THE REFORMED OLD CATHOLIC CHURCH
About Us
"My job as a priest is to attract people to the the Community of Faith, not the Institutional Church..." —Fr Bob Scott
Validly consecrated bishops and ordained clergy attached to the Independent Sacramental Movement (ISM) saw the need to provide the Sacraments for the Faithful who had been marginalised and placed on the periphery of their local congregations.
They saw a need to reach out and the Reformed Old Catholic Church was established in 2014. It has a visible presence in Africa, America, Asia, Australasia and Europe.
In a world of uncertainty, so-called Christian organisations labelled as a 'Church' are popping up with alarming veracity, with the Faithful pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into these institutions all the while preaching contrary to the Word. What is perplexing and no one seems to be asking is: "where do these organisations and their people get their authority and who gave it to them?"
Apostolic Succession is the means by which Christ gave His authority to the Apostles (Mk. 6:7) who in turn gave it to the Bishops, the Successors to the Apostles. It was to ensure that the teachings, doctrines and principles as taught by Our Lord continued in an unbroken succession. If scripture alone was to be the determining factor of the trueness of a Church, any random could lay claim Christian teachings and base their interpretation on vague scriptural texts. It would be a disaster!
Some may hold that Apostolic Succession is unscriptural, so too is the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity. There is no mention specifically of a Trinity in scripture and yet it is taught to be a foundational principle of the Church which would not have been brought to light had it not been for the Council of Nicaea (AD 325) composed of bishops and clergy in the succession.
This is why Apostolic Succession is important to us. Our mission is to further the work of Christ without obstacles or interventions. May God help us to fulfill that with integrity - in spirit and in truth.
We are a Church that adheres to the traditional Sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Confession, Extreme Unction, Holy Ordination and Marriage) and desire to reach all people in need of Christ's saving grace, especially those members of the Body of Christ who have been used, who have been denied, who are (as mentioned earlier) on the periphery and not been welcomed or made to be part of the Christian Family in their own parish or congregation. Even if you do not adhere to a belief in Jesus Christ, the Church or His Sacraments — nothing bad could ever come from being kind. So, we say: "We love you; we need you; you have a place with us; you are welcome, and you are wanted!" To talk with someone from the Church please refer to our Contact page.
The Bonn Agreement
We uphold to the spirit and general principles of the Bonn Agreement. Although it does not give an extensive description of theological principles on which participating Churches must agree and ascribe to, rather it describes a concise consensus by which each Church accepts the Catholicity and autonomy of the other. This is the foundation for full communion, but rests on the assumption that each Church maintain the essentials of the faith mainly the three marks of the Church but does not imply that each has to share all of each other Churches beliefs doctrines and sacramental practices. Whilst the Bonn agreement was not created for us, it compliments our spiritual philosophy and helps to foster ever closer Ecumenical relations.
For further reading on Who We Are? you may purchase the booklet that explains our Faith simply: "What's The Difference. A Simple Explanation." from Church Publishing.