2007 Who are we?

Scripture • Reason • Tradition

Who are we?
Often described as the Middle Way, walking a straight line between Roman Catholicism and radical Protestantism, Anglicans are Christians with their roots in the Church of England. The Church came to England in the first century AD with Roman soldiers and merchants. Although there are no written records until the fifth century, legend holds that Joseph of Arimethea, who provided the tomb for the burial of Jesus Christ, brought Christianity to England in 37 AD. He is said to have built a church in Glastonbury in Somerset. Whether Joseph of Arimethea was the first to carry the faith to England or not, Christianity did arrive in England by the middle of the first century and was established there by the middle of the second century. Saint Alban, who was killed in the year 304, is believed to be the first English Christian martyr, and the British church was represented at the Council of Arles in 314 AD. When the Romans left England around 400 AD, the Church was cut off from the rest of the world. In the year 597, Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine, Prior of the Abbey of Saint Andrew in Rome and recently consecrated as a bishop, as a missionary to England. King Ethelbert and his Christian wife welcomed Augustine, and the king was converted and baptized. Augustine later became the first Archbishop of Canterbury. Augustine was apparently given significant latitude in allowing the English church to retain many of its deeply-ingrained local customs and practices. That changed when William the Conqueror brought the by then Roman Catholic church back to England. The Church in England was taken over by the Church of Rome in 1066 AD.

Over the millennium of separation, the Church of Rome had developed a liturgical system of worship that provided an ordered approach to worship. This ordered approach instilled not only a disciplined and orderly worship, but through its weekly repetition insured the church would make inroads into the people’s hearts.

While there was much good that had come about in the intervening time, by the 1500s, the Roman Church had grown far from its first century roots with professed beliefs not only not found in biblical teaching, but contrary to the written Word as found in the Bible. The gulf between the Church of Rome and the Bible had grown so great Bibles were not allowed in churches and most priests were not allowed access to them. This meant the “Word of God” was whatever the “Church” in Rome said it was. After almost 500 years of growing heresy, a group of English clergymen and laymen lead a split from the Church of Rome and formed the Church of England. The King of England was the titular head of the Church under the religious guidance of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first Book of Common Prayer was written in 1549 to bring the service of the Church in line with the teachings of the Bible. In addition, King James directed the placing of Bibles in each church in the common language so they could be read and understood by the people. The King James translation of 1611 is the most widely accepted and used biblical translation.

When people from England came to the New World, they brought their religion with them, not only the Puritans, but Church of England people, too. After the Revolutionary War, our split with the English Crown, the Church here became the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States. As the sun set on the British Empire, churches around the world changes names, mostly adopting the Anglican label. In the 1960s an insidious virus took hold of the Episcopal Church of the United States. People who did not believe in God, let alone the Bible, whose loyalty was not to the One True God, but rather to good feelings or perhaps the Devil took over. The church became a home for anti-establishment, anti-Christ pro-homosexual priests, then bishops. In 1979, a new prayer book was adopted, claiming to be a Book of Common Prayer with modernized language. It was not, it was actually the first attempt by the non-believers to change the Church from within. Since that time, the Episcopal Church has lost over 80 percent of its members. The declining numbers show that those who believe in everything believe in nothing and do not need to go to church to find out they are okay.

Our congregation left the Episcopal church and rejoined the Anglican Communion in 2005. We are a traditional parish associated with the Anglican Province of America, the church most closely aligned with the original Anglican principles. Each of our members has a strong commitment to biblical teachings. None of us is perfect, but we believe that by working together we can become at least somewhat better and spread the Word of God in a world that clearly needs it.

What do we believe?
We are a Christian Church whose beliefs are summarized in the Nicene Creed below:
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And of all things visible and invisible:
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God; Begotten, not made, Being of one substance with the Father, By whom all things were made; Who for us men for our salvation came down from heaven And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary And was made man; And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried; And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures; And ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of the Father; And He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead; Whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, The Lord and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets. And I believe one Catholic and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, And I look for the resurrection of the dead, And the life of the world to come. Amen

We have a clear statement of our faith. We have also have clear guidance on the more esoteric parts of our faith and what we believe which are contained in the Articles of Religion in the back of our Book of Common Prayer. We believe in the Word of God and if you read Article Six, you will find that unless it can be proved by certain warrant of Holy Scripture it shall not be deemed necessary to believed for salvation. We believe we are saved only by the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (Article Eleven); yet good works are pleasing to God (Article Twelve). We believe Deacons, Priests and Bishops should be married (Article Thirty-Two) as it says in the Bible. Read the Articles some time to see what we believe.

