Anglican Rite
Catholic Church of the East
Vision Statement
Our Lord in His high priestly prayer prays for unity among His people: �Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me� (John
17:20-12).
In an effort to live out that unity, the Anglican Church has always viewed itself as the via media between East and West, between Catholic and Protestant. With its origin, being a result of eastern missionaries bringing the Gospel to the shores of England, the tribes of the Anglos were converted.
In AD 664, at the Council of Whitby, the Roman Rite was adopted by the Church of the Anglos (Anglican). The Anglican Church continued
to share both Eastern and Western traditions. However, in attempting to bridge the gap, it has not fully achieved that vision.
Today the Anglican Church remains fragmented and still stands apart from others. With in the body of Christ there have always been differences.
However on all the major doctrines the Christian Church was united from its inception 2000 years ago to the present. The great Schism of the church in 1054 was a break between the Eastern Church and the Western Church over a doctrine of the procession of the Holy Spirit.
Five hundred years later the Church was shattered by a doctrinal challenge of teachings which were not recognized as dogma by the undivided church. Rather than sit down at the table to wrestle with these issues the church went to war with itself. Sadly it has been at war with itself since then.
Further, rather than reform the church, a multitude of reformers worked to redefine and reinvent the Church. In the end, the ministry
of the Gospel and its message was, by many, displaced by ignorance and egos.
The resultant confusion has produced the bad fruit of those who today fleece the flock and use the pulpit to aggrandize themselves. This is
not to say that many have studied the Scriptures with a sincerity of heart and a soundness of mind and have done great works for the Kingdom of God. Yet, rather than seek union among Christ�s beloved people, they remain aloof and separated. This confusion works opposite to the purpose of the Church established by Christ
and his Apostles.
With the above in mind, the Catholic Church of the East has created an Anglican Rite, which, is a truly Anglican and truly Church Catholic. The Anglican Rite, embracing the teachings of the Undivided Church, the seven ecumenical councils, the three creeds, and the seven sacraments, along with embracing the Constitution of the Catholic Church of the East, expresses the true unity and diversity of the body of Christ.
It is this vision of East meeting West, Protestant meeting Catholic, which by our union, testifies to the heart of Christ�s desire
for His Church to be one, so that the World will know and believe that the Father has sent the Son.
May our Lord be glorified in this union and the Gospel manifested in such a way that the world may believe that Jesus is
Theological Statement
Orthodoxy is the faithful following of Jesus Christ , adhering to His teachings found in Holy Scripture as understood by the Undivided Christian Church. We believe and confess that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no one comes to the Father but by Him. This being the summary of the Gospel we further believeand teach:
1. The canonical books of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God, containing all things
necessary for salvation, the final authority and unchangeable standard for Christian faith and life.
2. We believe that there are seven Sacraments ordained by Christ Himself given for the temporal and eternal benefit of His Church.
3. We believe that the godly historic Episcopate is an inherent part of the apostolic faith and practice, essential to the fullness and unity of the Body of Christ.
4. We believe the historic faith of the undivided church as declared in the three Catholic Creeds: the Apostles', the
Nicene, and the Athanasian and in the seven ecumenical councils.
5. We recognize that the 1662 Book of Common prayer together with the Ordinal are a standard for Anglican
doctrine and discipline, along with the Books which preceded it, serving as the standard for the Anglican tradition of worship. We further recognize the need of the Church to contextualize the language of its worship to minister to the generation of its day. Thus the need to ensure that the worship of the Church will meet the need of the body being based upon an Ancient � Future model.
6. We recognize the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion of 1571, as expressing the Anglican response to certain
doctrinal issues of its day, and though not exhaustive of Christian doctrine they serve as a formulary of authentic
Anglican belief.
7. We further recognize the importance and validity of the Affirmation of St Louis.
The above expresses our basic understanding of Traditional Anglicanism.
Various denominations from the reformation and continuing into the present hold to specific confessions.
The Anglican Church has no confession of its own to make it distinctive from the Undivided Holy Catholic Church.
She therefore embraces and affirms those teaching of Holy Scripture reflected in the three historic creeds of the Church, the ancient
fathers who, from generation to generation, preserved the Apostolic teachings and the determinations of the seven ecumenical councils.
We further recognize that The Church has no authority to reinvent the teachings given to it by the Apostles which the Fathers and Church Councils have passed on to us.
It has only the authority to proclaim and defend
the �Faith once delivered to the saints,� and call the world to account by it.
We believe that the worship of the church, and the theology reflected in the liturgy, must conform to the sound understanding of Scripture guided by the traditions of the Undivided Church.
Though the church is called to follow the Apostolic model, it is necessary that the worship of the church be in a known tongue.
We further recognize the use of both the altar and the table (a free standing altar) in celebrating the Eucharist.
