In a modest, rented room at Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Lansdowne, before a crowd of about 50 parishioners and clergy, Maryland's first parish of the Catholic Apostolic Church in North America was officially born.

The Oct. 18 ceremony, which formally recognized the St. Charles of Brazil parish as a member of CACINA, culminated a year-long effort by a core group of local former Roman Catholics.

Bishop Anthony Santore, the church's national leader, was the primary celebrant at the event, which consisted of an hour-long Mass.

Joseph Wickless, an Arbutus resident and one of the main players behind the church's inception, said the event felt "kind of like a birthday.

"It's wonderful," he said. "Up until today, we were just a mission parish. Now we just want to slowly grow in numbers."

The church has held services in the rented space at Our Saviour Lutheran Church every Sunday and on high holy days for the past year.

Part of the process in becoming an official CACINA parish was building a stable and dedicated congregation. Wickless said the church started with 5 parishioners and now has about 25.

The church was also required to operate independently and become wholly self-sufficient, Wickless said.

Clergy members do not get paid, and money that went into the church's creation was raised by the families invested in the effort.

Church members say there are no plans to move locations any time in the near future.

In addition to Wickless and his wife, Ruth Ann, other key participants in the local church's formation were Rev. Peter Smith, of Catonsville, and Charles and Patricia Ernst, of Linthicum.

The parish is one of fewer than 10 parishes nationwide, according to Santore.

Santore, of Reston, Va., attended Sunday's ceremony to formally accept the parish into CACINA.

Santore said other groups have sometimes been unsuccessful in their efforts to gain official CACINA status, after failing to form a faithful congregation or a self-sustaining establishment.

"Some communities just don't have the stamina," Santore said. "But this one did."

Smith, who has been with the church since the beginning, said he is "enormously proud" of the achievement.

He said the new official distinction will not change the basic mode of operation -- worship, prayer and reaching out to the poor -- but will allow them to do these things more successfully and grow as a community.

"In some ways, it marks a completion, but also, it opens a door," he said. "It's a doorway to the walk of faith, which is ultimately about liberation and loving."

The church's religious services are very similar to those of the Roman Catholic Church. It deviates ideologically from Roman Catholicism in that it allows women, married men and lesbian and gay people to be clergy.

The Rev. Carl Purvenas-Smith, an active CACINA clergy member, said he had traveled from York Springs, Pa., to be a part of the event.

He said although it is not a "gay activist" church, it serves all people, including those who are marginalized in society.

"We try to be a welcoming haven for all those people," he said.

Patti Ernst, another former Roman Catholic involved in the local church's creation, said community growth is important, but parishioners and clergy will not actively seek members.

"Recruiting is not what today is about," Ernst said. "If this interests someone, we'd love to have them, but we don't want to turn anyone from their beliefs."

St. Charles of Brazil will hold its next weekly liturgy at its Lansdowne location, 141 Lavern Ave., Oct. 25 at 10:30 a.m.

For information about the local parish, go to www.stcharlesofbrazil.org

For information about CACINA, go to www.cacina.org.

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