The Church was established in England shortly following our Lord's Ascension into heaven. The Council of Arles (317 A.D.) records the presence of three English Bishops and their entourage. When Pope Gregory I sent St. Augustine in 597 A.D. to evangelize the British Isles, he reported back that the Church was already functioning there in its fulness. At the time of the Great Schism in AD 1054, the Church in the British Isles remained Orthodox, which led to the papal sanctioned Norman invasion in 1066 to bring the "erring" (read Orthodox) English Church under Roman authority. All but one of the English bishops were imprisioned and replaced by the Norman usurpers and the Church had an uneasy and often stormy relationship with Rome lasting nearly five centuries. The English Reformation which began in AD 1534 was led by bishops to restore the Faith and Order of the Undivided Church. It is evident that the Church must "continue stedfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." (Acts 2:42) Therefore we stand today in the glorious Tradition of the English (Anglican) Church, believing what the Church has always believed at all times and in every place (Catholic). You will find nothing new here!
TRINITY-TIDE
The Church is now in the long season of Trinity-tide. Some call it Pentecost and others Ordinary Time. For us it is the confession of faith that God is the Holy and Glorious Trinity: Three Persons of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost in the one Godhead. This separates Christianity from the world's religions and sometimes incurs their wrath against Christians. If your God is not the Blessed and Holy Trinity, we do not believe in the same God. God is not known by different names to different people, but by the revelation of Himself to us through the Prophets. There is but one true God who has revealed Himself to us in the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit whom He has sent upon His Church as the consequence of His perfect obedience to the Father unto the death of the Cross for us men and our salvation. Jesus is the only Name given among men whereby we must be saved; beside Him, there is none other.
The Seaon of Trinity is one of growth in the faith and knowledge of what the Lord has revealed unto us concerning Himself. He reveals Himself to us in His Creation, and calls us to Himself in the work of Salvation. The Bible is truth, not a book of options should we feel like it.
The first half of the Church Year is about the savings acts of God in the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, culminating in the Risen and Glorified Christ pouring ou the Holy Spirit upon His Church. The second half of the Church Year is about growing in the faith and love and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, to become the person He intends us to be. We are to become like Christ. The Lord sets the solitary into family. The Church is the Family of God wherein we grow in His grace and favor and in fellowship with one another.
We must grow in the Lord who said, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." (St. Matthew 23:23) Here Jesus clearly establishes it is meet and right both to tithe and to exercise the qualities of judgment, mercy and faith. It is not a matter of either/or but both! In much the same way Jesus says that whoseover believes on Him shall be saved, and gives command at the Eucharist to those who believe in Him, "Do this in Remembrance of Me." Unfortunately many are comfortable with believing, while forsaking the Sacramental Life and the "showing forth of His death until He comes." To be happy in Jesus one must trust and obey! The Church is Evangelical and Catholic. The Word and the Sacrament are two sides of one coin of the Gospel.
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Pray with the Church
Who is the Church of the Incarnation?
The Church of the Incarnation is a faith community dedicated to lifting up Jesus Christ and to being Christ to our world. "Incarnation" means "in the flesh" and comes from the opening Chapter of the Gospel according to St. John, "And the Word (the Second Person of the Holy Trinity) became flesh and dwelt among us." We lift up Jesus by being His hands and feet, heart and voice to our neighbors. In this way, we are Jesus "in the flesh" to our world. We are a neighborhood church and if you live close to us, we are praying for you and your family. Our bells ring daily at noon as the reminder that Jesus is God who has come to us in the flesh. His Name is Emmuel - God with us.
Perhaps you have no church to call your home. Or you have given up on church because you have been burnt by church people. Do you have a vision or dream of how God can use a little neighborhood church? We invite you to dream with us and join us in walking with and following Jesus.
We are a family size congregation who come from a wide variety of backgrounds -- Moravians, Baptists, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Episcopalians. Our Pastor is The Most Rev'd Thomas J. Kleppinger, OHI.
The Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church, affectionately remembered as the Black Book, acknowledged in its Preface that it drew from The Book of Common Prayer, 1549. The affinity is both denominations used the term "Common" in the description of their respective liturgical practice which has many similarities reflecting their common source.
We are part of the glorious Anglican Tradition within the Christian Church, a Church deeply rooted in the lands now known as the United Kingdom and of Ireland and other remote islands. Emerging from the British or Celtic Church, known best for St. Patrick of Ireland, the Anglican Tradition became well-organized by missionaries from Rome. At the time of the Vikings, the land of the Anglo-Saxons (known as Angle-land or England) then became the staging ground for key missionaries to Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
Ours is a tradition that is well-known to you, even if you have never heard of it. It is the tradition that raised William Shakespeare and Jane Austen and produced the King James Bible. Its pastors and preachers wrote hymns like “Amazing Grace” and “Onward Christian Soldiers.” Statesmen like George Washington and 31 signers of the Declaration of Independence knew God as their Sovereign due to its teachings. Theologians like John Wesley, C.S. Lewis and J.I. Packer have become household names in Bible-believing homes and are great Christians associated with the Anglican tradition. Its heart for outreach and compassion has recently been dramatized in “Call the Midwife”. We are glad to know Jesus our Savior and would be glad to know you too!
