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About us...
We are a member of the United Anglican Church. We use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. And Just What Does It Mean To Be...
This means that we believe in and actively pursue the intervention and inspiration of the Holy Spirit who is given to the church as a helper closer than a friend1. We believe the Holy Spirit empowers us to live the life of Christ2, helps us to pray, to worship3, guides our speech4, brings us joy5, great power6, and guides us daily in the way that we should go7. We believe the Holy Spirit gives supernatural gifts to His church8; knowledge, wisdom, prophecy9, and revelation10 to guide us. The Holy Spirit convicts us concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment11. He allows us to walk in the full power and might12 of the Kingdom of God (the rule and reign of Jesus Christ) in the earth. The power of the Holy Spirit is the very same power that was present at the beginning of creation and at the conception and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is the very life of God living in us13. Without the Holy Spirit, we can only exist in our fallen, natural understanding14. We’d be just another administrative, hierarchical entity unable to truly facilitate growth and unity in Christ’s one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church15. Without the Holy Spirit, we would be a church lacking in life, love, and liberty16. God is one - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To think, say, or live otherwise is to, very dangerously, contradict the Word of God17. There are many different manifestations, fruits, and gifts of the Holy Spirit18. Some are visible and some are not. Not every “Spirit Filled” Christian manifests all of them. If you desire the Holy Spirit in your life or a greater manifestation of the power of God in your life, simply ask Him19.
The word Catholic means “Universal”. The whole church everywhere has always believed that there is one faith, one hope, and one baptism1. This one church of Christ in the earth is His one, Holy, Universal (Catholic) church. In modernity, it has, incorrectly, come to be understood as that portion of the Catholic Church under the See of Rome; the Roman Catholic church. The use of the word Catholic could be more appropriately used to describe those Christian churches that continue to express their worship of our Lord using sacrament and liturgy. The Egyptian Catholic Church is known as the Coptic Church or the “Copts”. The various Orthodox churches could very well be called the Greek Catholic Church, Serbian Catholic Church, Russian Catholic Church etc… Catholic simply means “universal” and Orthodox simply means “right doctrine”. This brings us to our own Anglican Church…
Ours is that branch of Catholicity that, according to history, has it roots in the British Isles when Joseph of Arimethea1, sent from Gaul (France) by Timothy with some other disciples, founded the abbey at Glastonbury (the "Isle of Glass" or “Avalon”) around 63 AD. They planted what has come to be called the “daub and wattle church”. It is believed that among their number were Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead, Mary Magdalene, and the blessed mother of our Lord, Mary. While some believe Mary was laid to rest in Ephesus and others believe that she was “assumed” into Heaven, many also believe that she was laid to rest under the altar at Glastonbury. Around 410 AD, as the Roman military began it’s withdrawal from the British Isles, St. Patrick began his crusade there. Although under the see of Rome, “Padraig”, as the Celts called him, adopted the less hierarchical aspects of Celtic community, engaged in great spiritual battles with Druid kings in the name of Christ and for the establishment of the Kingdom of God, and, essentially, founded that distinctly Celtic, Orthodox expression of Catholic Christianity that would uniquely mark it’s ethos for all time. The name "Anglican" means "of England", but today the Anglican Church exists in virtually every part of the world. It began when, around 563 AD, Pope Gregory the Great sent St. Augustine to Britain to bring a more disciplined Apostolic succession to the Celtic Christians. The Anglican Church evolved as part of the Roman church, but the Celtic influence remained strong through the ministry of such Celtic Christian Saints as Columba (Columcille), Bridget (Bridgid), Brendan, and Aidan. The beginning of the sixteenth century showed significant discontent with the Roman church. Martin Luther's famous 95 Theses were nailed to the door of the church in Wittenburg in 1517, and news of this challenge had certainly reached England when, 20 years later, the Anglican branch of the church formally challenged the authority of Rome. Henry VIII dissolved the Roman monasteries and abbeys in 1536. There is a public perception, especially in the United States, that Henry VIII created the Anglican church in anger over the Pope's refusal to grant his divorce, but the historical record indicates that Henry spent most of his reign challenging the authority of Rome, and that the divorce issue was just one of a series of acts that collectively split the English church from the Roman church in much the same way that the Orthodox church had split off five hundred years before. The Anglican Church seems always able to maintain Orthodoxy within the various cultures and traditions where it has been planted while engendering and preserving a local expression of the faith that resonates in the hearts and minds of the faithful who seek simply to know and worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the person of Jesus Christ, in the Holy Sacraments of the altar, in the liturgy, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our Mission... ...To walk out our faith in prayer, work, and community. ...To see the Kingdom of God manifest in all our hearts and minds. ...To see the saints equipped to do the work of ministry. ...To see every member of our community actively engaged in Christ’s ministry of peace, unity, and reconciliation.
“Charismatic” Scripture References 1John 14:16; John 15:26; John 16:5-15 l 2Matthew 12:28 l 3John 4:23, 24 l 4Matthew 10:20; Mark 13:11; Luke 12:11,12 l 5Luke 10:21 l 6Acts 1:8 l 7Acts 1:2 l 8John 14:16-31 l 9Luke 1:67 l 10Luke 2:26 l 11John 16:5-15 l 12Luke 4:14 l 13John 6:63 l 14John 3:5,6) l 15John 17 l 162 Corinthians 3:17 l 17Matthew 12:31, 32; Mark 3:29, Luke 12:10 l 18Acts 2:4 l 19Luke 11:13; John 3:34 “Catholic” Scripture References 1Ephesians 4:4-6 "Anglican” Scripture References 1Matthew 27:57-60; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42 |
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Last Update: Friday, June 11th, 2010 06:50
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