What does it mean to be an Episcopalian or an Agelican Christian
What do you believe as Angelican Christians?
How We Decide on Anglican Doctrine
What does it mean to be an Episcopalian or an Agelican Christian
Episcopal Church
n.
The church in the United States that is in communion with the see of Canterbury. The Episcopal Church is the Anglican Church of the United States. Literally, "Episcopal" means a church "with bishops." Episcopoi means bishop in the Bible. Its separate existence as an American ecclesiastical body with its own episcopate began in 1789.
Doctrine and Organization
The Episcopal Church maintains that the Holy Scriptures are the ultimate rule of faith. Its symbols of doctrine are the Apostles' and the Nicene Creed and the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England, with certain modifications to fit American conditions. The ministry is of three orders: deacons, priests, and bishops. The system of organization includes the parish, the diocese, the province, and the General Convention. The General Convention, the highest ecclesiastical authority in the church, consists of the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies and meets in session every three years. The ecclesiastical head of the church is the presiding bishop, elected by the General Convention. The National Council, set up in 1919, is delegated by the General Convention to administer all the organized missionary, educational, and social work. The church has about 2.2 million members in the United States (1999).
What do you believe as Angelican Christians?
The Bible is our all-sufficient rule for faith and practice and is summarized in The Nicene Creed and The Apostles Creed. To further understand our doctrines, please read our Articles of Religion and The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral, 1886, 1888. Upon these principles and beliefs we base our service to God and His Church.
How We Decide on Anglican Doctrine
Contrary to what most modern, progressive Episcopalians will try and tell you, there is no three-legged stool of authority in Anglicanism upon which we determine doctrine or belief. It is true that dating back to the time of Elizabeth the I of England and Richard Hooker's book The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, Anglicans have valued Scripture, reason, and tradition as the filter through which we make important church decisions. However, if these three legs comprised a stool, it would not make a very reliable one, for the leg of Scripture is by far the longest, first, and primary. Here is what Richard Hooker actually said:
“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).
Therefore, the Anglican Church is truly a Bible Church. Only in things not explicitly plain in Scripture can we consult, our God-given reason, and the tradition handed down to us by the saints.
Our Service:
St. Paul's seeks to incorporate into her worship life the very best elements from the early Christian church and the Anglican Church tradition. We seek to do this with a sense of cultural relevance and warmth.
The principle model we use for our public services at St. Paul's Church may be found in the following scriptures:
Psalm 149:1-5 Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, His praise in the assembly of the saints. Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. Let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with tambourine and harp. For the LORD takes delight in His people; He crowns the humble with salvation. Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy (NIV).
Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (NIV).
Worship in the Anglican Church is done so through the beauty of the Book of Common Prayer. The heart of this book dates back to 1549, but many of its prayers come from much earlier Christian worship. While our service is weighted toward church tradition, rather than extemporaneous movements of the Spirit, there are opportunities for spontaneous prayer and response. We use the Prayer Book for several reasons.
1) The Prayer Book contains prayers that are tried-and-true. They carry with them the weight of centuries of Christians who have used them and found them to be Holy Spirit inspired.
2) Being able to read one's prayer, allows one to say the amen or "yes I believe this" at the end. An Extemporaneous prayer, may or may not be theologically correct or express our deepest longings before God.
3) The Prayer Book allows us to participate fully as active worshippers. Instead of sitting back and letting someone else pray for us, we pray together as the Body of Christ. Praying from a book allows this type of unity of Spirit.
Anglicans define the sacraments as outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace. There are two Gospel Sacraments commanded by Christ, which are Baptism and Holy Communion. There are also five lesser sacraments or non-Gospel sacraments that are not commanded for everyone, but are for the health and wellbeing of the church. The other sacramental rites which evolved in the Church include confirmation, ordination, holy matrimony, reconciliation of a penitent, and unction. How do they differ from the two sacraments of the Gospel? Although they are means of grace, they are not necessary for all persons in the same way that Baptism and the Eucharist are.
Holy Baptism
Holy Baptism is the sacrament by which God adopts us as his
children and makes us members of Christ's Body, the Church, and
inheritors of the kingdom of God. The outward and visible sign in Baptism is water, in which the
person is baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Spirit. The inward and spiritual grace in Baptism is union with Christ in
his death and resurrection, birth into God's family the Church,
forgiveness of sins, and new life in the Holy Spirit.