St. Thomas Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch
Who Are We?
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We
are a group of people just beginning to meet in my home to share in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and to
build a faith community. We believe that one can be a committed Catholic without adhearance to Church imposed
dogma and doctrine that denies the validity of one's informed conscience.
However,
we do not mean "catholic" in the narrow sense of Roman Catholic but rather in its historic sense as first used in the
second century as "universal." Thus, anyone who is seeking a closer relationship with Christ and fellowship in Christian
community is welcome to worship with us.
So,
what is St. Thomas Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch all about?
St. Thomas Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch is a parish of the Catholic Apostolic Church of
Antioch – Malabar Rite. We are a Catholic Church in the oldest, universal,
orthodox sense of the word as defined by St. Polycarp in the second century. We
have valid apostolic succession through both the Roman Catholic line of apostolic succession and Syro-Jacobite line of apostolic
succession. We maintain fidelity of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. However, we are an independent branch of the “one, holy, catholic, apostolic
church of Christ” as promulgated in
the Nicene Creed and are not a part of the Roman Catholic or Orthodox
Churches.
Because we are an independent branch of Catholicism we are free to determine our own dogma and
doctrine. As such we at St. Thomas
affirm that Jesus’ message was one of love of all of God’s creation. We
believe that God created each of us just the way he wanted us to be: male, female, ethnically, racially, gay, straight, and
with whatever gifts he gave us – all to glorify him and to reach out to our brothers and sisters in his name that are
less fortunate than ourselves. That is why the Church of Antioch places no barrier to or restriction
predicated upon marital status, gender or sexual orientation to those aspiring to priesthood in our church.
Just as the table of our Lord was open to all who came to listen to him all are able to receive
Holy Communion at St. Thomas.
We wholeheartedly agree with the scholar who said that if denominationalism is the scandal of Christianity then denial
of Holy Communion is its heresy. If Jesus were here with us today he wouldn’t
deny himself to anyone because they belong to the “wrong” church and neither do we. Everyone is welcome to receive Holy Communion at St. Thomas
and all of the churches of the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch – Malabar Rite.
At St. Thomas and throughout the Catholic Apostolic Church of
Antioch – Malabar Rite we affirm an individual’s right to complete freedom of thought, interpretation, and an
informed conscience and not church dogma or doctrine as the final arbiter in all matters of faith, belief, and moral decision
making. The days of lock-step, closed-minded, monolithic, one-size fits all moral
decision making predicated on natural law no longer meet the realistic needs of a 21st century world. Contrary to what some churchs still maintain it is possible for people to develop informed consciences
that do not resort to cultural relativism or situation ethics to find appropriate ethical and moral answers to questions and
issues without being forced into dogmatic responses mandated by magisterial teaching.
We at St. Thomas recognize that
everyone’s spiritual pathway is unique and different. We encourage you
to explore every venue, traditional and non-traditional, that is meaningful to you.
In addition to Christian resources many have found Buddhist meditation and Tai Chi very meaningful. Others have found Sufi poetry or the beauty of the Orthodox liturgy to be a spiritual awakening. In other words there are no limits when it comes to finding spiritual fulfillment because that is between
you and God.
