Official Historical Documents

of the

Servants of Christ the King

~A Branch of the Sword of the Spirit~

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y ~, if> THE FIRST TEN YEARS

The Decision to be a Community On Sunday, August 21, 1977, approximately 40brothers and sisters gathered in Christ the King Chapel to make a covenant with God andone another to be a Christian Community in the Ohio Valley. This was the initial step takento build a community through the training and formation of The Word of God community inAnn Arbor, Michigan.

First Underway Commitment Made The first formal reception of brothers and sistersinto an underway commitment took place on Palm Sunday, 1978.

Initial Formation From August 1977 to August 1979, Bruce Yocum regi:JlarlyvisitedSteubenville, most often with teams of brothers and sisters from The Word of God todevelop and establish the community more firmly. During this two year period, the commu-nity went through a series of courses on basic Christian livingand Christian Community. Thisbody of wisdom from The Word of God had a significant impact on the community and theindividual 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 Steu-benville in order to more closely oversee the growth of the community and the developmentof its leadership. The members of that first household included Randy and Therese Cirnerand their 3 children. Mary Ann Jahr (now Leland), Pat Pinard (now Miller), Mary Maxey (nowNeau), and Tim Heaney.

First Covenant Commitment Made On Palm Sunday, March 30, 1980, during a specialceremony at the Community Gathering, the first group of brothers and sisters (37) madea final commitment to live as members of Servants of God's Love according to the cove-nant we had established. This was a milestone in the life of the community as it provideda firm foundation on which the Lord could build a mature community.

Catholic Fellowship is Established On December 1, 1980 Bishop Albert Ottenwellerofficially designated Servants of God's Love as a Catholic Fellowship in his diocese withecclesial rights and responsibilities. This authorized the community to extend the care ofits members to include all their sacramental needs as Catholics under thejurisdiction of theBishop. With the action, the community inaugurated its weekly Fellowship Liturgies, at firstcelebrated 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. MikeScanlan and Tom Kneier were confirmed and prayed over as the first two permanent coor-dinators of the Servants of God's Love community. These brothers had served as tempo-rary coordinators since the inception of the community and had been judged ready to leadthe 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 com-munity was ended when Randy and Therese Cirner returned to The Word of God on June12, 1982, after almost 3 years of service to the community. The reception held in theirhonor the week prior to their departure was a testimony to the significant way that God hadused them in the life of the community.

Five Year Anniversary As of August 21, 1982 Servants of God's Love was made upof 134 adults (48 married couples, 20 single women, and 18 single men) and 79 children

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The Sword of the Spirit is Established On November 19, 1982, the body of coordina-tors - Fr. Mike, Tom Kneier, and Keith Fournier - traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan to witnessthe inauguration of The Sword of the Spirit and to speak for the community's commitmentto this new international, ecumenical, missionary body.

Name Change As a reflection of this new identity and mission, the leaders proposedto change the community's name to Servants of Christ the King. This was ratified by themembers at the Community Gathering on December 19, 1982, during which they reaffirmedtheir underway and public commitments, now to the covenant statement of The Sword ofthe Spirit.

A New Coordinator In August of 1983, Paco Gavrilides began serving as the mission-ary head coordinator of the community, and in the subsequent years has overseen itsdevelopment into a fully formed branch of The Sword of the Spirit.

Districts Are Formed As numbers grew, it became desirable to divide into smaller unitscalled 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'sbreakfast at the Millsap Center in Weirton, WV, in early 1980. When its success producedmore programs and regular events, all the activities were organized under the umbreallatitle of the Ohio Valley Christian Association in August of 1984. Keith Fournier was its firstdirector.

Ten year Anniversary After ten years as a Christian Community, Servants of Christ theKing is now about 640 strong: some 370 adults and 270 children - a people in the serviceof 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 tolearn the basics and, shortly after, make an "underway" commitment. Of note, the document also indicates thefollowing:

The initial "Baptism ofthe Holy Spirit" at Duquesne University and the early formation of theforerunner 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 ofsubmission 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 intothree groups: The Word of God, The People of Praise and the Federation of Communities. (Though notexplained here, apocryphal material indicates that the primary reason for failure is that the three could not agreeon who should lead the Association.)

