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We wish to thank and welcome the amazing number of visitors we have had this month from all over the world. I hope we were able to inform you better on our small corner of the church and our work for Christ. Please feel free to contact us for any of your church or spiritual needs.
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WHAT IS THE LIBERAL CATHOLIC CHURCH?
A CEREMONIAL CHURCH
The Liberal Catholic Church is one of thirty or more Catholic Churches in the world which are independent of Rome, such as the Greek Orthodox, Coptic, Old Catholic, etc. It teaches the Christianity of the Christ and administers the seven Sacraments which are regarded as channels of His blessing.
It is a church wherein there is intellectual and religious freedom and a natural balance between ceremonial worship, devotional aspiration, scientific and mystic thought. It uses a revised Liturgy in the language of the country, a Liturgy devised to sound a note of joyous and uplifting aspiration.
The Liberal Catholic Church welcomes all and everyone to its services, those who have faith and those who have lost faith; those who believe in the literal exposition of the scriptures and those who accept the allegorical spiritual interpretation. Above all, it wishes to serve those who are earnestly seeking spiritual enlightenment.
FREEDOM OF BELIEF
The Liberal Catholic Church erects no barriers around its altars. All who come in a spirit of reverence are welcome to Holy Communion and to all other services of the Church. What opinions or beliefs an individual holds is considered to be his/her own affair. The mind that is free is in the best condition to grow. Growth into spirituality enhances the perception of truth which each one must discover for himself/herself and in his/her own way.
Anything less than full mental freedom is thought to retard progress. Thus, the difference between The Liberal Catholic Church and all other Catholic and Protestant Churches lies in the fact that with the ancient sacramental worship have been associated the widest measure of intellectual freedom and respect for the individual conscience.
RELIGIOUS EQUILIBRIUM
The Liberal Catholic Church seeks to give the world the best elements of Catholicism with the best of Protestantism. On the Catholic side are the seven Sacraments; but these have been hedged about with all kinds of man-made dogmatic encumbrances such as creeds, rigid beliefs, the confessional, penances, indulgences, etc.
On the Protestant side we have an earnest attempt to promote religious freedom; but the reformers discarded the Sacraments, lost the Apostolic Succession and soon lost much of the intellectual emancipation they had previously gained, which development has led to the rise of innumerable sectarian movements.
ORDERS OF THE CLERGY
The orders of the clergy of The Liberal Catholic Church were derived through the Old Catholic Church of Holland which became independent from Rome over two centuries ago. Through this Apostolic Succession, unbroken since the time of Christ, The Liberal Catholic Church aligns itself with the historic church in past centuries.
The clergy are neither forbidden nor enjoined to marry. They serve without personal remuneration. The clergy claim no authority over the individual conscience; rather, stress is laid on their function as ministers of the Divine Sacraments, ready to serve those who may ask or need their help.
THE LIBERAL CATHOLIC ACT OF FAITH
We believe that God is Love and Power and Truth and Light; that perfect justice rules the world; that all His sons shall one day reach His feet, however far they stray. We hold the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of man, we know that we
do serve Him best when best we serve our brother man. So shall His blessing rest on us and peace for evermore. Amen.
THE HOLY EUCHARIST IN THE LIBERAL CATHOLIC CHURCH
THE PURPOSE OF THE EUCHARIST
The Holy Eucharist or Mass is often called the Lord's Supper. It is that, but it has become More than that. Under his guidance and inspiration it has been expanded from its simple beginnings so as to serve an ever-widening circle of humanity,
It has always been the central act of Catholic worship. Designed to help those who take part therein, it is intended also to serve the surrounding world, and it summons the congregation together with the Angel Host to intelligent and energetic participation in this work.
In our conception, worship has a three-fold aspect and purpose It is firstly the offering of 'worship' -that is, praise and honor- to almighty God. Secondly, it is intended to help the worshippers. And thirdly -and most important of all -it is intended to help the surrounding world at large, through the instrumentality of the worshippers, by pouring out upon it a great flood of spiritual power.
We may safely say that God Himself does not need our praise and certainly would not appreciate anything in the nature of adulation from those who might be expected to know better.
We feel and know, on the other hand, that it is good for us to lift up our hearts in praise and aspiration and to strive to unify ourselves more completely with the divine.
Liberal Catholic Bishops
The founding bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church was J. I. Wedgwood of the Wedgwood China family, who was also a theosophist and was ordained as a priest in the Old Catholic movement on July 22, 1913 by Arnold Harris Mathew . Archbishop Mathew was a resigned Roman Catholic priest who had been consecrated by Archbishop Gerardus Gul of Utrecht on April 28, 1908 and appointed as the first Old Catholic bishop in Britain. Thus the Liberal Catholic Church to traces its apostolic succession back to Rome through Old Catholicism. James I. Wedgwood was consecrated to the episcopate on February 13, 1916 by Bishop Frederick Samuel Willoughby (who had been consecrated by Bishop Matthew), and started the organisation that would later become the Liberal Catholic Church of which Wedgwood became the first Presiding Bishop. Bishop Wedgwood published articles within the Theosophical Society on ceremonial work. These writings interested Charles Webster Leadbeater, an alleged clairvoyant and Anglican priest who was consecrated as a Liberal Catholic bishop in 1916. C. W. Leadbeater became the 2nd Presiding Bishop.
James I. Wedgwood-------------------------------------Charles Webster Leadbeater
The Liberal Catholic Church draws the central inspiration of its work from an earnest faith in the living Christ. It holds that the vitality of a church gains in proportion as its members not only revere and worship a Christ who lived two thousand years ago, but also strive to affirm in their lives the eternal Christ of whom St. John (Chapter 8:58) speaks: "Before Abraham was, I am." It is the Christ who ever lives as a mighty spiritual presence in the world, guiding and sustaining His people.
Liberal Catholicism regards these promises as validating all Christian worship, of whatever kind, so long as it be earnest and true. But it further holds that while the promise of the presence with individual believers is thus effective, Christ also appointed certain rites or sacraments, called 'mysteries' in the Eastern Church, for the greater helping of his people, to be handed down in the Church as special channels of power and blessing. Through these 'means of grace' The Liberal Catholic Church believes that Christ is ever present within His Church, in fellowship and Communion, guiding and protecting them from birth to death.
Sacraments and apostolic succession
Statement of Principles, "The Liberal Catholic Church recognises the seven fundamental sacraments, which are as follows: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Absolution, Holy Unction, Holy Matrimony, Holy Orders. Our apostolic succession is unbroken through the Old Catholic Union of Utrecht and our holy orders are 'acknowledged as valid throughout the whole of those churches of Christendom which maintain the apostolic succession of orders as a tenet of their faith.
Our church is autonomous and is not affiliated with any other body claiming Old Catholic or Liberal Catholic succession.