[2] While studying at the Pontifical North American College, Lipka was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 1966, then returned to serve as a parish priest in the Diocese of Wilmington.

In 1994, Lipka and a majority of St. Mary's members voted to leave the Episcopal Church as part of the then-nascent Anglican realignment and join the two-year-old Charismatic Episcopal Church, which was formed out of the convergence movement blending charismatic and liturgical worship.

On 5 November 1997, Lipka was conditionally re-consecrated by Luis Fernando Castillo Mendez when the CEC entered into intercommunion with the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church.

[8] (All CEC clergy were reconsecrated and reordained by the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church through the episcopal genealogy of Carlos Duarte Costa.

[11] By 2011, 15 of 21 COCTR congregations were no longer affiliated with the APA but had rather joined the newly formed ACNA Missionary Diocese of All Saints (MDAS), with Lipka being appointed bishop suffragan.

He serves as vice president of Forward in Faith North America, which promotes Anglo-Catholic worship and opposes women's ordination.