What we Believe
We are a conservative, orthodox Anglican church. We profess our faith through the three ancient creeds of the Church: the Apostles, Nicene, and the Athanasian Creeds. The Holy Scriptures and the Book of Common Prayer (1928) are our rule for Faith and Practice.
How we Live the Faith
We pursue a life in God for the sake of the world in the Anglican Way. This means that we follow the “Threefold Rule.”
Celebrate Weekly Communion
Pray the Daily Office
Practice Personal Devotion (either through Spiritual Direction or spiritual friendships)
What we Value
Together in Life: Traditional churches often struggle to combine beautiful liturgy with real community. We aim for a shared life because we go to the altar together. Through intentional community, we live out this value by sharing joys and burdens, practicing spiritual disciplines, and enfolding others into the Family of God.
Deep in Discipleship: Every Christian should know their Bible and the prayers of the Church. We take seriously Jesus’ commission to preach and to teach. For this reason, every child and adult in the church is asked to commit to weekly “catechesis” or instruction. Our Men’s, Ladies’, and Young Adult Fellowships also provide support and accountability for those going deeper in their life with God.
Centered on Communion: Life flows from the altar, for at the altar we sacrifice ourselves, souls and bodies, to be a living sacrifice unto God (Romans 12:1), and God, in turn, gives us the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of Jesus. (BCP, 83) This sacrament revives our dying soul, and so we center our lives around this promised grace in faith that God will bless those who “take and eat what was given for them." (Luke 22:19) For this reason, we take Holy Communion every Sunday morning, and it forms one of the primary rhythms of our life together with God.
Rooted in History: Given that we live in such a confused and chaotic time, we take our cues from the church of old times, rather than the sentiments of the modern world. The Faith is something handed down, and God blesses those who humbly receive His gifts from those who came before. This is one of the reasons why our worship is historic or “traditional”.
What is Anglicanism?
Anglican Christianity, which stems from the Protestant Reformation, is one of the largest Christian traditions in the world. Christianity came to Britain in the first or second century, probably brought by merchants from Jerusalem. Tradition says that the gospel was brought there by Joseph of Arimathea. When Pope St. Gregory the Great sent a monk named Augustine to England in 597 to establish a Roman mission at Canterbury, he found an already established and robust British church with its own bishops and customs.The two church traditions (Rome and Britain) existed side-by-side until the Synod of Whitby in 663, when for the sake of Christian unity, it was decided that Roman customs would be followed. That relationship continued through most of Anglican church history. In 1208, a confrontation arose between King John and Pope Innocent III over rights in the church which led to England being placed under interdict and King John’s five-year excommunication.Good relations were interrupted again in the 1530’s, when King Henry VIII, desiring to obtain an annulment of his marriage, renounced the jurisdiction of the pope or any other foreign bishop in the English realm. Communion was restored briefly in 1553 but unfortunately, relations were severed again in 1570 with the excommunication of Elizabeth I by Pope Pius V. The Church of England became an independent body at that point and would continue to follow its own laws and customs thereafter. To learn more about the history of Anglicanism, consider watching this series by our Director of Catechesis, Dr. Kyle Hughes.
Anglicanism in America
The Anglican church in the American colonies became a separate ecclesial body along with the birth of the United States after the revolutionary war. Anglicans used the name “Episcopalian” almost exclusively after the war. However, they noted that this new Episcopal Church “is far from intending to depart from the church of England in any essential point of doctrine, discipline, or worship, or further than local circumstances allow” (The Book of Common Prayer, p.11). The word “episcopal” comes from the Greek word episcope (overseer) that the New Testament uses for the office of bishop who oversees a local church. The word “church” comes from the Greek word ekklesia (assembly) that the New Testament uses for God’s people gathered into an assembled congregation. So the term “episcopal church” means a church overseen by bishops, according to the New Testament model.
What do Anglicans Believe?
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 the doctrines taught in the Bible and find our statements of belief in the historic Creeds, the writings of the early Church Fathers, the Ecumenical Councils of the Church, the Catechism of the Book of Common Prayer, the Thirty-Nine Articles of Faith, and in the language of our prayers.
Helpful Links
REC100: The Reformed Episcopal Church’s church planting initiative
Book of Common Prayer (1928): the Prayer Book we use at CTK
Anglican Way Institute: Through worship, prayer, teaching, practical instruction, and fellowship, we seek to form the essentials of the Anglican Way in the youngest adult generation that they might become mature disciples equipped to disciple the nations according to Jesus' Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).