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| In England
and elsewhere in the British Isles, Christianity is known to have existed almost
"from the Beginning". The practice of the Christian religion and the work of the
Church of Britain were continuous through succeeding centuries. |
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Expressive of the Eternal and Mystical Body of Christ |
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| The Anglican
Faith is expressive of the eternal and Mystical Body of Christ, who commissioned His
disciples to go into all the world to preach the Gospel. Now, almost 2000 years later, the
Anglican Faith retains the essential characteristics of our Lord Saviour "who changes
not", and thus remains timelessly relevant. |
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The Essentials |
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| The
worldwide Anglican Faith and Order omits nothing of the essentials - Biblical, Credal,
Sacramental or of Apostolic Order. It has added nothing to the Faith once received by the
saints. Its Order of ritual and solemn form is embodied in one of the great treasures of
Christianity and the English language, the historic Book of Common Prayer. |
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The Anglican Faith is based on the Bible |
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| We believe
the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God and to contain all
things necessary to salvation. The Bible is the source of our belief and moral standards.
As God’s revealed Word to us, the Bible is the lens through which we view and
evaluate all other claims to the Truth. |
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The Anglican Creed is the Faith of the Creeds |
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| The Anglican
Creed is the Catholic faith of the creeds. "Catholic" means that which has been
consistently believed and practiced from the earliest times. The Apostles’ and Nicene
Creeds and the ancient statements of the undivided Church based on Biblical truth are
statements of faith today. We have neither added to nor subtracted from them. Our BOOK
OF COMMON PRAYER (1928 ed.) contains the catholic treasure of corporate worship
and enables us to use it every time we gather together for praise and prayer. The catholic
balance of Sacrament and Word in our worship is evidenced by our frequent celebrations of
the Holy Eucharist and our emphasis on Biblical preaching. The rich inheritance of the
Christian Year (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Pre-Lent, Lent, Passiontide, Easter,
Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity) and centuries of sacred music make the year alive
with a Christ-centered liturgy, participated in by all the Faithful. |
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The Anglican Faith is expressed in reverent, Altar-Centered Worship |
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| Worship
according to the Anglican Faith tends to be quietly reverent and dignified. Our uniformity
of worship, while allowing for minor variations, serves to remind us of the universal
nature of the Faith. In the Liturgy we are united with the past, present and future
generations of Christians. Such worship is carried out with a view to the glorification of
God, not for our entertainment; thus Anglicans are not spectators but participants in
liturgical worship. Not only do we express ourselves in word but also in gesture. Generally,
we kneel to pray, we stand to praise, and we sit for instruction. Other optional
devotional gestures such as the sign of the Cross, genuflecting, etc., show that we
worship not only mentally and spiritually, but physically as well. To Anglicans, worship
is the most important thing we do in this life, and, ultimately, this should characterize
our moral behavior as well, for we believe that we do all things as doing them unto God. |
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The Anglican Faith is a reformed and reforming faith |
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| Much of our
distinctiveness was hammered out during the English Reformation of the 16th century. We
hesitate to use the word "protestant" because it has lost its original meaning,
and is associated with over 200 groups who have repudiated much of the Catholic Tradition.
Perhaps the easiest way to remember the difference between the English Reformation and the
Continental European Reformation is that "the baby was not thrown out with the bath
water"! Catholic essentials such as the Creeds and the Sacraments were retained by
the Church of England, although translated into the vernacular, so that any Anglican could
participate in them with understanding. |
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The Anglican Faith is a missionary faith |
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| The first service according to the Book of Common Prayer in America was led by the Chaplain of Sir Francis Drake’s flagship in 1579, in San Francisco Bay. The first baptism of an Anglo-Saxon in North America was that of Virginia Dare in 1587. The first permanent parish established in the English Colonies was at Jamestown, 1607, following the first recorded Holy Eucharist according to the Book of Common Prayer soon after the Jamestown colonists landed. The story of the spread of the Anglican Faith to Africa, India, Australia, China, Japan, etc. is a thrilling story too long to detail here! Within this Faith we find such great and diverse servants of Jesus Christ such as C.S. Lewis, John and Charles Wesley, Florence Nightingale, Charles Dickens, T.S. Elliot, Dorothy Sayers, Robert E. Lee, Bess Truman, and several U.S. Presidents. Two-thirds of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were Anglicans. | ||
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 Queen Victoria |
 Robert E. Lee |
 C.S. Lewis |
To summarize |
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| All that we
do is based on the acceptance of Jesus Christ as the one, full, perfect and sufficient
revelation attested by Holy Scriptures. We do not need another "prophet" or
"teacher". |
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An Invitation |
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| Are you searching for a Faith which does not change according to the "politics" or "ideology" of the day? Which does not follow in the fleet of short-lived, rudderless secular humanism? If you are searching for a timeless, vibrant, and beautiful Faith, welcome to St. George’s Anglican Church, A House of Prayer for All People. We invite and need your prayers, attendance, and support. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask the Rector or any member of the vestry of St. George’s Anglican Church. We would be more than happy to assist you: 919-786-0640. | ||
