Official Historical Documents of the

Servants of Christ the King

~A Branch of the Sword of the Spirit~

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THE FIRST TEN YEARS

The Decision to be a Community On Sunday, August 21, 1977, approximately 40 brothers and sisters gathered in Christ the King Chapel to make a covenant with God and one another to be a Christian Community in the Ohio Valley. This was the initial step taken to build a community through the training and formation of The Word of God community in Ann Arbor, Michigan. First Underway Commitment Made The first formal reception of brothers and sisters into an underway commitment took place on Palm Sunday, 1978. Initial Formation From August 1977 to August 1979, Bruce Yocum regi:Jlarlyvisited Steubenville, most often with teams of brothers and sisters from The Word of God to develop and establish the community more firmly. During this two year period, the community went through a series of courses on basic Christian living and Christian Community. This body of wisdom from The Word of God had a significant impact on the community and the individual lives of its members. The Cirners Arrive A more intensive training began for the community on August 10, 1979, when a group of brothers and sisters from The Word of God were sent to live in Steubenville in order to more closely oversee the growth of the community and the development of its leadership. The members of that first household included Randy and Therese Cirner and their 3 children. Mary Ann Jahr (now Leland), Pat Pinard (now Miller), Mary Maxey (now Neau), and Tim Heaney. First Covenant Commitment Made On Palm Sunday, March 30, 1980, during a special ceremony at the Community Gathering, the first group of brothers and sisters (37) made a final commitment to live as members of Servants of God's Love according to the covenant we had established. This was a milestone in the life of the community as it provided a firm foundation on which the Lord could build a mature community. Catholic Fellowship is Established On December 1, 1980 Bishop Albert Ottenweller officially designated Servants of God's Love as a Catholic Fellowship in his diocese with ecclesial rights and responsibilities. This authorized the community to extend the care of its members to include all their sacramental needs as Catholics under thejurisdiction of the Bishop. With the action, the community inaugurated its weekly Fellowship Liturgies, at first celebrated on Saturday night to open the Lord's Day, and later moved to Sunday morning. Elders Are Raised Up At the Community Gathering on January 17, 1982, Fr. Mike Scanlan and Tom Kneier were confirmed and prayed over as the first two permanent coordinators of the Servants of God's Love community. These brothers had served as temporary coordinators since the inception of the community and had been judged ready to lead the community over the long term.
P.O. BOX 806 STEUBENVILLE, OHIO 43952 (614) 283,4739

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Another Phase of Formation is Completed A significant phase of training for the community was ended when Randy and Therese Cirner returned to The Word of God on June 12, 1982, after almost 3 years of service to the community. The reception held in their honor the week prior to their departure was a testimony to the significant way that God had used them in the life of the community. Five Year Anniversary As of August 21, 1982 Servants of God's Love was made up of 134 adults (48 married couples, 20 single women, and 18 single men) and 79 children ._~_-----",under J 8vears, o12._g~_._OJJhese ,_QLexactLy.-llaJi-i)Ltb.a~_oJl101Unity-b_a!imade_a.-p_ublic_ ,E -commitment. The Sword of the Spirit is Established On November 19, 1982, the body of coordinators - Fr. Mike, Tom Kneier, and Keith Fournier - traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan to witness the inauguration of The Sword of the Spirit and to speak for the community's commitment to this new international, ecumenical, missionary body. Name Change As a reflection of this new identity and mission, the leaders proposed to change the community's name to Servants of Christ the King. This was ratified by the members at the Community Gathering on December 19, 1982, during which they reaffirmed their underway and public commitments, now to the covenant statement of The Sword of the Spirit. A New Coordinator In August of 1983, Paco Gavrilides began serving as the missionary head coordinator of the community, and in the subsequent years has overseen its development into a fully formed branch of The Sword of the Spirit. Districts Are Formed As numbers grew, it became desirable to divide into smaller units called districts. The first two districts were formed in February 1984, and the firsl-dist~ict __ gatnerings were hela two months later -6n April 29. The OVCA is Born The community's ecumenical outreach began with a monthly men's breakfast at the Millsap Center in Weirton, WV, in early 1980. When its success produced more programs and regular events, all the activities were organized under the umbrealla title of the Ohio Valley Christian Association in August of 1984. Keith Fournier was its first director. Ten year Anniversary After ten years as a Christian Community, Servants of Christ the King is now about 640 strong: some 370 adults and 270 children - a people in the service of God.

