Convergence Movement


The Convergence Movement is a Protestant Christian movement that began during the Fourth Great Awakening in the United States. The Convergence Movement developed as a syncretic movement among evangelical and charismatic churches in the United States blending charismatic worship with liturgies from the Book of Common Prayer and other liturgical sources common to Lutheranism, Anglicanism, Roman Catholicism, Orthodox Catholicism and Oriental Orthodoxy. Denominational groups forming the Convergence Movement may self-identify as Convergence, Anglican-Apostolic, Evangelical Episcopal, or High Church or Broad Church Pentecostal.
The pioneers of the movement were seeking to restore a primitive form of Christianity different from what the Restoration Movement taught. The movement was inspired by the spiritual pilgrimages of modern evangelical writers like Thomas Howard, Robert E. Webber, Peter E. Gillquist, and ancient Christian writers such as the Church Fathers and their communities. These men, along with theologians, scripture scholars, and pastors in a number of traditions, were calling Christians back to what they saw as their roots in the early church prior to the Great Schism and State Church of the Roman Empire.

History

In 1973 Campus Crusade for Christ missionary Peter E. Gillquist of Chicago established a network of house churches throughout the United States, aiming to restore a primitive form of Christianity, which was called the New Covenant Apostolic Order. Researching the historical basis of the Christian faith, Gillquist and his colleagues found sources for this restoration in the writings of the early Church Fathers. This led the group to practice a more liturgical form of worship than in their previous evangelical background.
In 1979, the Evangelical Orthodox Church was organized. The belief of needing apostolic succession led most members of Evangelical Orthodoxy to join the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America in 1987. Others later joined the Orthodox Church in America.
In 1977 "The Chicago Call" was issued by the National Conference of Evangelicals for Historic Christianity, meeting in Warrenville, Illinois. Led by Robert E. Webber, along with Peter Gillquist, Thomas Howard, Richard Holt, Donald Bloesch, Jan Dennis, Lane Dennis, and Victor Oliver, the conference discussed the need for Evangelical Protestants to rediscover and re-attach to the Christian Church's historic roots. The conference issued several documents which together are known as The Chicago Call. Components of the document include: A Call to Historic Roots and Continuity; A Call to Biblical Fidelity; A Call to Creedal Identity; A Call to Holistic Salvation; A Call to Sacramental Integrity; A Call to Spirituality; A Call to Church Authority; and A Call to Church Unity.
In 1984 Charisma magazine, one of the most influential magazines of the Charismatic Movement, published an article by Richard Lovelace entitled "The Three Streams, One River?". Lovelace approvingly noted the trend of Catholics, Evangelicals, and Charismatic/Pentecostal Christians moving closer together.
Robert Webber's 1985 book Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail: Why Evangelicals are Attracted to the Liturgical Church documents the stories of six evangelical Christians who, for various reasons, had converted to the Episcopal Church USA. Publication of this book stirred up a great deal of interest in the evangelical press, generating numerous reviews in Christianity Today and other widely read evangelical publications. In the following years Webber wrote several additional books that had great influence on evangelical churches seeking to incorporate liturgy and traditional practices into their worship, and numbers of Evangelicals and Charismatics continued to migrate to the historic liturgical denominations.
In 2020, the Convergence Movement was highlighted by Religion News Service after a trend of young Christians returning to traditional churches.

Churches

The following is not a complete list, but aims to provide a comprehensible overview of the diversity among denominations of Convergence Christianity. Only organizations with Wikipedia articles will be listed.