Anglican? What’s that?

As disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, Anglicans share with other Christians the historic biblical faith of the undivided Church of the first millennium. We believe in One, Triune God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The purpose of the Church on earth is to glorify God by our worship, by our service, by loving our neighbors, and by fulfilling the last command of Jesus to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20) until He returns to earth in glory. Our commitment to the historic Christian faith is summed up by the words of St. Vincent of Lerins (445AD) when he said: “Moreover, in the catholic (universal) Church itself, all possible care must be taken, that we hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, by all.”

Therefore, we, as traditional Anglican Christians hold to the doctrines taught in the Bible and find our statements of belief in the historic Creeds (the Apostles’, Nicene and Athanasian Creeds), the Book of Common Prayer, which shapes our worship, the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion and the Ordinal, locally adapted in conformity to the standards set in 1549.

What we Believe:

The Holy Scriptures

We accept the infallible authority of the Holy Bible over all aspects of our lives. It is truly for us “the word of God written”: a source of guidance, inspiration, strength. The word of God is the sole infallible source of authority for the church, which all lesser authorities must conform to. We do not presume to change the Bible. We pray it will change us!

Book of Common Prayer (1928)

As Anglicans, our order of service (or “liturgy”) is found in the Book of Common Prayer. This ageless work not only provides the substance of our prayer and praise; it also contains key teachings, standards, and traditions as held by the Church throughout the 2,000 years of her existence. In accordance with the teaching of Scripture, we uphold the principle of the inter-relatedness of doctrine and worship, with the consequent understanding that if there is to be one common and uniting set of beliefs then there must also be one common and uniting worship lex orandi, lex credendi (that which we pray is also what we believe).

Salvation

In the words of Jesus Christ, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). We accept the Law of God as just, and we accept that all men have sinned, fallen short of the glory of God, and are in need of forgiveness (Romans 3:23). The Good News of the Gospel is this; that Jesus Christ came to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). For this reason, God became man, suffered on the Cross, died, was buried, and rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:4). So that whoever believes on Christ shall not perish, but will have eternal life (John 3:16). Salvation is a free gift, merited only by Christ and His work, and bestowed by God’s grace.

While we do confess that all men are sinners, we acknowledge that Scripture clearly instructs we live a life of repentance away from sin—not towards it (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Romans 6:1-2). The word of God is not to be bent and conformed to the present world—the present world must be conformed to the word of God. Read more about our specific principles here.

The ‘high-calling’ of Anglicans, everywhere…

St. Mark the Evangelist maintains unapologetically, the Ten Commandments as set forth in all parts of the Scripture.

Parishioners of St. Mark’s are admonished to consecrate themselves to God, to make Jesus Christ a living presence in their daily lives, to serve Him faithfully as dedicated disciples in a broken world, and thus find the peace, joy and confidence which lies at the center of Christian Life. This is optimal if one is engaged in the Threefold Rule of Anglican Spirituality as coined by Fr. Martin Thornton (died 1986). The Threefold Rule of Anglican Spirituality (Office-Eucharist-Devotion), can best be described as follows: Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer, Weekly Eucharist, & personal meditation and study of GOD’s Holy Scriptures, using the Prayer Book’s Lectionary.