“We profess the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Faith professed by the whole Church before the disunion of East and West; more particularly, as professed by the Church of England as it stands distinguished from all papal and puritan innovations, and as it adheres to the doctrine of the cross.” Thomas Ken (1637-1711) Bishop of Bath & Wells
When, in the 1500’s, the Church in the West began its process of Reformation, the Church of England chose a via media — a middle way.
We are Catholic
- We teach the Apostles and Nicene Creeds
- We retain the Apostolic Succession in our ministry of Bishops, Priests and Deacons
- We find our means of grace and hope of glory in the seven Sacraments of the Church
We are Reformed
- We believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament of Holy Communion
- We worship in the liturgy of the pre-Reformation English church, which was translated out of Latin by the English reformers, giving us the King James Bible, and our Book of Common Prayer as part of our rich liturgical heritage.