We believe we should be guided by Scripture • Reason • Tradition, a trifoil of a kind, as Richard Hooker put it:

“What Scripture doth plainly deliver, to that first place both of credit and obedience is due; the next whereunto is whatsoever any man can necessarily conclude by force of reason; after these the voice of the Church succeedeth. That which the Church by her ecclesiastical authority shall probably think and define to be true or good, must in congruity of reason over-rule all other inferior judgments whatsoever” (Laws, Book V, 8:2; Folger Edition 2:39,8-14).

He also said, "God is no captious sophister, eager to trip us up whenever we say amiss, but a courteous tutor, ready to amend what, in our weakness or our ignorance, we say ill, and to make the most of what we say aright."

“Scripture does not destroy nature but perfects it, Scripture presupposes reason and requires its use and that Grace presupposes nature.”

Rather than stand equally as a three legged stool, Scripture – Reason – Tradition form a three corded rope or line, the strength of which comes from Scripture, the direction from Reason and the beauty from Tradition.

Scripture
Our church is rooted in Holy Scripture. Our service by phrase count is 83% scripture; we take scripture seriously. Article Six of our Articles of Religion says:

Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or thought to be requisite or necessary to salvation.

We seek through study to understand more fully the meaning of the Bible. We do not claim to find hidden meaning in the Word of God. We think, like the Constitution of the United States, the Bible means what it says. We are not complete literalists, but rather we think the Bible was written to be understood by the people in terms they could appreciate. The meaning is clear to the reader and not hidden.

We believe the Word of God has the power to improve each of our lives, if only we will do what we are clearly told.

Reason
Reason is necessary for the understanding and application of scripture in all the areas in which scripture might be applied. Reason is God’s greatest gift to human beings, enabling them to understand God’s plan for the whole of reality, to situate themselves within it and to specify proper moral forms of human activity. 

Reason means the clarity of Scripture, accessible through human thought. Revisionist moderns have taken “Reason” to refer to rational thinking over against the implied obscurity or irrelevancy of Scriptures. Rather the true meaning is that Scripture is clear and easily understandable in everything it speaks about and Church decisions should be subject to the “plain reading” of the text. Reason, after all is a gift of God, which enables us to understand God’s plan for life through, not separate from, Scripture.

Tradition
Where we cannot find guidance in scripture or draw a conclusion from rational deduction, we look to the tradition of the Church.

We are all newcomers to the Church. Our Church is a direct descendant of the Church established in England about the year 100 AD. We were taken over by the Roman Church in 1066 AD and split from them in 1549 AD. We use a liturgical based service which follows the original 1549 service very closely. We do not find the language archaic, but rather majestic. We are open to change, but find no value in change for the sake of change. We look to the traditions of our Church to guide us beyond Scripture and Reason, but never in conflict with them.

Liturgy or Free Flow
A liturgy is literally an established formula for public worship in a church which uses prescribed forms. It is a set form of worship. The service is the same, with minor variations, every Sunday. Unlike some churches, it is not free flow based on the desires or whims of the pastor or congregation. Use of a liturgy insures that everything is covered every Sunday and throughout the Christian Year. A liturgy gives a needed and reassuring semblance of order in an otherwise sometimes disorderly world. The choice of readings for each Sunday insures the highlights of the Bible are covered each year, but does not discourage reading of the Bible. The liturgical service is contained within our Book of Common Prayer (BCP).

