About Us

A CEREMONIAL CHURCH

The Liberal Catholic Church is one of thirty or more Catholic Churches in the world which are independent of Rome; such as the Greek Orthodox, Coptic, Old Catholic, etc. It teaches the Christianity of the Christ and administers the seven Sacraments which are regarded as channels of His blessing. It is a Church wherein there is intellectual freedom and a natural balance between ceremonial worship, devotional aspiration, scientific and mystic thought. It uses a revised Liturgy in the language of the country; a Liturgy devised to sound a note of joyous and uplifting inspiration. The Liberal Catholic Church welcomes all and everyone to its services; those who have faith and those who have lost faith; those who believe in the literal exposition of the Scriptures and those who accept the allegorical, spiritual interpretation. Above all, it wishes to serve those who are earnestly seeking spiritual enlightenment.

FREEDOM OF BELIEF

The Liberal Catholic Church erects no barriers around its altars. All who come in a spirit of reverence are welcome to the Holy Communion and all other services of the Church. What opinions or beliefs an individual holds are considered to be his own affair. The mind that is free is in the best condition to grow. Growth into spiritual maturity enhances the perception of truth, which each one discovers for himself - and in his own way. Anything less than full mental freedom is thought to retard progress. Thus, the difference between The Liberal Catholic Church and all other Catholic and Protestant Churches lies in the fact that the ancient Sacramental worship has been combined with the widest measure of intellectual freedom and respect for the individual conscience.

RELIGIOUS EQUILIBRIUM

The Liberal Catholic Church seeks to give the world the best elements of Catholicism with the best of Protestantism. On the Catholic side are the seven Sacraments; but in traditional Churches these have been hedged about with all kinds of man-made encumbrances such as creeds, rigid beliefs, the confessional, penances, indulgences, etc. On the Protestant side we have an earnest attempt to promote religious freedom, but the reformers discarded the Sacraments, lost the Apostolic Succession and soon lost much of the intellectual emancipation they had previously gained; which development has led to the rise of innumerable sectarian movements.

The Liberal Catholic Church is therefore unique in its endeavour to revive the ancient Catholic Liturgy of the earliest times, in all its pristine glory, combined with the Protestant fervour to think for oneself.

ORDERS OF THE CLERGY

The orders of the clergy of The Liberal Catholic Church were derived through the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht, in the Netherlands, which became independent of Rome over two centuries ago. Through this Apostolic Succession, unbroken since the time of Christ, The Liberal Catholic Church aligns itself with the historic Church in past centuries. The clergy are neither forbidden nor enjoined to marry. They serve without personal remuneration. The clergy claim no authority over the individual conscience; rather, stress is laid on their function as ministers of he Divine Sacraments ready to serve those who may ask or need their help.

SUMMARY OF DOCTRINE

Inasmuch as the Liberal Catholic Church welcomes to its membership all who are seeking truth, it does not require its members to accept this Statement of Doctrine, but the statement is to be regarded as embodying the distinctive contribution of the Liberal Catholic Church to Christian thought and the Bishops of the Church are prepared to accept as candidates for ordination those who find themselves in general agreement with it.

1. The Liberal Catholic Church teaches the existence of God, infinite, eternal, transcendent and immanent. He is the one essence from which all forms of existence are derived. 'In him we live and move and have our being' (Acts 17:28).

2. God manifests in his universe as a Trinity, called in the Christian religion Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three Persons in one God, co-equal and co-eternal; the Father the cause of all, the Son the Word who was made flesh and dwelt among us, the Holy Spirit the life-giver, the inspirer and sanctifer.

3. Man is a complex of spirit, soul and body. The spirit of man made in the image of God is divine in essence. Therefore he cannot cease to exist, he is eternal and his future is one whose glory and splendour have no limit.

4. Christ ever lives as a mighty spiritual presence in the world, guiding and sustaining his people. The divinity which was manifest in him is gradually being unfolded in every man until each shall come 'unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ' (Eph. 4:13).

5. The world is the theatre of an ordered plan, according to which the spirit of man, by repeatedly expressing himself in varying conditions of life and experience, continually unfolds his powers. This spiritual unfoldment takes place under an inviolable law of cause and effect. 'Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap' (Gal. 6:7). His doings in each physical incarnation largely determine his experience after death in the intermediate world (or world of purgation) and the heavenly world, and greatly influence the circumstances of his next birth. Man is a link in a vast chain of life extending from the highest to the lowest. As he helps those below him, so also he is helped by those who stand above him on the ladder of life, receiving thus a free gift of grace. There is a communion of saints, just men made perfect or holy ones, who help mankind. There is a ministry of angels.

6. Man has ethical duties to himself and to others. 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment and the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and Prophets'. (Matt.22:37-40). It is the duty of man to learn to discern the divine light in himself and others, that light 'which lighteth every man' (John. 1:9). Because men are sons of God they are brothers and inseparably linked together. That which harms one harms the entire brotherhood. Hence a man owes it as a duty to the God both within himself and others, first, to endeavour constantly to live up to the highest that is in him, thereby enabling that God within himself to become more perfectly manifest, secondly, to recognize the fact of that brotherhood by constant effort towards unselfishness, by love of, consideration for, and service to his fellow-men. The service of humanity, reverence for all life and the sacrifice of the lower self to the higher are laws of spiritual growth.

7. Christ instituted various sacraments in which an inward and spiritual grace is given to us through an outward and visible sign. There are seven rites which may be ranked as sacraments, namely, Baptism, Confirmation, the Holy Eucharist, Absolution, Holy Unction, Holy Matrimony, Holy Orders. The doctrine of these sacraments is sufficiently set forth in the authorized Liturgy of The Liberal Catholic Church. Christ, the living head of the church which he founded, is the true minister of all sacraments.