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As Anglicans, we are part of
"a fellowship within
the one holy catholic and apostolic Church of all those duly constituted
dioceses, provinces or regional Churches in communion with the See of
Canterbury which have the following characteristics in common - (a) they
uphold and propagate the catholic and apostolic faith and order as they are
generally set forth in the Book of Common Prayer as authorized in
their several Churches, (b) they are particular or national Churches and as
such promote within each of their territories a national expression of
Christian faith, life and worship, and (c) they are bound together not by a
central legislative and executive authority, but by mutual loyalty sustained
through common council of the bishops in residence." Lambeth
Conference of 1930
From the time of Saint Augustan of Canterbury, there was
already a diversity and multiplicity within English Christianity which
caused the missionary Archbishop to seek counsel from Pope Gregory the
Great. "Since we hold the same faith, why do customs vary in different
churches, why does the method of saying Mass differ in the Holy Roman Church
and in the Churches of Gaul?"
Note the response of the wise Pope:
"My
brother, you are familiar with the usage of the Roman Church in which you
were brought up. But if you have found customs, whether in the Church or
Rome or Gaul or of any other that may be more acceptable to God, I wish you
to make careful selection of them, and teach the Church of the English
whatever you have been able to learn with profit from the various
churches...for things should not be loved for the sake of places, but places
for the sake of good things. Choose, then, from every Church those things
that are pious, religious and upright, and when you as it were made them up
into one body, let the minds of the English be accustomed thereunto."
We at St. Stephen 's,
therefore, are part of the Diocese of Atlanta, which includes churches
throughout north and central Georgia. On a larger scale, we are members of
the Episcopal Church, USA, an independent national church with the Most
Reverend Frank Tracy Griswold serving as Presiding Bishop. As American
Episcopalians, we are part of that global Anglican communion which carries
on the work of St. Augustan of Canterbury. |
