Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church

Infobox Christian denomination
name = Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church


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main_classification = Lutheran
orientation = Evangelical Catholic and Papalist
polity = Episcopal
founder =
founded_date = 1997
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separated_from =
parent = Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
merger = Athanasian Catholic Church of the Augsburg Confession
separations =
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area =
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The Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church (ALCC), formerly the Evangelical Community Church-Lutheran (ECCL), is a church in the Lutheran Evangelical Catholic tradition. The ALCC is unique among Lutheran churches in that it is of both Lutheran and Anglo-Catholic heritage and has also been significantly influenced by the Roman Catholic Church. The church was founded in 1997 by former members of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Its headquarters are in Kansas City, Missouri. The ALCC has two theological seminaries: Wittenberg Lutheran Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, and The Alcuin Institute of the Trans-Pecos in Alpine, Texas, which is an institute for research in biblical and ancient Near Eastern languages. The ALCC is governed by a metropolitan archbishop who is assisted by the holy synod (which consists of the bishops of the church and is concerned with matters of doctrine and polity) and the National Standing Committee which includes lay members and is concerned with temporal administration and finance. The ALCC operates in accordance with the canon law code of the Roman Catholic Church (1983) (http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_INDEX.HTM) in areas not covered by its own canon law code.

The clergy of the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church have all been ordained (or re-ordained) as deacons, priests and bishops in the historic apostolic succession, which it obtained from the Ecumenical Catholic Diocese of the Americas and the Apostolic Episcopal Church. All ordinations and re-ordinations - without exception - are performed using the rites of ordination of the Roman Catholic Church.

The primary apostolic lineage of the ALCC is the Duarte Costa lineage of the Rebiban or Vatican succession. All ordinations are performed using the rites of ordination found in the most current edition of the ordinal from the Pontifical of the Roman Catholic Church set within a celebration of the Mass of Pope Paul VI (Novis Ordo) or the Mass from the Roman Catholic Anglican Use Book of Divine Worship exclusively. The ALCC's primary apostolic lineage is that of the Roman Catholic Church through Archbishop Carlos Duarte Costa and the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church (ICAB). It also holds a number of other apostolic lineages, including that of the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands. All clergy entering from other churches who have not ordained in the apostolic succession must be re-ordained.

The Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church has five archdioceses and one diocese in the United States an archdiocese in Africa and two non-geographic archdioceses; one serving Sub-Saharan African immigrants in the United States and the other serving Vietnamese immigrants in the United States. The ALCC is organized and active in Canada, Sudan, and Kenya and is a member of the Augustana Evangelical Catholic Communion, the Sudanese Council of Churches USA and the Sudanese Council of Churches.

The Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church considers Lutherans to be Catholics in a temporary, involuntary schism imposed on it by the Roman Catholic Church when Father Martin Luther's attempt to start a renewal movement within and for the Roman Catholic Church slipped out of his control. This Church teaches that Lutheranism in general is a form of non-Roman Catholicism; and considers the other Lutheran churches to be "Protestant" only to the extent that they have accepted insights from the Calvinist and Zwinglian phases of the Reformation.

The Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church accepts the unaltered Augsburg Confession, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, and Martin Luther's Small Catechism insofar as they are trustworthy witnesses to the gospel and in accord with authentic Catholic faith and tradition. The ALCC recognizes the remainder of The Book of Concord except for the Formula of Concord insofar as they are in accord with authentic Catholic faith and tradition. It does not accept the Formula of Concord and is not bound by its terms and provisions, though it does respect it as a historical Lutheran document.

The ALCC has accepted major modifications in sacramental theology and principles of church government from the (Lutheran) Church of Sweden, the Oxford Movement of the Anglican Communion, and the documents and teachings of the magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church which includes the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994).

This church is unique among Lutheran churches in that it accepts as additional confessional documents, the "Articles of Religion" from the "Book of Common Prayer" as interpreted by John Henry Cardinal Newman in "Tracts for the Times" (insofar as they do not conflict with authentic Catholic faith and tradition) the Roman Catholic-Lutheran "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification" (Augsburg, Germany, 1999); the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the documents and decrees of all Ecumenical Councils recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. The ALCC's strongest connections are with the Roman Catholic Church, and some form of visible, corporate unity with that church is the ecumenical goal of the ALCC. Since June of 2008, all clergy of the ALCC are required to sign a version of the (Roman Catholic) mandatum, which is a legally binding contract requiring the signatories not to teach, preach, write, or publish anything contrary to the Catholic magisterium.

The Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church accepts papal primacy and papal infallibility, but is not legally under papal authority at this time. It is theologically and socially conservative, with the same view of the nature and authority of scripture as the Roman Catholic Church as stated in the Pontifical Biblical Commission's document, "Interpretion of the Bible in Church" (http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/PBCINTER.htm).

The polity of the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church is episcopal rather than congregationalist, and follows the model of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church has never had female clergy for the same reasons the Roman Catholic Church rejects the ordination of women; and has placed a moratorium on the ordination of women until such time as it is ordered by a pope (for the diaconate) or an Ecumenical Council (for the priesthood and episcopacy.) The ALCC has the same policy on the ordination of homosexuals as does the Roman Catholic Church as defined by Pope Benedict XVI. This church does not permit the blessing of same-sex unions.

The worship of the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church is dignified and sacramental. It differs from other Lutheran churches by recognizing and celebrating seven sacraments. The primary liturgy of the ALCC is the Roman Catholic Anglican Use Book of Divine Worship. Any other rites approved and authorized for use by the appropriate congregation of the Curia of the Roman Catholic Church may also be used by ALCC clergy.

Leadership

* Irl A. Gladfelter, Metropolitan Archbishop, Archbishop of North America
* Raymond W. Copp, Metropolitan Archbishop Coadjutor and Archbishop for the Middle Atlantic States and New England
* Tan Binh Phan Nguyen, Dean of the Holy Synod, Archbishop of the Southeast, and Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Our Lady of La Vang
* Robert W. Edmondson, Archbishop of Pittsburgh and the Ohio Valley
* Jesse L. Boyd III, Ph.D, Archbishop of the Southwest
* Chaplen Luyimba Kweri, Archbishop of St. Benedict of Africa (U.S.), Archbishop Pro Tempore of All Africa
* Edward J. Steele, Bishop of Florida
* Rev. Msgr. Thomas Stover, Vicar General for Minnesota and Wisconsin, Archdiocese of North America; Director of Evangelism and Church Growth, Office of the Metropolitan Archbishop
* Rev. Msgr. Thomas Stover, Vicar General for Minnesota and Wisconsin

ee also

* High Church Lutheranism
* Bund für evangelisch-katholische Einheit

External links

* [http://www.anglolutherancatholic.org/ The Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church]
* [http://www.athanasian.org/ Website of the Archdiocese of Middle Atlantic States and New England]
* [http://www.ecclnet.org/ Website of the Archdiocese of the West]