The presence of the four fully formed branches of the Sword of the Spirit in the United States, two ofwhich 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 FranciscanUniversity's employees at that time would find key professors (in theology, mostly) and staffwere alsomembers of the Sword of the Spirit via the Servants of Christ the King. This fact added weight and esteem tothe 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 thedevelopment of the University. (All reference to the Sword of the Spirit and Servants of Christ the King wasdeleted 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 lastparagraph.) This is perhaps the most important part of this document, as it demonstrates clearly that theServants of Christ the King coordinators (leadership) presented the Sword of the Spirit as "approved" by BishopOttenweller. In his initial letters to the community in January, 1991 the Bishop would explain to Servants ofChrist the King that he did not approve of the Sword ofthe Spirit. Nor was he aware that Randy Cirner or otherSword of the Spirit members from Ann Arbor had moved to his parish to "accelerate the growth" of thecommunity (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 anyonehas a copy of this talk in its audio cassette form please contact me at johnandtimmy@hotmail.com.

J9LJohn Flaherty May 17,2011

Grand Island, NE

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Most of the eople who work in cam us ministry ands~~l,!! life ~re ~~r~2f~li~ ~_e~<l!.l.!.~_ofC~st me ~ agroup of three hundred Cliristians in the Steubenville area

.W o· 'avema~;~rulllt commitmentto Ve' C··lives together. and to t e. res onsi5ility or ea.c other. Thecommumty consiStSofl;utll"married an single- lay people,plus some nuns and priests like myself. The members of thecommunity meet weekly in men's and women's groups.formutual support, sharing, and prayer, just as the majority ofSteubenville students do in their dorm households. We alsoworship together every week and support a number of localand regional outreaches. I meet weekly with Tom Kneier andKeith Fournier, university alumni who oversee the communityfong ~th myself and other, newer coordinators. ._

.- The. community contributes invaluable service to the uni- .versity. Members orthe community moderate e.veryhouseholdon campus; their responsibilities include giving direction,teaching, counseling, and acting as general overseers. Thecommunity also provides the recruitment pool for entrancelevel administrators, provides the staff for the conferenceoffice, and is a great asset in recruiting faculty who want to beassociated with a Christian community. _

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That isecumenical;illo, MarriageEncounter, and the charismatic renewal have developed anecumenical dimension after first blossoming as Catholicrenewal movements. Movements to renew Catholic worship,social outreach, music, and Scripture study have drawnstren h and inspiration from Protestant sources. . .

So as the renewal of the University of Steubenville. Fro~the beginning, a commitment to Christian unity and athoroughly ecumenical vision has been an integral part of theLord's work on the campus.

e express this commitment in many ways. No theologymajor can graduate without studying John Wesley andMethodism, renewal movements outside the Catholicchurch, and the contribution the reformers made to theologyand worship. Catholic theology by definition encompassesevery authentic leading of God's Spirit, including those thatoccur outside the Catholic church.

A significant number of Steubenville students are notCatholics. Many of them are sons and daughters of Episco-

The Body of My Son Is Broken / 177

palian priests and ministers who have attended our annualpriests' conference-another event with an ecumenicalc aracter,

For many years, evangelical Protestants associated with thehristian Coalition have worked with our students as dorm.rectors. These young graduates, mostly from covenant

Presbyterian colleges, worked closely with our campus minis-ters in teaching our students the basics of practical Christialiving and in leading them to a deeper spiritual life.

One of the most popular features of college life was aprogram that brought Protestant charismatic preachers tocampus for a regular "preaching night." The anointing of theHoly Spirit often fell on these thoroughly interdenomina-tional services held in the campus chapel.

The Servants of Christ the King sponsors the Ohio ValleyChristian Association, an evangelistic ecumenical outreachthat seeks to lead people in the region to an initial or renewedcommitment to the Lord.

in 1984, the Servants of Christ the King became part of alarger international ecumenical community called the Swordof the Spirit. We did this in response to a strong sense that Godwas calling us to make a formal commitment to a body that waitself ecumenical in composition and is committed to workingfor Christian unity. __

Our lives would be much simpler if we did not have to dot IS ecumenical work.

Unexpected problems keep coming up. We have to w rkhard to communicate with each other. There are culturalbarriers to overcome, embarrassing moments to endur .Misunderstandings abound. Progress seems slow. Chri tiarunity seems far off. .

If we did not do ecumenical work, I wouldn't have to corr ICatholic friends who want unity right now and others WIHthink our differences are so great that ecumenical activity iwasted. We could easily spend all our time on purely Cath Ii

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