We
affirm the apostolic hope:
With
the apostles and the Church through the ages, we affirm Jesus
Christ, Sacrament of the presence of God, as the source of our
hope. We take our name from St. Luke the Evangelist, and seek
to be incorporated into the paschal mystery he proclaims. We
pray that we may be formed by the Incarnation, life, death,
resurrection, ascension, gift of the Holy Spirit, and coming
again of Jesus Christ. We are sent forth to proclaim and to
live the hope that good news brings.
We
live for the Church of Jesus Christ:
We
believe that the Church is the Body of Christ and we are called
to worship, learning, community, and service as members of that
Body. We affirm our fidelity to oneness in Christ in the Church
truly catholic, truly apostolic, truly evangelical, and truly
reformed which supersedes all division by denomination, and
which we believe God will gather from a broken Christendom.
Our mission includes calling the Church to liturgical and sacramental
renewal, and seeking to bring the healing grace of Christ to
all Creation.
We
seek the sacramental life:
We
are called to become aware of God’s presence through eucharistic
living. We seek to live out our baptism into Christ’s
death and resurrection. We receive with gratitude all that God
has given us and offer it up to God. We receive it again from
God, transformed to use for the sake of the world. We join the
Church though the ages and around the world in recognizing that
all time is in God’s hands. As we faithfully pray the
Daily Office, and live so as to embody our prayers, we endeavor
to live the sacramental life. By so doing, we seek to be formed
as a means of grace for all those we meet and serve in Christ’s
name.
We
promote the corporate worship of the Church:
We
believe that the corporate worship of the Church is liturgy
— the work of the people on behalf of all creation —
which is our response to the revelation of God’s grace.
Through our collective memory and our shared hope, the Holy
Spirit acts in Word and Sacrament making present to us the saving
acts of God and transforming us so that we can be God’s
people. Through our worship, we seek the glorification of God
and the sanctification of the Church. This worship is offered
in the name of the community which claims it as the manifestation
of its own identity and mission.
We
seek to encourage the Church to worship with vitality and integrity,
appropriating the rites and services of the Church, historically
and ecumenically grounded, which enable us to worship together
in the name of Jesus Christ. We honor the worship traditions
of the past and seek to be open to new ways of expressing the
heritage of faith they embody in ways that speak to us and for
us in the present. We witness to the saving and transforming
work of God which renews us in Christ’s Body, the Church,
through the continual offering up of our lives to God.
We
magnify the sacraments:
We
believe that the sacraments are Christ’s gift to the Church.
Individually and corporately we are called to lift up these
mysteries in the life of the Church as means of grace through
which we are formed as Christian disciples.
Through
the baptismal covenant, we are incorporated into the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. God calls us to live out the redemptive,
liberating, justice-seeking ministry of Jesus. We seek to deepen
our understanding of the Church, of the significance of the
baptismal covenant, and the Eucharist for Christian discipleship
and service.
We
believe that the Eucharist re-presents the life-gift of Jesus
Christ in which the living spirit of Christ is truly present
to us, preserving and reforming Christ’s Body, the Church.
Frequent celebration of the Eucharist forms us in the sacramental
life empowering us to become Christ’s healing presence
in the world.
We
accept the call to service:
By
virtue of our baptism, God calls each us to ministries which
are a proclamation of Christ, seeking wholeness for Creation.Through
sacramental, prophetic, and pastoral ministries we turn in openness
and love to the world. We identify with the whole community
of humankind, especially those who live on the margins, and
invite people to touch our lives as we touch their. Thus may
all know the perfect joy of being reconciled with God. In community
with our brothers and sisters, we seek to discern ways in which
we are called to serve God in The Order, the Church, and the
world.
Adopted
in the present form by the Council of The Order of Saint Luke;
October, 2000.
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