Members of Assiniboia鈥檚 Messiah Lutheran Church along with their shepherd, Pastor Doug and Brenda Miner, walked two blocks to the east and 500 years into the past to worship with the members of St. George鈥檚 Roman Catholic parish and parish priest Father Dennis Remot on May 7. It was a historic moment because Lutherans and Roman Catholics have traditionally maintained their distance after the Protestant Reformation in Germany had fractured the universal church.
Many will remember the division experienced years ago here in Assiniboia, like every community, where each denomination lived secluded within the greater community. Catholics and Lutherans intermarried, but celebrations of love also became family divisions. In the past decade, churches have closed in rural and urban communities as memberships declined, sometimes bringing folks from a closing church into another denomination that was still surviving. But on this glorious morning, the two congregations experienced a 鈥渇amily reunion鈥� and they said they felt 鈥渢he Spirit lead them to feast together at the Table of the Lord.鈥�
The story of the Christian church begins shortly after the Day of Pentecost. Christians believe that on this day God鈥檚 Holy Spirit poured out upon the followers of Jesus Christ who had risen from the grave. 鈥淣ow the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul,鈥� reads Acts 4:32 in the bible. But jumping ahead a few years, divisions were already apparent. The book of Galatians shows that some Christians are following Peter and some are following Paul. Then came the East-West Schism of 1054, splitting the Christian Church. Again, there is a split in 1517, the Western church 鈥� the Roman Catholic Church 鈥� is fractured with the first reformation led by Martin Luther. Today, the Christian Church is made up of almost 40,000 denominational bodies.
