The Reformed Episcopal Church
Mission Statement
Adopted by the Bishops of this Church
December 3, 1992
Revised by the Council of Bishops, October 2, 2003
Built upon the foundation of the authoritative Word of God,
the Holy Scriptures, the Reformed Episcopal Church sets her highest priority
on biblical worship and declares her commitment to the work
of evangelism, the bold and unadulterated proclamation of
salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 8:4). In keeping
the faith once delivered to the saints, the Reformed Episcopal Church, however,
does not believe evangelism to be the end, but rather the beginning of her
divinely given vocation.
In addition to being evangelical, she is deeply committed
to discipleship, the work of training evangelized men and
women in Christian living (St. Matthew 28:20). When the Gospel is truly proclaimed
and the mercies of God are made known, redeemed men and women must be led
to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice, which is their spiritual service
(Romans 12:1). Thus, the Reformed Episcopal Church understands the Christian
life to be necessarily corporate. The Gospel call of salvation is not only
to a savior, but also to a visible communion (I Cor.12:27)
which, being indwelt by Christ's Spirit, transcends both temporal and geographic
bounds.
Therefore, the Reformed Episcopal Church is creedal,
following the historic catholic faith as it was confessed by the early undivided
Church in the Apostles' (A.D. 150), Nicene (A.D. 325) and Athanasian Creeds
(circa. A.D. 401); sacramental, practicing the divinely ordained
sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper as outward and visible signs of
His inward and spiritual grace; liturgical, using the historic
Book of Common Prayer; and Episcopal, finding unity with
the Church of the earliest Christian eras through submission to the government
of godly bishops.
In this fashion, by embracing the broad base of doctrine
and practice inherent in apostolic Christianity received by the Church of
the English Reformation and expressed in the
Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion,
the Reformed Episcopal Church has a foundation for effective ministry in the
name of Christ to a world which is lost and dying without Him.
Approved, General Committee, October 5, 2003