Christ Episcopal Church
3430 Old US Hwy 70 - PO Box 37
Cleveland, North Carolina 27013-0037
(organized 1754 - established 1821)
Who are We?
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The Diocese of North Carolina
The Episcopal Church - USA
The Worldwide Anglican Communion
Christ Episcopal Church - Cleveland, NC on Facebook
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Who are We?What is The Episcopal Church (T.E.C.)?Christ Church is part of The Episcopal Church in the United States, the Anglican Communion, and the greater Body of Christ throughout the world which is the ONE holy, catholic (universal), and apostolic Church. The word "Episcopal" means "governed by bishops." Just as the early Church had "overseers," (in Greek - επίσκοπος, transliterated Episcopos), we have bishops who provide for spiritual leadership, direction, and oversight. We live our life together under the doctrine, discipline, and worship of an ancient tradition of Christians, and we are related to the Church of England.
Our worship is liturgical, and follows ancient forms of rite and ritual, but uses modern language. It involves the whole congregation and consists of scripture readings, hymns, a sermon, prayers, and the Holy Eucharist. The celebration of Holy Eucharist (also called Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper, or the Mass) is the principal act of Christian worship on the Lord's day (Sunday) in The Episcopal Church. Our congregation is a part of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, a judicatory division (like a synod, presbytery or conference) headed by a bishop that lives in Raleigh, NC. He is assisted by two bishops, an assistant bishop that lives in Charlotte, NC, and an assisting bishop that lives in Greensboro, NC. For this and other “Fun Facts to Know and Tell” about this and other “churchy” stuff, go to the Episcopal Dictionary of the Church.
Click here to visit the Episcopal Church's Visitor's Center! More about The Episcopal Church...The Episcopal Church (TEC) is the American branch of the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Communion is an inheritor of 2000 years of catholic and apostolic tradition dating from Christ himself, rooted in the Church of England. When the Church of England spread throughout the British Empire, sister churches sprang up. These churches, while autonomous in their governance, are bound together by tradition, Scripture, and the inheritance they have received from the Church of England. They together make up the Anglican Communion, and have some 80 million members, making it the third largest Christian body in the world. The Episcopal Church came into existence as an independent denomination after the American Revolution. Today it has between two and three million members in the United States, Mexico, and Central America, all of which are under jurisdiction of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church which is overseen by the Presiding Bishop, the Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori. Bishops in the American Episcopal Church are elected by individual dioceses and are ordained by three other apostolic bishops into the Apostolic Succession, considered to witness to an unbroken line of Church leadership beginning with the Apostles themselves. For more than two decades the American Episcopal Church has ordained women to the priesthood. In 1988 the Diocese of Massachusetts elected the first Anglican woman bishop, the Right Reverend Barbara Harris. It subscribes to the historic Creeds, considers the Bible to be divinely inspired, and holds the Eucharist or Lord's Supper to be the central act of Christian worship. The Episcopal Church grants great latitude in interpretation of doctrine. It tends to stress less the confession of particular beliefs than the use of The Book of Common Prayer in public worship. This book, first published in the sixteenth century, even in its revisions, stands today as a major source of unity for Anglicans around the world. The Church of England has always valued the life of the mind and dialogue with fields of secular study. Isaac Newton was an Anglican clergyman and theologian as were several of the founders of the Royal Society, the earliest institution organized for the promotion of science. The Episcopal Church maintains this tradition, requiring its clergy to hold university as well as seminary degrees and supporting many university chaplains. |
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