ANGLICAN CATHOLIC/TRADITIONAL EPISCOPAL
We are Catholic because we believe and practice the ancient and univeral, or catholic, faith of the church.

We also describe ourselves as "Traditional Episcopal" because most people in America know of the Anglican tradition through the Episcopal Church. However, we are not part of the Episcopal Church.

ANGLICAN AND CATHOLIC
The word catholic is not synonymous with Roman Catholic. The early church described itself and the faith it believed as catholic. One church father wrote that the catholic faith is "that which has been believed everywhere, always and by all." For the early church the opposite of a Catholic was not a Protestant; the opposite of a Catholic was a heretic.

The essentials of the ancient and universal faith of the church can be summarized under four headings: 1) The Bible, 2) The Creeds and Traditions, 3) The Apostolic Ministry, and 4) The Sacraments.

  • 1. The Bible
    The early church, guided by the Holy Spirit, selected the writings that were inspired and placed them together to form the Bible. We believe that the Bible is the Word of God.
  • 2. The Creeds and Traditions
    When issues of biblical interpretation arose, the church met to decide the issues under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (cf. John 16:13). These meetings are called The Ecumenical Councils. Seven councils of the undivided church were held between AD 325 and 787. They produced definitive statements of the church's faith. The teaching of the councils is summarized in the creeds. We accept the teachings of the Ecumenical Councils and the three ancient creeds: the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Creed of St. Athanasius.
  • 3. The Apostolic Ministry
    Before the apostles died, they appointed certain men in the church to succeed them in their apostolic ministry. These men were called bishops. The New Testament also mentions elders or presbyters (who came to be known as priests) and deacons. We maintain the apostolic ministry of bishops, priests and deacons, standing in unbroken line of succession from the apostles.
  • 4. The Sacraments
    The Word was made flesh in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:1f). Jesus continues to be present to his church through visible signs called sacraments. We become members of the body of Christ through the water of baptism (Romans 6:3f., Galatians 3:27). The church gathers together each Sunday to celebrate the Lord's Supper, in which we feed on "the bread of life" (John 6:48:51). We continue to administer the sacraments, through which God pledges grace to his people.

ANGLICAN AND REFORMED
The Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church during the Reformation of the sixteenth century. At issue in the Reformation were various non-biblical (and non-catholic) teachings and practices that had crept into the church in the Middle Ages. These included the implication that salvation came through works rather than through faith; the selling of indulgences (i.e., paying money to have sins forgiven); the doctrine that the saints of the church had earned merits which could be applied to the accounts of other Christians; and the notion that what the church did in the Lord's Supper or the Mass added something to what Jesus had done on the cross.

  • The Book of Common Prayer
    Reform of worship and theology came to the Church of England with the publication of the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549. The Book of Common Prayer was composed with the idea that the people should be able to understand and participate in corporate worship. Before the Prayer Book, the standard form of worship in England was the Latin Mass. The Book of Common Prayer reformed and simplified the medieval services and placed a renewed emphasis on the Bible.
  • Reform and Continuity
    The English Reformation reformed an existing church. The Church of England maintained its apostolic ministry of bishops, priests and deacons. Its form of worship, though translated into English and reformed, nonetheless stood in continuity with the church's historical worship. The goal of the English Reformation was to reform the practice of the church by the teachings of the Bible and return to the ancient and catholic faith.

MODERN DEVELOPMENTS
A division has risen within Christianity in modern times that, in many ways, overshadows the old divisions of the Reformation. On the surface, debates have raged over things such as the ordination of women, the marriage and ordination of practicing homosexuals and various other issues of gender, morality and doctrine. Underlying these issues is a larger conflict over the nature of the Christian revelation.

On one hand there are those who believe that God has fully and finally revealed himself to mankind in the person of Jesus Christ and that this revelation is timeless, unchanging and binding upon all people at all times. On the other hand, there are those who believe that the revelation contained in the Bible and received by the church was so influenced by the ancient culture that it needs to be reinterpreted and, indeed, changed for each new generation.

Many churches today, including the Episcopal Church, have abandoned both the ancient and catholic faith and the emphasis on the Bible that came out of the Reformation. Instead, many believe and teach that each person can have his own truth. The result is that many churches that call themselves Christian practice a religion that bears little resemblance to the faith and practice of the apostles and the church down through history.

  • The Meeting in St. Louis
    Consequently, in 1976, faithful Anglicans gathered in St. Louis, Missouri, for an event known as the St. Louis Congress. A document called The Affirmation of St. Louis was composed, which expressed our commitment to the ancient and universal faith of the church. In 1978, in Denver, Colorado, Bishop Albert Chambers, retired bishop of Springfield, Illinois, consecrated the first faithful bishops of the Anglican Catholic Church. Since that time, faithful Anglicans have continued to believe and practice the faith in the Anglican Catholic Church.

THE MISSION OF OUR CHURCH

  • A Return to the Faith
    Our catholic and reformed faith has a prophetic message for Christians today. For more than a generation now, churches have purposely abandoned tradition with the idea that this was necessary to attract believers in the modern world. In a replay of ancient iconoclasm, crosses and pictures were torn down and religious symbols were discouraged. Talk of sin was muted. The focus came to be on whatever might attract a larger crowd. Religion became another consumer product.

    The inordinate desire for what is new, coupled with the abandonment of the received faith, has had negative consequences. Much that is called Christianity today is not very Christian in any biblical or historic sense. As one commentator said, "She who marries the spirit of the age becomes a widow in the next generation." This is why St. Paul told the Thessalonians, "Stand firm and hold to the traditions you were taught" (2 Thessalonians 2:15). We call for a return to "the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3).

  • A Return to the Bible
    As a reformed church, we also realize that many people who think of themselves as Christians need to be introduced to the Jesus of the Bible. Many of the problems in the church in the modern world result from ignorance of the Bible. Church leaders were able to promote non-biblical teachings and practices because the people did not know the Bible. Consequently, we emphasize Bible reading and study.

    The tradition of the church provides a fruitful environment for Bible study. We follow the church calendar that leads us to worship through the life of Jesus, from birth to Ascension, each year. We follow a plan for daily Bible reading that takes us through the Bible each year. Our services are composed of biblical prayers and expressions. Our church members are exposed to a great deal more Bible than is typical for those who attend what are known as "Bible churches."

  • A Return to Prayer
    We believe that prayer is essential to the Christian life. The church's life of prayer is centered in the Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion, which we celebrate each Sunday. The life of prayer is continued in daily hours of prayer, which incorporated the praying of the Psalms, Bible reading and prayers. These daily hours of prayer are perpetuated in the Anglican Tradition in the services of Morning and Evening Prayer. Many Christians do not have a daily sense of communion with God in Christ because they do not pray. We encourage people to begin to live a life of prayer.

  • Tradition: Past and Future
    Traditional Christians are often accused of being stuck in the past. However, the greater danger for Christians today is an uncritical acceptance of new teachings and practices. Because "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever" (Hebrews 13:8), the faith of the past is the wave of the future. As God said through the prophet Jeremiah, "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls" (Jeremiah 6:16).