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The Anglican Identity
The Anglican Church is a branch
of the catholic Christian faith. The following formularies are basic to our
identity and, together, form our understanding and our practice of the
faith.
The Holy Bible
The Book of Common Prayer
The 3 Creeds of Christendom
The Ecumenical Councils of the undivided Church
The Catholic Teachings of the Early Church Fathers
The 39 Articles of Religion
The Holy Bible
From its very beginnings, the Anglican tradition has been firmly grounded
in the Scriptures. Our theology, beliefs and spirituality have
flowed naturally from our conviction that the Bible is the word of God,
entirely trustworthy, true, and authoritative.
Because of these strong convictions, Anglicans and the REC are
particular about the translations used, carefully choosing only faithful,
accurate, literal translations of the Scripture. At St. Timothy's Church, we recommend
the following three translations and one study Bible*. These are chosen
for their reliability and excellence in translation theory, as well as the
excellent quality of language. You might wish to know that Fr. Brad
studies and prepares using all three versions, but teaches
from the English Standard Version.
The Book of Common Prayer
After the Bible, the Prayer Book is the most important of Anglican
documents. It has been said, "If you want to know what people really
believe, listen to how they pray and worship." This is most certainly true
of Anglicans. Furthermore, the documents listed in this
section are contained within the Prayer Book. At. St. Timothy's Church we
use the
REC Book of Common Prayer, which contains both the 1662 and 1928
classic versions of the liturgy.
The Book of Common Prayer is a collection of the ancient liturgies of
the Church (worship services for Morning and Evening Prayer, Holy
Communion, Baptism, Confirmation, weddings, burials, and ordinations) as
well as a collection of prayers appropriate for almost any occasion.
But the bulk of the Prayer Book is direct quotations from Scripture. In
fact around 80% is directly from the Bible. This includes Scripture
readings for every Sunday of the year as well as the entire Book of
Psalms, which Anglicans read, chant, and sing every day. In our Sunday
Liturgies, we quote passages of Scripture back and forth to one another,
and pray the words of Scripture. Furthermore, in the front of the Prayer
Book is a lectionary, a daily Scripture reading plan which guides all
Anglicans to read through the Bible every year. For Anglicans, the Prayer
Book teaches us to incorporate Scripture into every area of our lives as
we worship God according to his revealed desires each and every day.
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The Catholic Creeds of all Christendom
(Apostle's, Nicene, and Athanasian)
Some have said, "We have no Creed but Christ." But which Christ?
There have been many imposters in history. The classic
creeds of Christendom are statements, drawn from Scripture, which ensure
that we are speaking of and trusting in the God of Scripture, the holy
Trinity of history and of reality - and not the false "christs" of
human invention.
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The 39 Articles of Religion
Each of the 39
individual articles addresses some topic of our beliefs, including the
nature of God, the Bible as the Word of God, the work of Christ, His
Sacraments, and His Church. The 39 Articles function as an outline of
our Anglican Faith.
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The Ecumenical Councils
of the undivided Church
Each of these councils spoke authoritatively for the whole Church and
their godly pronouncements are received as binding settlements of
controversy and heresy in the Church, as well as guides for orthodox
(right) belief. A careful study of these councils reveals that Satan is a
creature of habit. He continues to attack the Church of Christ on the same
grounds today as always. Therefore, the teachings of the councils are as
relevant today as they were in their own time.
The Catholic Teachings
of the early Church fathers
The word "catholic", here and
elsewhere on this site, means "that which has been believed by all
Christians in all places at all times." One test of all teaching is catholicity,
which shows the teaching to be the fruit of the Holy Spirit, who leads us
all into all truth. We revere and study the church fathers because their
teaching is catholic - to be believed by all in all times
and places.
Learn more
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Anglican
and Reformed Episcopal
We are often asked, are you Anglicans or Reformed
Episcopalians? The answer, of course, is that we are both.
"Anglican" is a term of identity (this describes who we are, what we
believe, and how we pursue Christ.) "Reformed Episcopal" is a term of
jurisdiction (this describes who our bishops are and how we govern ourselves
as the body of Christ.)
The Reformed Episcopal Church
The Reformed Episcopal Church believes
that God's church is most faithfully lead and ordered by the three-fold
Apostolic and biblical ministry of bishops, presbyters and deacons. We have
been careful to uphold and continue this Apostolic heritage. Reformed
Episcopalians also believe that our calling from God is to uphold, defend,
and preserve the doctrine and tradition of the Anglican way, which is our
happy inheritance from the Lord.
Learn more
*A quick note about our name: the word Reformed in our title is from the
19th century use of the word, meaning that we desire to remain faithful to our
heritage as the Reformed Catholic Church of England, now commonly
called the Anglican Church. The word Episcopal means bishops, and refers to
our desire to retain our Apostolic fellowship with all catholic and
apostolic Christians through the ancient order of bishops who lead us.
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