The Anglican Way

Lancelot Andrewes, a great Anglican thinker of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, once summarized and enumerated the foundation of Anglican beliefs this way: one Bible, in two testaments, three creeds, four general councils, and five centuries.

 

As Anglicans we:

• Understand the Holy Bible to be God's divine revelation and the foundation of our faith.

• Hold to the three historic creeds (Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian) as the boundaries of orthodox doctrine.

• Accept the authority and conclusions of the first four ecumenical councils of the undivided Church (Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon).

• Defer to the writings of the Church fathers in the first five centuries of Church history as interpretative guides for understanding and expounding the faith once delivered to the Apostles.

 

The Sacraments

We believe in the centrality and necessity of the two Sacraments of the Gospel - Baptism and Holy Communion - which our Lord instituted for all Christians. Furthermore, we affirm the five Sacraments of the Church, which have been preserved in the Anglican tradition: Confirmation, Penance, Unction, Matrimony, and Holy Orders.

 

The Book of Common Prayer

Part of what makes Anglicanism distinct from other forms of Christianity is the Book of Common Prayer. Due to the influence of Benedictine monasticism in the historic life of the English Church, our worship and piety have always been centered around corporate and unified prayer. The monastic offices have been preserved in the Prayer Book in the offices of Morning and Evening Prayer, and the Prayer Book tradition has had a profound influence over English language and culture since the sixteenth century.

 

Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi

We believe the old maxim, lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi - law of prayer, law of belief, law of life. How you pray will affect what you believe, and therefore determine how you live. Therefore, we believe that praying, and especially praying well and correctly, is essential to maintaining orthodox doctrine and correct Christian practice.