Posted on 09/13/2006 6:43:48 PM PDT by sionnsar
Some have been wondering about who the UECNA is! In a letter to his flock, our Presiding Bishop, The Most Reverend Stephen C. Reber Sr. ponders on the identity of UECNA. Read on.
The United Episcopal Church embraces the divine truth that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, the Supreme Head of His Body— the Church. That church is both Catholic and Apostolic. That means we are a Sacramental church in the traditional time honored way. We believe that the sacraments are “of the church” in the double sense that they are “by her” and “for her”. They are “by the Church”, for she is the sacrament of Christ’s action at work in her through the mission of the Holy Spirit. They are “for the church” in the sense that the sacraments make the church, since they manifest and communicate to men, above all in the Eucharist, the mystery of communion with God, who is love, one in three persons. Forming, as it were, one mystical person with Christ the head, the church acts in the sacraments as an organically structured priestly community.
We profess that the sacraments of the new law were instituted by Jesus Christ, our Lord. The sacraments are “powers that come forth” from the Body of Christ, which is ever-living and life-giving. They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in his body, the Church. They are “the masterworks of God” in the new and everlasting covenant.
The Apostolically ordained ministry (priesthood) guarantees that it is Christ who acts in the sacrament through the Holy Spirit for the Church.
The saving mission entrusted by the Father to his incarnate son was committed to the apostles and through them to their successors: they receive the Spirit of Jesus to act in his name and in his person. The ordained minister is the sacramental bond that ties the liturgical action to what the apostles said and did and, through them, to the words and actions of Christ, the source and foundation of the sacraments.
The real purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify men, to build up the Body of Christ and to give worship to God alone. Because they are signs, they also instruct. They not only presuppose faith, but by words and objects they also nourish, strengthen and express it. That is why the are called “sacraments of faith”.
As Anglicans, we then accept the components of the faith revealed; the Scriptures, Creeds, Councils, Sacraments, Worship, Ministry, and Tradition. We believe that all of the components are like strands of a rope; a unity which holds the church together. In this belief we share a Catholic ideal way of faith.
The Reformation of the 16th century was the most comprehensive and far reaching effect to return the Christian faith to its legitimate roots of faith and practice. We accept the English Reformation as that which diligently sought the true sources of faith and discredited the many corruptions and distortions of the Middle Ages. Actually, the Articles of Religion found in the Prayer Book were written not as a statement of faith, but to deal with the above mentioned distortions and corruptions of the medieval church.
We do not, however, accept the theology of the Continental Reformation or its uncatholic effort which tried to discard the fundamental principles of the historic faith along with the abuses.
We do not accept private innovations intruding into the Church’s teachings. We honor Luther, Calvin, Knox and others for their efforts to explain the faith, but do not accept them as having prophetic abilities to speak for God.
We celebrate the historic faith-fundamental form of Christianity; its faith, worship, teaching, devotions and life with joy and love and with real thankfulness and real confidence. We believe this catholic approach to be the most comprehensive and satisfying expression of gratitude for God’s unlimited love and mercy.
We believe God has given us a special position as a “bridge church”—a bridge between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. We proclaim a living way of faith and worship that believes in every persons right to life, honor traditional marriage between a man a woman and practice financial policies that allow local ownership of local property (Church, parish house, etc).
The United Episcopal Church of North America, while coming from the American arm of the Anglican Communion and having our apostolic succession from these bodies, does not belong to either of these organizations nor shares their extreme liberal views on morals and their abandonment of orthodoxy.
We are a church truly catholic and evangelical in scope and embrace a broad base of ceremonial practice inherent in the Historic Anglican Tradition. Look us up on the web: www.united-episcopal.org or call today 1 704 871 0272 or 479 756 5074. We are just what you are looking for in a faith community.
Blessings
++ Stephen C. Reber, Sr.
The Presiding Bishop
The United Episcopal Church of North America
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. Well how 'bout that, right in my neighborhood! I'll be sure to pay them a visit.
They did not choose well when naming the organization. They probably should re-brand with something that evokes a less liberal image than United (brings to mind liberal groups like the UCC, UMC, and the former UPUSA) and Episcopal.
Really! Let me know how it goes.
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