Difference between revisions of "Evangelical Apostolic Church of North America (Syro-Chaldean)"
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
(See [[Aramaic Church]]) | (See [[Aramaic Church]]) | ||
| − | The Evangelical Apostolic Church of the North America, formally known as the Syro-Chaldean Church of North America, is a small communion of congregations in New York , Connecticut, and Jerusalem, Israel, that came from a mission movement of the | + | The Evangelical Apostolic Church of the North America, formally known as the Syro-Chaldean Church of North America, is a small communion of congregations in New York , Connecticut, and Jerusalem, Israel, that came from a mission movement of the Syro-Chaldean Church in India in the late 1800's. At that time, the Indian Church sent out missions to the north of India, im Hindu areas, and a mission to England - to be a sort of bridge church; not a Roman Catholic nor a Protestant church, but a reconciliation of the both by centering on the ancient apostolic and evangelical faith at once. This Church in England spread to Canada and then the U.S.east coast. Though the church is strongly evangelical and biblically oriented, it retains its understanding of being an apostolic body in succession from the Apostle Thomas and its understanding of its call to be a sacramental body of reconciliation. The following is from its self-description from its website: |
"We are a community of believers in Jesus Christ. We are one part of His universal (catholic) Church. We are a family of congregations known as the Evangelical Apostolic Church of North America (EAC). | "We are a community of believers in Jesus Christ. We are one part of His universal (catholic) Church. We are a family of congregations known as the Evangelical Apostolic Church of North America (EAC). | ||
Revision as of 12:46, June 14, 2008
(See Aramaic Church)
The Evangelical Apostolic Church of the North America, formally known as the Syro-Chaldean Church of North America, is a small communion of congregations in New York , Connecticut, and Jerusalem, Israel, that came from a mission movement of the Syro-Chaldean Church in India in the late 1800's. At that time, the Indian Church sent out missions to the north of India, im Hindu areas, and a mission to England - to be a sort of bridge church; not a Roman Catholic nor a Protestant church, but a reconciliation of the both by centering on the ancient apostolic and evangelical faith at once. This Church in England spread to Canada and then the U.S.east coast. Though the church is strongly evangelical and biblically oriented, it retains its understanding of being an apostolic body in succession from the Apostle Thomas and its understanding of its call to be a sacramental body of reconciliation. The following is from its self-description from its website:
"We are a community of believers in Jesus Christ. We are one part of His universal (catholic) Church. We are a family of congregations known as the Evangelical Apostolic Church of North America (EAC).
Our roots are in the ancient Holy Apostolic and Catholic Church of the East in the Middle East and India. We trace our family line (Apostolic succession) back to Christ’s Apostles through this church. In 1902, the Metropolitan of India had consecrated a British priest to be a missionary bishop from the Church of the East to the West. Given the episcopal name of Mar Jacobus, the Rev. Ulric Vernon Herford was made Bishop of Mercia and Middlesex, England. He then consecrated successors and the line was brought to the United States in the 1960s.
The EAC in the United States began from a home prayer group in Scarsdale, New York. This prayer group became the Congregation of the Messiah and its first pastor was ordained to the priesthood in the line of the Church of the East in 1973. In 1976, the Church was incorporated under the name of the Syro-Chaldean Church of North America. The name was changed in 1992.
Our congregations or parishes are organized into dioceses, each of which is overseen by a senior pastor or bishop. Each congregation is cared for by ordained priests or the bishop who serve as local pastors.
We have local congregations in New York and Connecticut as well as in Jerusalem, Israel.
Our basic beliefs are those of the ancient Church as summarized in the Nicene Creed, also called the Symbol of Faith.
We believe strongly in God’s call to repentance and salvation, to love and service, to worship and prayer. We believe that all men and women suffer from bondage (addiction, if you will) to self-destructive and society-destroying sin, that this sin separates us from God, Himself, and all the fullness of joy that He intends for each one of us.
We believe that Jesus Christ, out of His great love for us, came into our world and took to Himself all our hurts, sins, guilt and shame. He died to pay the price for all this and to set us free. He then rose again from death enabling us to share in His victory over the grave and restoring our relationship to God. “In Him, we live and move and have our being.” [Acts 17:28]
As we repent of all our sin, all that for which He died, and acknowledge that He is the supreme authority in our lives, we receive the salvation that He has bought for us. He then, as we ask, gives to us a new life powered by His Holy Spirit, a life filled with joy, characterized by love and service. In response, we worship with hearts filled with gratitude and, using the power and the gifts given to us by the Holy Spirit, we do the mighty works of God.
We live out our Spirit-powered lives within the community of faith on location in our parishes. We are joined to Jesus Christ and His Body, the Church through baptism and in sharing His Body and Blood in our Communion, the Eucharist. “Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” [1 Corinthians 10:17] As we are one in Him, we love one another; caring for, supporting, encouraging, nurturing, teaching and helping each other in whatever way we can."
