Origins and Affiliation
We were planted in 2011 out of Wellspring Englewood by Father Rob Paris. We are affiliated with the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) within the Diocese of the Rocky Mountains. Many of us come to Advent from a wide variety of denominational and spiritual backgrounds and have experienced the Anglican way of following Jesus to be vibrant, enriching, and healing. That said, if the gospel is like fine wine, then Anglicanism is just the chalice that helps bring out the distinctive notes. You don’t have to be all-in on Anglicanism to belong at our church. It is not the only way to follow Jesus, but it is a beautiful way!
Three Streams
The Liturgical Stream
We value the wisdom of historic tradition and use The Book of Common Prayer to shape our worship practices. Thus we value the weekly celebration of communion, the rhythms of the church calendar, the consistent, formative, and communal nature of liturgical worship, and our connection to the global Church. Though the Church is not without error, recognizing the wisdom of the Church through the ages provides stability and inspires humility.
The Evangelical Stream
Though this word has come to take on political force, we use it to communicate an ethos especially around three things. First, we preach and teach from the Bible because we believe it is the inspired word of God, so we root all that we do in Scripture. Second, our desire is for all people to receive abundant life in Christ, and to reorder their lives around relationship with Him. Third, we take seriously God’s desire that His people speak about and embody faith in Jesus and life in his Kingdom.
The Charismatic Stream
We believe that God is presently working through His Spirit to unveil the glory of God’s kingdom among His people. We anticipate the dynamic work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church for the conviction of sin, the illumination of truth, and the restoration of all things. His Spirit renews and empowers us. We continually seek to be filled with and guided by the Spirit in all we do.
Beliefs
The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments contain “all things necessary to salvation,” and are the rule and ultimate standard of faith.
We join orthodox Christians around the world in reciting and holistically affirming the two foundational historic creeds: The Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds
Church of the Advent stands in the mainstream of orthodox Christianity and historic Anglicanism. Historically, these beliefs were expressed in the 39 Articles. A modern summary of these beliefs that captures their significance for our world can be found in the Jerusalem Declaration.
Positions and Posture: We live in freedom within the gracious fences of our Diocesan Canons and Constitutions. We maintain a posture of “generous orthodoxy,” holding to core convictions of orthodox faith while seeking to live and interact with everyone with a spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control (Galatians 5:22).
Our Culture
/ DEFINING COMMITMENTS
Our animating center is Life in Christ.
We abide in Christ primarily through Word, Spirit, and Sacrament.
The Great Tradition (historic Christian orthodoxy) is our best way of understanding the Bible.
The Anglican Way is how we walk out our orthodoxy.
/ CORE VALUES
Union with Christ: The Christian life is a life of union with Christ. His life in us is the animating center of our life together (Jn 15:4-5).
Simplicity: We lean into the simple, ancient rhythms of the Church gathered around God’s word and sacrament (Acts 2:42). We are not trying to be novel; we are trying to live ordinary life in Christ together: A life of worship, formation, community, and mission.
Liturgical and Lively: We seek to wed the liturgical riches of our Anglican heritage with a warm vibrancy of faith resulting in worship that is rooted and joyful, reverent and expressive, beautiful and lively (Jn 4:24).
The Gospel that Heals: The gospel of Jesus forms us into a reconciled and reconciling community (2 Cor 5:18), bringing brothers and sisters in Christ from various ethnic, religious, political, and socioeconomic backgrounds into one family of God.
Feasting and the Table: We emphasize communing at Christ’s table where we experience so much of what we value: hospitality, nourishment, grace, rest, and delight in the gifts of God (Jn 6:35-51). We are sent from His table to feast at friend’s tables and serve at neighborhood “tables” (anywhere we can love and bless our neighbors).
Children: We delight in the presence of children in our midst. Children and youth are not the future of the church, they are the church (Mt 19:14). We are committed to being a safe, caring, and formative church for kids and their families.
Loving the Poor: Following Christ’s example and teaching, we look for ways (both organic and programmatic) to lovingly engage with the spiritually and economically poor and marginalized (Lk 4:18-21).
Kingdom > Country > Party: The American church needs a renewed paradigm for political discipleship wherein we turn our eyes from the donkey or the elephant and look to the lamb (Credit: Pastor Ken Robertson, IAC, Colorado Springs for this paradigm).
Success is Maturing in Christ: Our primary goal is not growth in attendance or giving, rather it is growth in Christlikeness. Though this is hard to measure, the key indicator is that individuals + our church staff and culture demonstrate a long-term trend towards more fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Col 1:28, Gal 5:22-23a).