1928 Book of Common Prayer
The Anglican Church uses the 1928 Book of Common Prayer (BCP), which is a direct descendant of the original 1549 Book of Common Prayer, as a means of bringing worshippers who form the Body of Christ together. The Book of Common Prayer is common in the sense it is common to us all, a means not only to worship, to share our faith, but to bind us together as a common people, the Body of Christ. Using a BCP means whatever Anglican Church you might attend, in whatever country, you will feel at home with the service. It also means the prayers you hear will be familiar to you, you will not have to wait until the end of each prayer to decide if you are willing to add the familiar “Amen”, which means you concur and affirm the foregoing prayer. The BCP is not just a collection of elegant words, it is a reordering and rearranging of Bible text to form a liturgy or order of service. The entire service is based on Biblical text. Rest assured, there is nothing in the service that cannot be found in or proved by Holy Scripture.

The Service Today
The Anglican Church has a liturgical based service, that is to say it is in a fixed form and varies only slightly from Sunday to Sunday. The service this Sunday is Holy Communion, sometimes also referred to as The Holy Eucharist or Mass. The service begins on page 67 of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) and works its way through to page 84. There near the beginning of the service, on page 70, we will be reading the Collect for the Day, Epistle and Gospel, these are referred to as The Propers. There are separate Collects, Epistles and Gospels for each Sunday and some special days. They are found a bit further back in the BCP starting on page 90. After the Collect, Epistle and Gospel, we come back to page 71 for the Nicene Creed and go page by page afterwards.

The service is very easy to follow if you just remember the jump to the Collect, Epistle and Gospel, then back to the Nicene Creed. If you notice, there are little italicized notes in the BCP which give directions for the service. These are referred to as “rubrics.” They are called rubrics, or red text, because in the older and fancier BCPs, they are printed in red. If you look at the rubrics, you will have a good idea of what is coming next.

If you have a few extra minutes, take a bit of time to carefully read one or more of the prayers in the service, think about what the words really mean.

Sunday School – Child Care – Kids in General
As Anglicans, we feel strongly that families should worship together. We have a short class before each service, the sermon is short. The timeline is normally like this:

0830 Pre-Service Class on some aspect of what we believe or church history
0845 Holy Communion Service starts
0855 Sermon
0902 Holy Communion Service resumes
0920 Holy Communion Service ends
Let the post service goodies be consumed

We prefer to have the children worship with all of us. Yes, sometimes they squirm and sometimes they cry. No one mind this in the least. For the very small, bring a playpen or blanket, we have some lovely kids’ books in the Lending Library by the rear door.

Do you recall what Jesus said about the little children in Matthew Chapter 19, starting at Verse 13?

Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.

We think our families are best served by worshipping together, parents leading from the front of the family, not pushing from the back. The pre-service lesson and sermons are understandable at various levels. Driving home, discuss them with your children, you may be surprised at what you missed

The Dreaded Offering – How much should I put it?
Oddly enough, not a single penny.

We do ask that you fill out the colored card in your bulletin and put in the plate. Don’t feel weird about this. We want you to feel at home in our church, to enjoy it as much as we do. If you decide you wish to attend our church on a regular basis, we would appreciate your financial support. But, our church is not about money, it is about doing the will of God; we serve Him, not a building. We intentionally chose to have our church services in a school auditorium rather than an expensive building. We want all we can muster go towards God’s work and not a building; not just money, but effort.

Anglican Province of America – Why did we associate with them?
We chose to associate with the Anglican Province of America because of all the continuing churches, they were the closest to the original Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America before its takeover by heretics.

The Anglican Province of America is one of a number of "Continuing" Anglican churches in the United States. That is, it regards the Episcopal Church, USA as heretical and increasingly anti-Christian; thus it maintains an organization separate from that body in order to follow a Christian Anglican tradition. The APA has shown itself to be one of the faster developing of the American continuing churches, having absorbed several smaller Anglican jurisdictions and entering into intercommunion agreements with other Continuing Anglican bodies in the United States and in Asia. The Anglican Province of America has formally agreed to work towards eventual unity with the historically evangelical Reformed Episcopal Church as the two groups formally merge. A concordat of intercommunion has more recently been reached between the Anglican Church of Nigeria, the Reformed Episcopal Church, and the Anglican Province of America. Speculation exists that if ECUSA is expelled from the Anglican Communion in the near future, a new province will be recognized in its place for the United States, which could involve the APA.

