of Catholic Ministries, but when the community separated from the diocese Rev. Vinci’s discernment led her to pursue ordination. When reflecting on her discernment process around ordination, Rev. Vinci shared, “I was prepared to do this, and I’m called to be [at Spirit of Grace], so why not put those two things together?” Among those in attendance at Rev. Vinci’s ordination were thirty Lutheran pastors.
When reflecting on their co-leadership, Pastor Robyn shared how meaningful it is for those who identify as Catholic in the community to have a woman preside. “Having Reverend Vinci as a Roman Catholic Woman Priest,” she said, “just blows the imaginations open of many of our Catholics who’ve never seen anything like that, and some have described how at the sacraments they just have tears streaming down their face.” In another beautiful layer of diversity, Pastor Robyn then shared that she identifies as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and this has been a grace for the community as well. She added, “people need to see themselves represented, and they’re not seeing it in many churches. Here they get to see women in ministry, especially if they’re from a Catholic background and haven’t gotten to see women presiding at Eucharist from the altar. And then for Catholics and folks from other traditions to have a queer pastor , and now, a non-binary intern (Lutheran Pastoral Intern Pax Stewart), it’s not just in words that we’re saying all are welcome, but they see in every aspect of leadership that anybody truly can be in leadership within this community.”
Though the leadership model at Spirit of Grace is something to be celebrated, both Pastor Robyn and Rev. Vinci stressed that the community is lay-led. “We are sort of the choir directors,” said Rev. Vinci, and “we see this symphony of treasures and voices.” Between the plethora of ministries at the community, the monthly lay-led worship, and the leadership of a lay steering team, Spirit of Grace truly celebrates the gifts of each of its members, whether they identify as Lutheran, Catholic, or of another faith tradition. “And,” shared Pastor Robyn, “isn’t this probably what it looked like for Jesus and the earliest disciples? I mean, he was bringing together a lot of diverse people from a lot of diverse places.”
The three core values of Spirit of Grace are authenticity, inclusion, and justice-seeking, and it lives into these values through its many ministries such as Queer Grace, (a sharing of stories at the intersection of faith and LGBTQ+ identity), its social justice and service groups, and the ways that it celebrates both its Lutheran and Catholic identities. While it is one beloved community, Pastor Robyn was clear that “it’s never been about trying to blend or merge the two traditions. The community became one community over time, but the traditions are their own traditions.” This celebration of both the Lutheran and Catholic traditions has led to a beautiful respect for both their similarities and their differences.
In addition to its care for both traditions, the community is also intentional about including folks both in the worship space and those joining virtually on Zoom during the worship service. Not only are Zoom participants live-streamed into worship, but often readers, pray-ers, and even homilists will participate via Zoom. The community lovingly calls the Zoom screen its “virtual balcony” and includes those in the balcony in every part of the worship service. This ensures that the community remains both inclusive and accessible for folks who are out of town or unable to worship in-person.
Though Spirit of Grace is still learning what it means to live as an ecumenical faith community outside of the diocese, the last three years have brought great freedom to the membership. Pastor Robyn gently explained, “there isn’t a ‘waiting for the other shoe to drop’ anymore. Now we have the ability to boldly live out whatever call God is giving to us[…] That freedom, after 40 years, is finally coming into its own for our members.” And while Rev. Vinci and Pastor Robyn cannot say for sure what the next 40 years will bring for their community, they have no doubt that the Spirit will continue to grace the journey.
Interested in learning more about Spirit of Grace? Visit their website at https://spiritofgracepdx.org/.
Do you know of or belong to a community that you would like to see highlighted? Reach out to Martha at martha@futurechurch.org.
