I am a priest ordained through the independent catholic movement. I am proud of the ties of my journey to ordination in the independent catholic movement to such jurisdictions as the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch and Ascension Alliance for Spiritual Renewal. The late Archbishop Patriarch Herman Spruit is a pivotal central figure in both jurisdictions.
The early to mid 20th century in the United Sates gave rise to several charismatic religious leaders seeking to renew and restore a more esoteric, Divine Feminine, heart centered, love centered, sacramental expression of faith with valid lines of apostolic succession. They were driven by a great desire of inspiring and leading others to personal relationship with God and knowing of God’s great love for ALL creation.
Archbishop Patriarch Herman Adrian Spruit — whom I have quoted from regularly on this blog and whose writings continue to inspire me today — is one of those leading figures. He founded the Church of Antioch in 1959. The Church of Antioch would develop into the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch. In 2010 there would be a great split in this church as many bishops were excommunicated and otherwise kicked out by its first elected presiding bishop.
The first time election of the presiding bishop was something the jurisdiction was so proud of as we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Church of Antioch in 2009. Unfortunately, that change from having the presiding bishop named by the retiring presiding bishop to having an elected presiding bishop — elected by the governing bishops in the jurisdiction — would be the first step in the great division that would soon occur amongst the beloved communion once shared by all faithful, priests, and bishops in the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch.
Many of the bishops excommunicated by its recently elected leader in 2010 or who otherwise departed from the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch under his leadership, would eventually find refuge and a greater sense of Herman Spruit’s charism of “the Rule of Love” in Ascension Alliance for Spiritual Renewal founded by Archbishop Alan Kemp in 2009.
The 2010 fragmenting and departure of leaders, bishops, priests and seminarians from the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch is not the first time such departures of leaders occurred within the Church of Antioch. During Archbishop Adrian Spruit’s leadership of the church there were similar departures. The 2010 departures of clergy — some excommunicated, some who left after they could no longer support the actions of the recently elected presiding bishop — was perhaps, the greatest death blow to the charism of “the Rule of Love” that the Church of Antioch was known for throughout its history up to the election, installation and leadership of an elected presiding bishop.
Recently I had the pleasure of reading the newly published book The Free Church of Antioch: A Concise History. This book is a great read for anyone interested in the roots of modern day independent Catholicism in the United Sates.
The beauty of this book is that it is concise, first hand, and personal narrative about the founding of the Free Church of Antioch (FCA) by Archbishop Warren Prall Watters and its leadership under his wife Archbishop Ellen Watters up to 2002 when she passed at the age of 94. It follows the continued leadership of the FCA to the present time under Archbishop Michelina Foster.
One of the things I learned from the book is that in 2002, shortly after the passing of Archbishop Ellen Watters, there was some consideration to dissolve the FCA. Thanks to Archbishop Michelina’s stepping forward to accept leadership of the FCA, the FCA and Archbishop Watters’ legacies continue on today. Were it not for Archbishop Foster’s stepping forward, the universe may have lost a tremendous force for gender equality in sacramental ministry, the Divine Feminine, an esoteric expression of sacramental faith and all with a free expression of faith and worship and personal experience of the Divine in our lives.
Julie Byrnes’ The Other Catholics is by far the go to in depth, scholarly reference book for a deeper, much broader look into independent Catholicsm. The author of The Free Church of Antioch references her 2016 book.
Along with Archbishop Adrian Spruit, Archbishop Warren Prall Watters and his wife Archbishop Ellen Watters are among those enlightened souls who will go down in history as being a great light bearer for God’s great love. This book is a great personal recollection of the life of a great church leader in the movement and one of the churches in the movement who carry on this great task of honoring the divine within all and calling all to a greater love, a greater heart centered knowledge of the Divine in our lives, a greater expression of the Divine Light within and upon the cosmos.
Archbishop Warren was consecrated by Archbishop Spruit when he himself was a leader within Spruit’s Church of Antioch. His departure from the Church of Antioch, as described in The Free Church of Antioch, was not as acrimonious and caustic as the departure of so many bishops and priests and seminarians from The Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch in 2010.
Watters and Spruit were somehow able to stay grounded in that “Rule of Love” during this time and were able to continue to be beacons of that Great Love, Light, Hope, and Truth throughout their remaining days and years.
There are many other great spiritual leaders within the independent catholic movement who are just as heart centric, love centric, Divine Feminine and Masculine centric with a respect for the esoteric and sacramental expression of our faith as Watters and Spruit were.
I would highly recommend The Free Church of Antioch book. It is available on Amazon. It is my great hope, that many other independent catholic jurisdictions will author and publish their personal concise histories and foundings.
We need these personal recollections and remembrances to preserve the great motivations, the great work that these men and women as leaders in the independent catholic movement accomplished and the inspiration they fostered through their message of the transformative power of Divine Love. These great leaders instilled great hope and service to the cosmos through the ministries of all those priests, healers and light workers whose ministries have ties to the churches they founded.