Growing
Unity Among Charismatic Covenant
Communities
.
by Paul Dinolfo
When the first Christians were
baptized in the Holy Spirit on Pentecost they
experienced an internal change and a new power for
mission. They also experienced an unexpected fruit
as they were drawn into a unity expressed in
Christian community. In time this unity was
extended beyond the Jewish believers. Samaritans
and Gentiles gave their lives to Jesus, were
filled with the Holy Spirit and brought into the
Christian community.
Our experience of baptism in the Holy Spirit
parallels that of the early church. At first the
main fruit we recognized was a deeper spiritual
life, worship, spiritual gifts, love for
Scripture, and power for mission. But, we also
experienced an unexpected fruit as we were drawn
by the Holy Spirit into unity with Christians from
other church traditions: Catholics, Protestants,
and Orthodox. And, like the early Christians we
were also drawn into Christian community.
From 1967 to 1975 a number of charismatic,
covenant communities were formed. Some were
Catholic, but many were ecumenical. In 1976,
several covenant communities in the USA gathered
together for a “community of communities”
conference. It was at this conference that many of
us heard the Bulwark prophecy, which called us to
come together as communities – to extend our
covenant love and commitment beyond our local
communities. This resulted in the formation of the
Association of Communities.
Over the next several years, leaders of
communities that comprised the Association met
regularly to work out how we would come together
on a practical level. Not surprisingly, there were
different views among us. Some wanted a high
degree of structural unity, while others wanted a
somewhat loose relationship.
This disagreement led to the dissolution of the
Association in 1981. Over the next few years the
communities that were part of the Association
developed into three networks of covenant
communities: The Sword of the Spirit, the Catholic
Fraternity, and the People of Praise.
Unfortunately, there were some hard feelings among
some over the dissolution of the Association. In
time there was some reconciliation between the
leaders involved in the dissolution, but for the
most part the three networks went their separate
ways and had little to do with each other. Some
individuals and local communities continued to
have regular contact, but these interactions were
relatively rare.
When we were making plans for the 2012
International Coordinators Meeting in New Jersey,
the International Executive Council decided to
extend an invitation to communities in the
Catholic Fraternity. Alleluia Community (Augusta,
Georgia) and City of the Lord (Tempe, Arizona)
sent some of their coordinators. Since then
leaders of those communities, as well as the
Community of God’s Delight (Dallas, Texas), and
Mother of God (Gaithersburg, Maryland) have
regularly sent leaders to our international and
regional leaders conferences.
When Alleluia Community received our invitation to
attend the 2012 International Coordinators
Meeting, Bob Garrett (their senior coordinator)
invited me to attend the Charismatic Leaders
Fellowship (CLF) meeting. CLF began in the 1970’s.
Its purpose is to bring together leaders within
the charismatic movement to build relationships
and discuss issues of common concern. The CLF was
behind the 1976 Kansas City conference. Sword of
the Spirit leaders had at one time been very
involved in CLF, but we had not been invited for
many years.
I have since attended the Charismatic Leaders
Fellowship (CLF) meetings. My wife, Marcia,
usually attends with me. Dave Hughes has also
attended. One of the main benefits of CLF is that
it has provided “neutral ground” for relationship
building with Catholic Fraternity and People of
Praise leaders. This year the covenant community
leaders added an extra day to meet together.
Marcia and I attended, along with leaders from
three the Catholic Fraternity communities. The
People of Praise leaders were unable to attend,
but we hope they will attend in the future. We
used the time for relationship building and to
discuss ways we could support each other as
communities.
In 2015, the Catholic Fraternity invited me to
attend their North American council meeting. At
the meeting, I shared ways we might develop a more
active friendship. Since then, Kairos, the Sword of the Spirit, and City of
the Lord formed an alliance to work together
building covenant community among young people in
the Tempe, AZ, area. In 2016, the Catholic
Fraternity invited Mike Shaughnessy and Dave
Hughes to their North American council meeting.
Mike shared our vision for working with youth, the
community youth bridge, which was very well
received.
I am encouraged by the growing friendship between
the Sword of the Spirit and the Catholic
Fraternity in North America. I believe it has
already been beneficial to both the Sword of the
Spirit and to the Catholic Fraternity. More
importantly, I believe it is an expression of
unity that pleases God and is a fruit of our
common baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Paul Dinolfo is the senior
coordinator of the Work
of Christ Community in Lansing,
Michigan, USA. He is a former president of
the North American Region of the Sword of
the Spirit.
[This
article was first published in the Sword of
the Spirit North
American Region (NAR) Newsletter, April
Issue, 2017. See NAR
website and Newsletter archive.]
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