What on earth is an Anglican?

“Anglican” means English. We are des­cended from the Church of England, which dates back to the 16th century English Reformation. Like Luther and Calvin on the “Continent”, they “protested” what they felt was the departure of the Church from the supreme authority of Scripture and the improper primacy of one bishop above all others. They believed that anything that is required of Christians to be believed and practiced should provable from Holy Scripture. So do we.

Thus, we are Protestant because we believe the Holy Scriptures to be “God’s Word written” (Article XX, Articles of Religion), containing all things necessary to salvation, and authoritative in all matters of faith and morals; we profess and teach that salvation is by grace through faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and in His unique and all-sufficient sacrifice, death, and resur­rection – and not through any works or merits of our own.

But we are also catholic (Greek katholikos = universal) in that we seek to hold and practice the whole faith “once delivered to the saints,” with neither addition nor dilution, as it has been believed “always, everywhere, and by all,” expressed in the Creeds, Councils, and Fathers of the early Church, and continued in the classical Anglican Formularies:
◦ The 1928 Book of Common Prayer
◦ The 39 Articles of Religion.
◦ The Ordinal (services for ordaining clergy)
◦ The Books of Homilies

Sacraments, ministry, and worship

We believe that the holy sacraments instituted by Christ Himself – that is to say, Baptism and the Holy Communion – are outward and visible signs of the inward and spiritual grace given to us by God Him­self, and that they effect what they signify:
• In the case of Baptism, the washing away of sins, spiritual regeneration (rebirth), and grafting into the Body of Christ, so that we become children of God and heirs of eternal life. We hold that infants as well as those of “riper years” may be baptized.
• In the case of the Holy Communion, we believe that those who rightly, worthily, and with faith partake of that most holy sacrament are truly, though spiritu­ally, fed and nourished with the Body and Blood of Christ, as He Himself has promised; and that the means by which His Body and Blood are received is through faith.

We faithfully maintain the apostolic succession in the historic episcopate, and the three­fold orders of (male) ministry: bishops, priests (presbyters), and deacons.

We believe in traditional morality in issues affecting the sanctity of life and human sexuality.

We practice dignified, reverent, tradi­tion­al worship “in the beauty of holiness,” using the Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible, the 1928 Book of Common Prayer – descended in direct line from the first Anglican Prayer Book of 1549 – and we enrich our worship with classic hymns from the 1940 Hymnal, striving to “do all things decently and in order,” to the glory of God, and to the edification of His people.

Who should join us?

We at Christ Church Anglican welcome all visitors of good will to our services. We are not a “closed communion”. All members of other branches of Christ’s Church, who are baptized and who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, are affectionately invited to the Lord’s Table.

Perhaps you are traveling, and presently attend another church where the Word of God is rightly taught and the sacraments are duly administered. We pray that you would stop to join us for a time, and take from us some blessing worth sharing with your own church family back home.

Perhaps you are searching for a church home. Maybe you are somewhere where worship depends primarily upon the performance and personality of the pastor, and the congregation is a mere audience. Are you lost in the crowd? Are you looking for more? Is there somewhere where you can worship in a fashion that involves you personally and is at the same time orderly, ancient, and beautiful – and in keeping with Scripture?

On the other hand, many so-called “mainline” churches are infatuated with the spirit of the times and have turned from the Gospel of Christ. Matters of popular cultural significance have taken precedence over the Gospel. Morality, especially family and sexual morality, are relative to the individual with Biblical standards of morality considered “passe”. And while secular and popular social concerns take primacy, such central doctrines as the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection and even the very Godhood of Christ are frowned upon, and Biblical morality is considered outdated and “hateful”. Where can you go today both to hear the Word of God rightly preached and see the sacraments duly administered?

Anglicans are often categorized as “high church” or “low church”. Here you will find folks that are “high”, “low”, and in-between one end or another. Wherever you are at, you will find a home here.

We are confident that you will find here good and fertile ground for a deep faith in Christ. Join us in hearing and sharing a proclamation of God’s Word which is at once faithful to classical Anglicanism and to the traditions of worship established by the church of the Apostles. Walk the “old paths” with us, and join us by the waters of rest as we kneel before the Lord our Maker…and worship him in the beauty of holiness!

Where are we?

Click on the “Where are we?” link above for a map and directions.