As an Episcopal priest who has served the church for more than 35 years, I have been working in my second Lutheran congregation in the Lower Susquehanna Synod in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains of south central Pennsylvania.

Since 1997, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Episcopal Church have been living together as a result of Called to Common Mission, a document that led to the approval of legislation that permits clergy of both denominations to minister in each other’s church.

When I told Rick Farrell, the assistant deployment officer in the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania, that I had been called to be the interim pastor of St. Paul’s ELCA, Carlisle, he called me a “Lutherpalian,” an appellation which some of the folks at St. Paul’s used affectionately. An Episcopal priest serving a Lutheran congregation also might be called an “Episcolute.”

While we Anglicans are well known for our beautiful liturgies, I have found that Lutheran liturgies are equally lovely. For instance, in my recent assignment as interim pastor at Holy Trinity, York Springs, there are — count them! – seven settings for Holy Communion. Many Lutherans are accustomed to chanting parts of the service of Holy Communion, so I had to learn to adjust my bass voice to a higher range while trying hard not to sound like Tiny Tim.

Lutheran pastors can confirm their young members, which, of course, can be done only by a bishop in The Episcopal Church. I was able to do that on Trinity Sunday.

My time with our Lutheran sisters and brothers has given me a deeply felt appreciation for their branch of Christ’s Church, and their deep roots, well grounded since the time of the protestant Reformation. The recent film, “Luther,” presents a wonderful story of the man, his struggles with God and the Roman Catholic Church, and his coming to finally know in his heart and soul that we are saved by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ.

While Anglican theology is incarnational, Lutheran theology is grace-based. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1:2), is used often by Lutheran pastors as a salutation before their sermons.

The two churches are facing similar issues such as the possibility of sanctioning ordinations of non-celibate gay and lesbian persons, blessing same-sex unions, diminishing membership, aging congregations, and small parishes that cannot afford full-time clergy.

I’ve had to be alert for which stole and chasuble to wear because we Anglicans wear them according to the particular sacrament — white for baptisms, marriages and funerals — while Lutherans wear them strictly according to the color of the church season.

A predecessor, Pastor Richard Ruff, who ministered faithfully for 25 years at St. Paul’s, Carlisle, brought me a gift from a recent trip to Germany. On one Reformation Sunday, I preached on Martin Luther, and in my children’s sermon, raised my trousers and exposed bright red socks, with the German version of these words: “Here I stand. I can do no other.” That got a laugh from the congregants and smiles from the little ones.

When I depart this “mortal coil,” I will wish to have an Episcopal bishop and a Lutheran bishop celebrate my entrance into larger life, where I will be greeted joyfully by him who is our Alpha and Omega, and by all those sisters and brothers whose names have been written in the Lamb’s book of life.

The Rev. John Edson is a priest of the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania. He lives in Dillsburg, Pa.

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