The Western Orthodox Old Catholic Church

The Western Orthodox Old Catholic Church

Who Are We ?
The Western Orthodox Old-Catholic Church is an independent branch of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, founded by Jesus Christ, and built upon the foundation of the Apostles. Our name recognizes, and affirms our roots in both the Ancient Orthodox and Catholic Churches of the first 1000 years of Church History. The first community of believers in Minnesota was incorporated in 1985.
We are orthodox in faith, fully accepting the Dogmatic decrees of the Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Church, holding the Ancient Nicene Creed as our only Standard and Symbol of Faith. We believe the Bible to be the Inspired and Authoritative Word of God. We celebrate the traditional Seven Sacraments of the Church. We seek to balance the preaching of the Word and the celebration of the Sacraments, without minimizing or overemphasizing either.
The Church must speak to the people in their own language, with custom and ritual that are familiar to them, and so we have established Western Rites as our liturgical norms. We use both the historic Liturgy of St. Tikhon, whom we cherish as one of our spiritual forbears, and a more contemporary rite, easily followed and understood by people today. We feel that to do otherwise would be to hide the precious light of the Gospel, "under a bushel".
We do not claim to have a special ministry to any particular people or group. Rather, we seek individually and corporately to live out Christ's own commandment, "Love one another, even as I have loved you." This requires that we bring the saving, healing, redeeming love of Jesus to all in need, with no regard for status, or circumstance. Jesus never turned anyone in need away. Our blessed Lord came "not to be served, but to serve", and so we must follow His example, in our world, today. This also necessitates our policy of open Communion for all who are baptized and accept Christ as Truly Present in the Sacrament.
We are a hierarchical Church, but we are not clergy-centric. The Church is governed by a Council of Bishops and an Annual Synod, at which each member of the Church in attendance, has equal voice and vote, without distinction. We hold that the laity, "the conscience of the Church", must participate in policy setting and decision making, at all levels. All of our clergy are, following the example of the Apostle Paul, "Tentmakers". We sustain ourselves with secular employment and carry out our ministries for love's sake. Our clergy are from many different walks of life. We have Mental Health professionals, Social Workers, Lawyers, Computer Programmers, Retail Salespeople, and Retired people in our ranks.
Neither, does the Church discriminate on the issue of sex. In May of 1994, we restored the ancient practice of raising up women to the sacred order of Deacon, with the ordination of three women.
The Apostolic Succession Our Lord Jesus Christ, himself, chose and ordained the first Twelve Apostles. After His Ascension into heaven, Peter and the College of Apostles prayed for and chose a successor for Judas, who was the betrayer of Jesus. In each place the Early Church was established, Bishops were chosen to lead these new Christian communities. For nearly 2000 years, the graces of the Holy Spirit have been transmitted from generation to generation by the Laying On Of Hands and Prayer from these successors to the Apostles. The Bishops of the Western Orthodox Old-Catholic Church share the Apostolic Succession of many of the ancient Orthodox and Catholic Churches, including those of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Albanian Orthodox, the Old Catholic Church of Holland, the Church of England, and the Roman Catholic Church.
The Diocese of Minnesota and The Upper Midwest
The Diocese of Minnesota and the Upper Midwest, is a recently established diocese of the Western Orthodox Old-Catholic Church, and has as its See city, Minneapolis. It was formed with the election of its first Bishop, The Most Rev. Randolph A. Brown, who also serves as Pastor of The Church of the Incarnation, in Minneapolis. His experience is pastoral, with the focus of his ministry including Parish work, Counseling, and Spiritual Direction.
Although it bears a geographic name, the Diocese is, essentially, a non-geographic, Missionary Diocese. Although still small, it is fully committed to the creation of real ministries to real people, in need. Currently there are ministry centers in Minneapolis/St. Paul and in Greenville, SC.
An Invitation:
We are a servant Church. A Church that is sent to seek the lost sheep of our community and the world wherever they may be found. Our only agenda is to bring them to He, who is the Great and Good Shepherd, our Lord, Jesus Christ, where they may be redeemed, restored, and be made whole. We seek all who would share this vision of the Church, and welcome them to join in worship and service.