What We Believe
As heirs of the Protestant Reformation, we place a high value on theological depth and clarity. We want to honor Jesus rightly by loving him with our minds.
Below, you will find a brief summary of what we believe at Glory of God
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We are a part of the Christian church
Together with Christians throughout the ages, we worship the Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We thank God for the rich heritage of the church from the last two millennia, and we joyfully affirm the historic Christian creeds –
The Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and the Chalcedonian Definition.
We are a Reformed and Reformational church
We are also a “Reformed” or “Reformational,” referring to the 16th-century Reformation led by Martin Luther, Thomas Cranmer, and John Calvin. The Reformation was a movement to reform the doctrine and worship of the late-medieval church by returning to the authority of the Scriptures. As heirs of the Reformation, we claim to be the heirs of the One, Holy, Catholic (Universal), and Apostolic church.
We are grateful to stand in the vibrant tradition of the Protestant Reformation, when many vital aspects of the Bible’s teaching were rediscovered. In particular, we find much of the Bible’s teaching to be well expressed in the great confession of the English Reformation, the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion.
A proper term for Anglicans might be “Reformed Catholics.” We reject the abuses and theological errors of Rome. By “re-forming,” we aim to stand in the faith of the early church as was conceived by the Church Fathers.
We are an Evangelical church
The word “evangelical” comes from a Greek word meaning “gospel” or “good news”. As an evangelical church we are committed to the content, proclamation, and demonstration of the good news about Jesus: his life, death, resurrection, ascension, present reign, and future return in glory.
As an evangelical church, we believe that the Bible is God’s word, and therefore our ultimate authority in every area of life. We seek to understand and apply the ancient words of Scripture as the Lord’s wisdom to every aspect of the modern world.
Our Theological Distinctives
Biblical Worship
At Glory of God, we follow the pattern of worship commonly found in the Book of Common Prayer. This system of worship, often called “Covenantal Renewal Worship,” is pulled from the Scriptures and is in continuity with the worship of the Early Church.
Family Worship
At Glory of God, we believe that God has ordained the family as a covenantal structure. Therefore, we welcome children to participate in the whole of worship. We also recognize that small children may need a break, so we have a small room in the back where parents can take their children when necessary. Our goal is to encourage our children to participate in worship as they are able from their earliest days, so that as they grow, they always know the joy of meeting with God and his people. Upon request, we allow young children to attend a short Bible lesson during the sermon.
Optimistic Eschatology
We hold an optimistic view of the future and believe that the world is being changed over time by the faithful preaching of the Gospel of Christ, Christ meeting us in his Sacraments, and His discipling of the nations through the work of His people (Mt 6:10, 28:18-19, Isa 2, Ps. 110, 1 Cor 15).
Christian Education
The Word of God calls parents to bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. We believe parents should provide a God-honoring, distinctively Christian education for their children either through homeschooling or a Christian school. We work to encourage, equip, and support parents in this worthy endeavor (Eph 6:4).
Many of our members are connected to the K-12 program Pietas Classical Christian, and the classical liberal arts college, Christ College, in Satellite Beach.
Covenant Households
Scripture has a covenantal structure. The mark of belonging to God, whether circumcision or baptism, is given to the household, not only professing adults. We include children in the sacraments and hold them accountable for the tremendous privileges they enjoy as Christians. We believe baptism is effective as a means of God’s grace, but not an automatic guarantee of final salvation (Gen 17:7).
Scripture charges men with the responsibility for leading their families. In addition to assuming sacrificial responsibility in their homes, men are required by Scripture to do so in the church as well. Therefore, leadership of the church is restricted to men in obedience to God’s Word. We encourage women’s ministry and cherish the gifts God has given our wives and sisters, without which the household and the Church could not thrive (Deut 6:6-7, Eph 5:21-6:4, 1 Tim 2:12, 1 Cor 14:34-35).*
*statement taken from Trinity Reformed Church, Valparaiso, FL.
Our Affiliations
Our church is part of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), a province of the third-largest branch of Christianity. Within the ACNA, we are part of a diocese (united gathering of local church parishes) called the Anglican Diocese of the Living Word
Positions on Cultural Issues
Women's Ordination
At Glory of God and in the Anglican Diocese of the Living Word, we view the ordination of women to the priesthood (ie, to become pastors/elders/presbyters) to be an accretion not found historically within the Church or in line with the teachers of Holy Scripture. As such, we deny that the ordination of women to the pastorate is a wise or Biblical move and stand against the recent innovation of women’s ordination.
You may find a fuller argument presented by the diocese here.
Abortion and the Sanctity of Life
We wholly profess that the unborn and the infirm, being Image Bearers of the Most Holy God, are worthy of life. The unjustified taking of life is murder and has no Scriptural warrant. Therefore, we confess that abortion, euthanasia, and all forms of taking life in an unjustified manner are murder. We are pro-life and seek to uphold the dignity of all human life.
Sexuality and Sexual Identity
We affirm the Biblical mandate for and the goodness of marriage as the union between a man and a woman. The Lord provided marriage to us for the purpose of demonstrating sacrificial love and for the purpose of fulfilling the creation mandate of multiplying and filling the earth with human life. Same-sex relationships cannot fulfill this God ordained role naturally and must, on principle, be rejected as a proper application of human sexuality.
Transgenderism, likewise, is a misunderstanding of the goodness of the body. God, foreordaining each human life, has predestined in eternity past who each individual would be. To view oneself as misaligned with their body from birth is to misunderstand God’s sovereignty in the world.
A fuller description of the position from the diocese can be found here.
Our Mission and Vision
We exist to glorify God and advance the Kingdom of God in families, community and the world through the power of the Holy Spirit as we are:
Authentic in Life
Passionate in Worship
Committed to Christ