Anglicanism

MISSION

EAC invites all people to

abide in Jesus who transforms, equips, and sends us to serve Him

VALUES

EAC lives into this mission by

our shared participation in Scripture, Sacrament, and Spirit

Common Experience: We experience the love of God, through Jesus Christ, as forgiven sinners.
Common Obedience: We recognize and confess Jesus Christ as Master and Lord above all others.
Common Interest: We desire to increase our knowledge and love of Jesus Christ as individuals and a community of believers.
Common Goal: We are committed to bringing all people to the knowledge and love of God through Jesus Christ.

Members of EAC commit themselves, the Lord being their helper, to live into the following commitments:

To worship God, the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, every Lord’s Day in a Church unless reasonably prevented;
To engage regularly in the reading and study of Holy Scripture and the Doctrine of the Church as found in Article I of the Constitution of this Church;
To pray regularly for their needs and those of others, for the Church and its mission, and for the concerns of the world;
To observe their baptismal vows, to lead an upright and sober life, and not give scandal to the Church;
To present their children and those they have led to the Lord for baptism and confirmation;
To give regular financial support to the Church, with the biblical tithe as the minimum standard of giving;
To practice forgiveness daily according to our Lord’s teaching;
To receive worthily the Sacrament of Holy Communion as often as reasonable;
To observe the feasts and fasts of the Church set forth in the Anglican formularies;
To affirm and follow the biblical standards of sexual morality and ethics in Canon II.8;
To continue their instruction in the Faith so as to remain an effective minister for the Lord Jesus Christ;
To serve their neighbor, sacrificially demonstrating the love of Christ to the poor, the sick and those in need.
To devote themselves to the ministry of Christ and the proclamation of the Gospel among those who do not know Him, utilizing the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives them, for the effective extension of Christ’s Kingdom.

A Prayer for Emmanuel Anglican Church’s Members

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who has given us a good will to do all these things, grant us also the strength and power to perform them, accomplishing in us the good work which you have begun, that we may be found perfect and without reproach on the last day;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Basics

First and foremost, Anglicans are Christians. Globally, Anglicans form the third largest body of Christians in the world (around 80 million members) behind the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

Global Anglicanism
Just as the English language spread with the British empire, so did Anglican Christianity. When Anglicans resettled in new lands, they brought their personal faith with them. Chaplains and pastors were often among their number. Additionally, many Anglicans traveled as missionaries to share the Gospel. Consequently, Anglican churches now exist all over the world in more than 165 countries.

Three Streams
The Anglican ethos holds together the three streams of the Christian Church:

Scripture (Evangelical): The Anglican focus on Scripture mirrors the “evangelical” tradition within Christianity that emphasizes the authority of Scripture, the proclamation of the Gospel, the need for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Spirit (Charismatic): Anglicans celebrate God the Holy Spirit's work in the Church and the world. We believe the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost and continues to move in a mighty way by demonstrating His presence through signs, wonders, miracles and the transformation of Jesus' followers.
Sacrament (Catholic): Anglicans embrace the sacred nature of the historic faith and sacramental life of the Church – God has set the Church apart as holy. We understand the sacred as embodying that which has been “believed everywhere, always, and by all...” Christians.

All three streams are grounded in the Gospel. Each one extrapolates the Gospel in a specific direction. No stream is dispensable. The Anglican tradition seeks to hold the streams in creative tension.

"The Anglican Communion," Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher wrote, "has no peculiar thought, practice, creed or confession of its own. It has only the Catholic Faith of the ancient Catholic Church, as preserved in the Catholic Creeds and maintained in the Catholic and Apostolic constitution of Christ's Church from the beginning." It may licitly teach as necessary for salvation nothing but what is read in the Holy Scriptures as God's Word written or may be proved thereby. It therefore embraces and affirms such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the Scriptures, and thus to be counted apostolic. The Church has no authority to innovate it is obliged continually, and particularly in times of renewal or reformation, to return to "the faith once delivered to the saints."

To be an Anglican, then, is not to embrace a distinct version of Christianity, but a distinct way of being a "Mere Christian," at the same time evangelical, apostolic, catholic, reformed, and Spirit-filled.

The canonical books of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired Word of God, containing all things necessary for salvation, and to be the final authority and unchangeable standard for Christian faith and life.
The seven Sacraments of the Church: Baptism and Holy Communion having been ordained by Christ as “generally necessary to salvation” (Matthew 28:19–20; Luke 22:14–20; John 6:52–58; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26; 2 Corinthians 1:21–22) and:
- Confirmation (2 Timothy 1:6–7; Hebrews 6:1–2)
- Holy Orders (Numbers 8:9–14; 27:18–23; 1 Timothy 4:14)
- Holy Matrimony (Genesis 2:18–24; Matthew 19:4–6; John 2:1–11)
- Reconciliation of the Penitent (John 20:21–23; Acts 2:37– 41)
- Unction (James 5:14)
We confess the godly historic Episcopate as an inherent part of the apostolic faith and practice, and therefore as integral to the fullness and unity of the Body of Christ.
We confess as proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture the historic faith of the undivided church as declared in the three Catholic Creeds: the Apostles', the Nicene, and the Athanasian.
We confess the seven Councils of the undivided Church, affirming the teaching of the first four Councils and the Christological clarifications of the fifth, sixth and seventh Councils, in so far as they are agreeable to the Holy Scriptures.
We receive the Book of Common Prayer as set forth by the Church of England in 1662, together with the Ordinal attached to the same, as a standard for Anglican doctrine and discipline, and, with the Books which preceded it, as the standard for the Anglican tradition of worship.
We receive the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion of 1571, taken in their literal and grammatical sense, as expressing the Anglican response to certain doctrinal issues controverted at that time, and as expressing the fundamental principles of authentic Anglican belief.

In all these things, the Anglican Church in North America is determined by the help of God to hold and maintain as the Anglican Way has received them the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ.

The Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin: The regional body, under the pastoral care of Bishop Eric Menees, to which Emmanuel Anglican Church belongs
The Anglican Church in North America: The national body, under the pastoral care of Archbishop Foley Beach, to which the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin belongs
The Global Anglican Futures Conference: The international Anglican Body that the Anglican Church in North America belongs