Holy Catholic Apostolic Communion is an independent and autonomous catholic communion. Not Roman Catholic, but catholic. We are not currently affiliated with, but inspired by the independent Catholic and Orthodox Church Movement. We do not currently have holy orders through apostolic succession. We bond ourselves also to the wonderfully spiritual Religious Society of Friends, with whom we share our contemplative spiritual disposition, and an affinity for common participation in worship, prayer and ministry. The Holy Catholic Apostolic Communion aligns itself with the historic Church of past centuries. The Holy Catholic Apostolic Communion is not a new sect, but a constituent of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

This Statement is adapted from "Their faith and practice".

Published by Australia Yearly Meeting

Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

in Australia Inc.

1996

The Statement is not intended to be a doctrine of faith as each individual has freedom in the interpretation of Creeds, Scriptures and Tradition, and of the Liturgy.

We believe that each person can know God from personal experience and that this spiritual experience is a source of growth, enlightenment and love.

 We do not believe inspiration is confined to one sacred book or that Truth can be defined by a creed. Many see Jesus as an example of life guided by God, and find that Jesus can show us how to live and love.

 Words cannot convey the essence of spiritual experience, and individual communicants will express their understanding in different ways. We speak of the 'Inner Light' and 'the Spirit': by these phrases we mean the divine stirrings within each of us, the promptings of God, which illuminate our lives and lead us to make good and loving choices.

How can one be sure that this 'illumination' is indeed divine? We share and test our ideas with others because we find that the insight of a group is more reliable than that of an individual. Valuable sympathy and guidance often comes from the pooled wisdom of the group.

The Eucharist is central to the Catholic way of life. The Eucharist most often occurs during the Mass. We usually hold Mass for about an hour on Sundays but we may gather at other times. The Mass begins when people sit together in silence. They settle into a time of quiet worship in which daily preoccupations fall away and stillness gathers all over as they open themselves to the Spirit.

 There are few programmed hymns, prayers or homilies during Mass (until the Holy Eucharist, which is a contemplative adaptation of the Liturgy with traditional elements from ancient sources). Sometimes an individual may feel guided to speak in order to share a particular insight or experience. The words are spoken in a sense of worship, not debate or lecture. Each meeting is unique and may be experienced as strengthening, enlightening, joyful or searching. We find that during Mass both silence and speech can lead to spiritual renewal and growth.

 Each local meeting runs its own affairs with regular business meetings in which all members are encouraged to participate. As the Communion grows we will hold annual meetings of the larger body which will be opportunities for worship, prayer and ministry. Too, we will discuss current social concerns that affect the Body and all people of the world.

Each Parish will consist of from 7 to 15 members, a Parish will divide itself when it has grown to 15 o more members to form a new Parish. At least once a month all Parishes in a Deanery (about 10 Parishes located in close Geographic proximity) will join for a Mass, an Agape' meal and a business meeting.

 Business meetings are a spiritual exercise to find the will of God. In the process of decision making, the group seeks unity and no votes are taken. Women and men take an equal role in worship and business.

We believe that there is something of God in everyone and that every person is capable of giving and receiving love. Thus every person is valuable and oppression is never acceptable because it is also oppression of the spirit of God. Many of us are pacifists.

 We try to live out our faith in our daily lives, and many feel called to serve others through voluntary work, their employment, or through their family life.

We eschew literalism and celebrate the universality of inward religious experience. We are in spiritual unity with all sincere seekers of truth. - "The humble, meek, merciful, just, pious and devout souls are everywhere of one religion; and when death has taken off the mask, they will know one another, though the divers liveries they wear here make them strangers." --William Penn

A fundamental belief is the Divine Unity of all beings. All life originates from the same divine omnipresent source. Thus, everything from the smallest one-cell bacterium to plants, animals, humans and even the entire universe is alive. Each is divine at its core and manifests itself through corporeal, psychological, intellectual, spiritual, and divine ranges of substance and awareness. As all things spring forth from the same Divine so must all things return to the Divine. The life of the individual, of humankind, of Earth and of the entire universe is part of this divine process.

We believe in God, the Living Spirit Almighty; one, indestructible, absolute and self-existent Cause. This One manifests itself in and through all creation but is not absorbed by its creation. The manifest universe is the body of God; it is the logical and necessary outcome of the infinite self-knowingness of God.

We believe in the incarnation of the Spirit in everyone and that all people are incarnations of the One Spirit.

We believe in the eternality, the immortality, and the continuity of the individual soul, forever and ever expanding.

We believe that Heaven is within us and that we experience it to the degree that we become conscious of it.

We believe the ultimate goal of life to be a complete emancipation from all discord of every nature, and that this goal is sure to be attained by all.

We believe in the unity of all life, and that the highest God and the innermost God is one God.

We believe that God is personal to all who feel this Indwelling Presence.

We believe in the direct revelation of Truth through the intuitive and spiritual nature of the individual, and that any person may become a revealer of Truth who lives in close contact with the indwelling God.

We believe that the Universal Spirit, which is God, operates through a Universal Mind, which is the Law of God; and that we are surrounded by this Creative Mind which receives the direct impress of our thought and acts upon it.

We believe in the healing of the sick through the power of this Mind.

We believe in the control of conditions through the power of this Mind.

We believe in the eternal Goodness, the eternal Loving-kindness, and the eternal Givingness of Life to all.

We believe in our own soul, our own spirit, and our own destiny; for we understand that the life of all is God.

What We Believe, by Ernest Holmes, was published in the first issue of Science of Mind magazine, October, 1927. This edited version uses gender-inclusive language.