Church of The Apostles

Evangelical Anglican

 

What We Believe ...

 

Church of The Apostles

(Evangelical Anglican)

170 Fairview Avenue

Coventry, Rhode Island

 

CONSTITUTION and BYLAWS

adopted at the

First Annual Meeting of the Corporation

January 28, 2007

 

PREAMBLE

 

             The Church of The Apostles (Evangelical Anglican), 170 Fairview Avenue, Coventry, Rhode Island, is an autonomous Christian Congregation rooted in the doctrinal and ordered liturgical tradition of the Anglican family of churches.  We are, therefore, a Congregation upholding the orthodox Christian Faith of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as confessed in the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, and as defined in the original (English/Latin) version of the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion of 1571.

             At the Church of The Apostles, we faithfully live the Christian Faith through our bold proclamation of the Word of God and in our joyful celebration of the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion, which we believe to be “effectual signs of grace” (Article XXV, Thirty-nine Articles of Religion).

             The Church of The Apostles teaches that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the rule and ultimate standard of the Christian Faith and “containeth all things necessary to salvation” (Article VI, Thirty-nine Articles).

             The Church of The Apostles further teaches that “it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God’s Word written” (Article XX, Thirty-nine Articles).

             The Church of The Apostles therefore, in particular, propagates the following two evangelical doctrines:  1. “We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works or deservings” (Article XI, Thirty-nine Articles; see Ephesians 2:8-9); and 2. “The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments be duly ministered according to Christ’s ordinance” (Article XIX, Thirty-nine Articles).

Church of The Apostles is a member of the

Conservative Congregational Christian Conference.