Constitution of the Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd

Dear Friends,

On February 10th, 2009 the vestry and trustees of the Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd adopted a Constitution that, by God's grace, will serve as a framework for community life. There are 6 articles in the constitution and I'll be posting one at a time for the next few days...please take the time to read them and if you have any questions or comments please feel free to send them forward or post them in the comments.

ARTICLE I

The Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd, being a part of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ, confesses Jesus Christ to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no one comes to the Father but by Him. Therefore, we profess the following eight articles and truths as characteristic of the Anglican Way, and essential to our fellowship:

1. We confess the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God, containing all things necessary for salvation, and to be the final authority and unchangeable standard for Christian faith and life.

2. We confess Baptism and the Supper of the Lord to be Sacraments ordained by Christ Himself in the Gospel, and thus to be ministered with unfailing use of His words of institution and of the elements ordained by Him.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Concerning the seven Councils of the undivided Church, we affirm 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.

6. 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.

7. We receive the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion of 1562, taken in their literal and grammatical sense, as expressing the Anglican response to certain doctrinal issues controverted at that time, and as expressing fundamental principles of authentic Anglican belief.

8. We affirm the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) Statement and Jerusalem Declaration issued 29 June 2008.

In all these things, the Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd is determined by the help of God to hold and maintain the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ and to transmit the same, unimpaired, to our posterity.

We seek to be and remain in full communion with all Anglican Churches, Dioceses and Provinces that hold and maintain the Historic Faith, Doctrine, Sacraments and Discipline of the one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.