A History of the Servants of Christ the King "Covenant" Community

(as delivered by Fr Michael Scanlan, TOR, Head Coordinator of the Servants of Christ the King, a branch of the Sword of the Spirit.) The following outline is from a talk given in 1987 by Fr Michael Scanlan, TOR at a "Community Weekend." This was an annual event wherein people who had expressed interest in joining the community were invited to learn the basics and, shortly after, make an "underway" commitment. Of note, the document also indicates the following: The initial "Baptism ofthe Holy Spirit" at Duquesne University and the early formation of the forerunner of the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God "Covenant" community established by Steven B Clark, Ralph Martin and two others; That Fr Scanlan was the leader of the Servants from 1977; That Fr Scanlan heard "God" tell him to "guard the Catholic gate" by entering into a relationship of submission and formation under the Word of God community (Clark and Martin); Thefailure of the Association of Communities, forerunner of the Sword of the Spirit and it's split into three groups: The Word of God, The People of Praise and the Federation of Communities. (Though not explained here, apocryphal material indicates that the primary reason for failure is that the three could not agree on who should lead the Association.) The presence of the four fully formed branches of the Sword of the Spirit in the United States, two of which were under investigation by their local Catholic Bishop at that time and Servants of Christ the King, which would be shortly; That while ecumenical in spirit, Servants of Christ the King was designated by the Sword of the Spirit to "play a role in Catholic work" The document does not explain this role, but a review of Franciscan University's employees at that time would find key professors (in theology, mostly) and staffwere also members of the Sword of the Spirit via the Servants of Christ the King. This fact added weight and esteem to the public persona of the Sword of the Spirit. That presence is documented by Fr Scanlan in his autobiography "Let the Fire Fall", 1986 edition wherein he describes the specific roles the SOS community played in the development of the University. (All reference to the Sword of the Spirit and Servants of Christ the King was deleted from the second edition of Scanlan's book, produced in 1997); That Bishop Ottenweller approved the "covenant" of the Sword of the Spirit (second to the last paragraph.) This is perhaps the most important part of this document, as it demonstrates clearly that the Servants of Christ the King coordinators (leadership) presented the Sword of the Spirit as "approved" by Bishop Ottenweller. In his initial letters to the community in January, 1991 the Bishop would explain to Servants of Christ the King that he did not approve of the Sword ofthe Spirit. Nor was he aware that Randy Cirner or other Sword of the Spirit members from Ann Arbor had moved to his parish to "accelerate the growth" of the community (2.E.l). Some may argue that the outline of the talk might not have been delivered as written, which is certainly true. This writer's guess is that the verbal edition probably offered more information than is provided here. If anyone has a copy of this talk in its audio cassette form please contact me at johnandtimmy@hotmail.com.

John Flaherty May 17,2011 Grand Island, NE

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growmg people, The", -the firez ident stu . any given school :.i<athumbles me befor and women at the college a the witness of the lives of the peo eer pressure works in..the oJ.?posite schools-towaL~~ Lord ramer than a ~ toward a stronger, not weaker, Chrisnan co oward maturity in Christ and away from the foolishnes the world. Most of the eople who work in cam us ministry and s~~l,!! life ~re ~~r~2f~li~ ~_e~<l!.l.!.~_of me C~st ~ a group of three hundred Cliristians in the Steubenville area .W o 'avema~;~rulllt commitmentto Ve' C together. and to t e. res onsi5ility or ea.c other. The commumty consiStSofl;utll"married an single- lay people, plus some nuns and priests like myself. The members of the community meet weekly in men's and women's groups.for mutual support, sharing, and prayer, just as the majority of Steubenville students do in their dorm households. We also worship together every week and support a number of local and regional outreaches. I meet weekly with Tom Kneier and Keith Fournier, university alumni who oversee the community fong ~th myself and other, newer coordinators. ._ .- The. community contributes invaluable service to the uni- . versity. Members orthe community moderate e.veryhousehold on campus; their responsibilities include giving direction, teaching, counseling, and acting as general overseers. The community also provides the recruitment pool for entrance level administrators, provides the staff for the conference office, and is a great asset in recruiting faculty who want to be _ ~ associated with a Christian community.

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The Body of My Son Is Broken / 177

Weobeyed;w r distrust of one another, orance and bigotry, foro ght hostility. We begged rayed for an outpouring 0 ~J~~"~~;t~~IiMI[ next was the speaker afte eard God. I discarded m t we had just heard. It is litera broken. The church is the hattered and bleeding in t now the Lord more perso d grieve over his broken d service, we will inevitab e divisions of Christianity That is ecumenical;illo, Marriage Encounter, and the charismatic renewal have developed an ecumenical dimension after first blossoming as Catholic renewal movements. Movements to renew Catholic worship, social outreach, music, and Scripture study have drawn stren h and inspiration from Protestant sources. . . So as the renewal of the University of Steubenville. Fro~ the beginning, a commitment to Christian unity and a thoroughly ecumenical vision has been an integral part of the Lord's work on the campus. e express this commitment in many ways. No theology major can graduate without studying John Wesley and Methodism, renewal movements outside the Catholic church, and the contribution the reformers made to theology and worship. Catholic theology by definition encompasses every authentic leading of God's Spirit, including those that occur outside the Catholic church. A significant number of Steubenville students are not Catholics. Many of them are sons and daughters of Episco-

palian priests and ministers who have attended our annual priests' conference-another event with an ecumenical c aracter, For many years, evangelical Protestants associated with the hristian Coalition have worked with our students as dorm .rectors. These young graduates, mostly from covenant Presbyterian colleges, worked closely with our campus ministers in teaching our students the basics of practical Christia living and in leading them to a deeper spiritual life. One of the most popular features of college life was a program that brought Protestant charismatic preachers to campus for a regular "preaching night." The anointing of the Holy Spirit often fell on these thoroughly interdenominational services held in the campus chapel. The Servants of Christ the King sponsors the Ohio Valley Christian Association, an evangelistic ecumenical outreach that seeks to lead people in the region to an initial or renewed commitment to the Lord. in 1984, the Servants of Christ the King became part of a larger international ecumenical community called the Sword of the Spirit. We did this in response to a strong sense that God was calling us to make a formal commitment to a body that wa itself ecumenical in composition and is committed to working for Christian unity. __ Our lives would be much simpler if we did not have to do t IS ecumenical work. Unexpected problems keep coming up. We have to w rk hard to communicate with each other. There are cultural barriers to overcome, embarrassing moments to endur . Misunderstandings abound. Progress seems slow. Chri tiar unity seems far off. . If we did not do ecumenical work, I wouldn't have to corr I Catholic friends who want unity right now and others WIH think our differences are so great that ecumenical activity i wasted. We could easily spend all our time on purely Cath Ii