What is The Anglican Province of America?
This Province is...... ANGLICAN. Anglican means of England. The Church came to Britain in very early days. The English Church was a national church within the great Western Church. Over 450 years ago the Church of England was affected by the Reformation. At the time of the Reformation, the English Church separated from that part of the Church we now call the Roman Catholic Church. This separation was achieved in a unique way. The Church of England remained a CATHOLIC Church, in part, by retaining EPISCOPAL government. By reforming itself, it became a Protestant or EVANGELICAL Church. When the American branch of the Church of England became independent, it established a DEMOCRATIC Church. The English Reformers translated the old worship books then being used into English in what is known as the Book of Common Prayer. Anglicans are LITURGICAL Christians.

This Province is...... A CHURCH. There is only one Church. The Church is the visible sign of the called company of baptized believers who are members of the Church, which contains both the living and departed. A province is where the Church is situated geographically. Provinces are formed by geographically contiguous dioceses, which are groupings of local parishes. This term province comes to us from when dioceses were grouped together according the Provinces of the Roman Empire. Our province of the Church happens to be in America.

This Province is...... AMERICAN. Many of the first colonists were members of the Church of England. They founded parishes in the original thirteen colonies. Many of the Founding Fathers of the United States were Anglicans. After the Revolution, the Church of England (Anglican) parishes formed the Protestant Episcopal Church. Gradually, Anglican churches throughout the world gained local independence but remained a union of churches called the Anglican Communion. For many years these churches were united by a common faith, a common form of church government, and a common worship. In recent years, member churches have tended to stress their independence rather than their unity. Differences in belief and worship have created tensions that unhappily divide Anglicans. This Province is an Anglican province, which seeks to be faithful to the ideals and faith of the first Episcopalians and their descendants.

This Province is...... CATHOLIC. Catholic means the Church established by our Lord Himself, which is always served by clergy who are successors of the Apostles, who administer the Sacraments, which our Lord gave to the Church. The faith of the Church is summarized in the three historic Creeds, Apostles, Nicene, and Athanasian, and in the teachings defined by the Early Church.

This Province is...... EPISCOPAL. The word episcopal means of bishops. Our Lord Jesus Christ sent His disciples into the world. They were called Apostles, or "sent men. The Apostles added ministers to their ranks to care for the growing Church. These men became known as bishops. Our bishops are descendants of the Apostles and of the first Episcopal bishops in the United States.

This Province is...... EVANGELICAL. The word evangelical means of the Gospel. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is found in the Holy Bible, God's Word written by inspired people. The Bible is the book of the Church. Anglicans cherish the Scriptures. They are read in public worship. Our Prayer Book is Bible-based. Its words echo the teachings, words, and expressions of the Holy Scriptures.

This Province is...... LITURGICAL. A liturgy is literally an established formula for public worship in a church which uses prescribed forms.. We show our duty to God and our love for Him in corporate worship. The 1928 American edition of the Book of Common Prayer is the official liturgy of this Province. It is basically the same form of service used by the first settlers. Many scholars maintain that this book, together with the King James Version of the Bible (an Anglican translation), has affected the English language and the spiritual life of the English speaking people of the world more than any other published work.

This Province is...... DEMOCRATIC. The Protestant Episcopal Church was the first Anglican Church to restore to the laity the rights and duties they enjoyed in the Early Church. At every level of church life, in the parish and in the diocese, the laity share with the clergy the duty of determining the policies governing the day-to-day life of the church.

This Province is...... TRADITIONAL. By traditional we mean that we do not allow the current winds of public and societal opinion to alter that Faith which we have received from our forefathers as contained in the Holy Bible, the writings of the Early Church, and the Book of Common Prayer.

This Province is...... INDEPENDENT. While the Church is one, it adapts itself to differing cultures and circumstances. Anglicans believe in the freedom of individual dioceses and provinces to respond to the needs of the particular people they serve. Independence does not mean that a parish or diocese or any other level of church government has the right to change the Faith. Each congregation owns its own property. Neither the bishops nor the conventions of this Church make political decisions for the people of the Church. Christians are bound to make their political decisions and exercise their rights in the light of the Gospel.

This Province is...... A FAMILY OF CHRISTIANS!

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