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FAQ
You are invited!
St. John's AAC is eager to welcome you to the Anglican Catholic Church and offer this information to answer some questions which you may have in mind. We hope you will take advantage of our clergy and parishioners in contacting them for more information.
What is an Anglican?
An Anglican is a Christian whose belief and practice is rooted in the tradition of the Church of England and in the Book of Common Prayer.
Are you Catholic?
We are a parish of the Anglican Catholic Church. We are Anglican because we worship in the Anglican tradition with its roots in the Book of Common Prayer. We are Catholic because we believe and practice the universal or Catholic faith of the church that has been handed down to us from the time of the Apostles.
Aren't We Episcopalian
While it is true that the Church of England developed into the Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S., the ACC itself is not a new church. Indeed, one will find that the ACC is established to uphold and strengthen those values and doctrine that have been with the western Christianity since its beginning. It is a 'new structure' born of radical changes to the Episcopal Church in the 1960s and 1970s. The Anglican Catholic Church emerged from the Affirmation of St. Louis in 1977 as an independent province of the One,Holy,Catholic, and Apostolic Church, in the Anglican tradition...a body separate from the Episcopal Church.
But How Are We Catholic?
The meaning of the word 'catholic' itself, however, is Greek in origin, meaning "according to the whole, believed by all, always and everywhere."To be Catholic is to be part of the One Church Jesus Christ founded. The ACC owes its faith to that which was formed in the Apostolic Age, and its theology is that of the seven Ecumenical Councils. It is in this that the ACC is in common with the Roman and Eastern Churches. It holds to the original, entire, and whole faith of the Christian Church and does not wish to take away or add to it in order to improvise that faith.
What Is Our Worship Like?
Those who are familiar with either the Pre-Vatican II RCC services or High Church ECUSA will find much that brings them home in liturgy, ceremony, Eucharistic Feast, and address. For those whose Christian upbringing hails from less structured worship, the ACC's will seem strange and formal. Parishioners can point newcomers to the basic missal of our worship, known as the Book of Common Prayer. This text is Holy Scripture organized into a worship format that those who spend even a little time reading can follow along.
We also feel that the BCP contains some of the finest English Christian text, written in the apex of the Elizabethan era. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, introduced the BCP (1549) as a text containing the essential Catholic elements of his day, but translated for the general populace. The elevated language serves to remind the worshipped that God transcends fads and social issues.
How can I learn more about your Church?
To help people learn about the Christian faith and the traditions of the historic church we offer periodic Inquirer's Classes. These classes last 8-weeks and cover topics such as: What it means to be a Christian, Christian Creeds, the Seven Sacraments, Christian Morality and it's significance to our culture, the Seven Deadly Sins, What is a Christian's Duty, Church History, Anglican Liturgy, Rule of Life, the purpose of Bible Study, the Four Marks of the Church, the Moral Law and the Gospel, What is the Liturgy. The Inquirer's Class is ongoing and new groups begin when there is a group of interested people. Please call our office to get more information about the Christian faith and the Anglican tradition
When is your Church open?
We keep our church open during our regular Service on Sundays @ 10:00am
What do I need to do to become a Member of your Church?
That depends upon your background in the faith.