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The Order of Corpus Christi |
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Right Rev'd Richard Hammond Price, Abbot |
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Definitions
#1
The Order of Corpus Christi is:
Covenantal
We believe that we are
in relationship with
God, initiated by God alone.
God is the sole creator
of all life and stands
as its only sovereign
Lord. This relationship
is covenantal because
God called all humankind
promising that God would
be our God. In the
stories of Noah,
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
and the Israelites, God
continued to be
covenantal relationship.
Because of God's abiding
and unconditional love
for humankind, God was
revealed in Jesus Christ
and through Jesus
Christ, a new covenant
was established for all
humankind.
We believe that God
actively participates in
human history and only
because of this
participation can we be
saved from sin and
death. It is exclusively
and wholly because of
God's mercy and through
God's grace do we
receive our salvation.
We believe that in
response to God's love
we are called to put our
faith (trust) in God
alone, to live according
to God's precepts as
taught by Christ and
guided by the Holy
Spirit, and to love one
another as Christ loves
us.
Evangelical
We believe that the primary task of the
church is the
proclamation of the
Gospel or (in Greek)
evangel. The gospel
literally means the
"Good News" of God's
love revealed with power
in Jesus Christ. We are
called to proclaim in
word and deed the gospel
of Christ's passion, and
of the grace, love, and
mercy extended to us
through Christ. This is
the central purpose of
the church in daily and
Sunday worship and of
daily Christian life. We
proclaim this to
individuals,
communities,
institutions,
governments and to the
world at large. In this
way, we serve as the
"light to nations and
the salt of the earth.
Catholic
stitutions
Mercersburg Theology also
called the Mercersburg Movement
[The
Mystical
Presence:
A
Vindication
of the
Reformed
or
Calvinistic
Doctrine
of the
Holy
Eucharist
( 1846)]
presents
the
central
thesis
of the
[Mercersburg]
movement:
that the
heart of
any
theology
or mode
of
church
life
lies in
its
conception
of the
Eucharist,
and that
the
Reformed
churches
had lost
the high
views of
church
and
sacrament
which
had been
held and
defended
by
Calvin.
The
Shaping
of
American
Religion
Vol. 1
Eds. A.
Leland
Jamison,
James
Ward
Smith;
(Princeton,
NJ:
Princeton
University
Press,
1961),
269
Reformed
We believe that the true
church―the
invisible church―is
the mystical body of
Christ. Yet the church,
as we experience in
visible and tangible
ways, is and must be
progressively
transformed (renewed and
corrected) by Christ
because of human nature
and human sin. Through
Christ, the church is
renewed in its doctrine,
liturgy, life and
governance so that it
can ever more faithfully
carry out Christ's
mandate to preach the
good news, teach God's
Word and word, to
baptize in Christ's
name. As Christ's agent,
the church serves to
transform all aspects of
human life until "God
shall be All in all."
Apostolic
We believe in the
apostolic succession and
that it resides within
the church. The
teachings and authority
of Jesus received by the
apostles has passed down
through the church:
through the offices and
through the
decision-making bodies,
e.g., congregational
meetings, presbyteries,
synods, etc. of the
church. This is how the
character and orthodoxy
Christian faith has been
given throughout
the millennia.
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