Archbishop Mark Shirilau is the founder of the Ecumenical Catholic Church, a
Christian denomination combining the theology and liturgy of the Church
Universal with a liberal approach to social issues.
Mark Steven Shirey was born in Long Beach, California, on December 13, 1955,
and baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church on February 26, 1956. He is the son of
Kenneth Eugene Shirey and Marjorie Irene (Thorvick) Shirey. Mark lived in Long
Beach until moving to Orange County in 1978. He also has a home on the Russian
River in northern California and made his primary home there in the 1990s. Mark
has master’s degrees in electrical engineering, business, and religion. He
graduated from the Episcopal Theological School at Claremont (Bloy House) and
received his master’s from the Claremont School of Theology in 1985. Mark
received his Ph.D. in electric power systems engineering from the University of
California at Irvine in 1989. All Ecumenical Catholic clergy are
volunteers, and Mark makes his living as the president of Aloha Systems, a
consulting engineering firm specializing in energy efficiency.
Mark met Jeffery Michael Lau on April 25, 1982, at St. Paul’s Episcopal
Church in Tustin, where Mark was teaching catechism and Jeffery was visiting
from Seattle for his sister’s wedding. Jeffery soon moved back home to Orange
County to be with Mark, and they were married on November 25, 1984, and legally
took the last name “Shirilau,” derived from their two birth surnames. Jeffery
died of AIDS in their home in Monte Rio, California, on August 9, 1993.
On December 27, 1987, Mark was ordained in the STC Chapel in Claremont. Soon
thereafter Mark and Jeffery (an MCC deacon) began having occasional worship
services in their home in Santa Ana. The 500-square-foot “bonus room” was set up
as the chapel, and on September 4, 1988, the first publicly announced worship
service of St. John Ecumenical Catholic Church was held at 2302 West Adams
Street, Santa Ana, California. It was attended by eight people.
The Ecumenical Catholic Church was designed to fill the gap left by the
Protestant style of the Metropolitan Community Church and the
not-quite-there-yet social politics of the Roman Catholic, Episcopal, and
Lutheran churches. It was styled as “the Catholic equivalent of the MCC” and has
consistently maintained cordial relationships with both the UFMCC and the
mainline denominations on national and local levels (though it is small enough
to be essentially ignored by Rome).
On May 19, 1991, Mark was consecrated bishop by Bishop Donald Lawrence Jolly
in San Bernardino, California. At Jeffery’s request, Bishop Donald also ordained
him deacon since the MCC did not term his reception into the diaconate as an
“ordination.” On July 27, 1991, Mark ordained Bruce David LeBlanc, a college
professor in Pocatello, Idaho, as the ECC’s second priest. This began the
nationwide expansion of the Ecumenical Catholic Church. On December 18, 1992, in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Mark ordained Robert Wayne “Marty” Martin and Clifford
Randall Lyde as the third and fourth priests.
After Jeffery’s death in 1993, Mark worked on the church and its development
full-time for a couple of years. He drove all over the country visiting various
parishes, clergy, and candidates for priesthood or diaconate, an endeavor which
included about 300,000 miles of highway and enabled him to continue seeing many
corners and back roads of the nation. (As one who enjoys travel, Mark had
already been to all 50 U.S. states and every Canadian province except the
Northwest Territories and Nunavut.) On July 8, 1995, a large celebration was
held at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Santa Rosa,
California. The ECC’s four regional deans--Richard John Cardarelli of Hartford,
Connecticut; Michael Robert Frost of Plattsburgh, New York; Denis Armand Martel
of New Orleans, Louisiana; and Robert Wayne Martin of Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma--were consecrated bishops. This was the second time in First
Congregational’s long history that they saw, participated in, and enjoyed high
liturgy, the first time having been Jeffery’s funeral. The only restriction was
no incense, since the charcoal caught the carpet on fire at the funeral.
The ECC continued its growth, but not without problems.
Politically the promotion from dean to bishop was probably a mistake, as the
four did not always agree with one another and were less likely to listen either
to their leader or the common vote. Sadly, the problem of schism that has
plagued the entire Independent Catholic movement since the 1800s found its way
into the ECC. In spite of all the turmoil, Jeffery’s mother Dolores would always
put it in proper perspective--regardless of whether they all meet together at
conference, whether or not they consider themselves in fellowship with each
other, whether they are Ecumenical Catholics or something else, and even if
individual clergy don’t like each other--all of the good ministry that all of
them do (and they are all good people) was made possible by the ECC and its bold
vision. Mark had the theological and administrative skills to put it together
and Jeffery had the enthusiasm, drive, and vision to actually push forward to do
it.
Archbishop Mark presently lives in Irvine and Villa Grande, California. The
ECC has bishops in New York, Iowa, North Carolina, and Oklahoma, and local
ministries where there are qualified priests or clergy candidates to serve.
About half of its clergy have been ordained through the ECC. The others have
been clergy of other denominations received into the ECC or holding dual
affiliation, including Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists,
and Presbyterians.
(This biographical statement provided by Mark Shirilau.)