What We Believe

St Augustine of Hippo Church is a fellowship of Anglo Catholic Christians who share authentic, traditional Christian beliefs - the most primary of which is the infallibility of Holy Scripture (the written Word of God – The Holy Bible).

The Bible

We consider that the Bible is absolute truth. The Authority of God is paramount to us as Christians. The Holy Bible and the traditions passed down by the Church Fathers form the basis of our faith. Changing God’s infallible Word to align with changing culture and post-modernism, implies that mankind knows better than God. We believe such practises are heretical, and we cannot in all conscience accept the many liberal changes made to God’s Holy Word by some within the Church.

The Trinity

We believe in the Judaeo-Christian God who is one God – three persons; God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit. The concept of ‘One God - Three Persons’ is known as the Holy Trinity.

The Creeds

Also central to our faith are the words of The Nicene Creed and The Apostles’ Creed.

Traditional Catholic Beliefs

We will not compromise our foundational beliefs.

As a result of the increasing move within the Church of England (C of E) towards liberal theology, St Augustine of Hippo Anglican Church has become a part of the ‘Forward in Faith’ movement within the C of E, and our priest reports to what is known as a Provincial Episcopal Visitor or ‘flying bishop’. This term describes a bishop within the C of E who shares our conservative, orthodox, Anglo Catholic position. Currently, that person is the Bishop of Richborough, the Most Reverend Luke Irvine-Capel.

Male ‘Headship’

One of our particular traditional Bible-based beliefs is that, whilst God freely gives the gifts of the Spirit by His Spirit to whomsoever He wishes, (both males and females), the role of Priest is reserved for men alone.

Baptism

Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are free from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: ‘Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water and in the word’.
CCC 1213

Necessity of Baptism

The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation (John chapter 3 verse 5). He also commands His disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptise them (Matthew 28:19-20). Baptism is necessary to salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed, and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament (Mark 16:16). The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptised are “reborn of water and the Spirit.” God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but He himself is not bound by His sacraments. CCC 1257

The above paragraphs in bold italics (concerning Baptism) are taken from the R.C. Church of St. Augustine in Lincoln website. See here for more details.

Confirmation

Confirmation and Baptism are two of the seven Holy Sacraments of the Catholic Church. Confirmation is something undertaken by grown up members of the faith who wish to publicly declare to members of the Church their personal commitment to the faith. During the ceremony the Bishop speaks over the confirmand and lays his hands upon each one of them, in order that the confirmands are filled with the Holy Spirit.

In 2018, Pope Francis talked about the importance of the being filled with the Holy Spirit…

At the General Audience, Pope Francis reflected on the Sacrament of Confirmation and his speech included the following comments…

"The Holy Spirit is God's great gift", and "the Spirit guides us in life so that we may become the true salt and the true light for mankind". The Pope thus opened a new series of catecheses dedicated to the Sacrament of Confirmation, as he addressed the faithful at the General Audience in Saint Peter's Square on Wednesday, 23 May [2018].... The following extract is a translation of the Holy Father's catechesis, which he gave in Italian…

“If the Spirit works in every sacrament, it is in a special way that in Confirmation ‘the faithful receive the Holy Spirit as a Gift’ (Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution Divinae Consortium Naturae). And at the moment of anointing, the Bishop says these words: ‘Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit’: the Holy Spirit is God’s great gift. And we all have the Spirit within. The Spirit is in our heart, in our soul. And the Spirit guides us in life so that we may become the true salt and the true light for mankind.”

Finally, when it comes to the subject of baptism and confirmation, some Christians may raise the question, “Are Catholics really ‘born again’. This on-line article is well worth a read, as it answers the question in a deep and meaningful way.

New Christians are Very Welcome at St Augustine’s

If you are a relatively new Christian, you may know something about these truths but not fully understand all of them. Don’t worry, help is at hand.

In a world that has lost its sense of awe and belief in the one true God of the Bible, and instead believes in secularism, atheism, or some other anti-Christian ‘ism’, our church proudly worships, proclaims, and preaches the one, true, unchanging Gospel of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
‘Salvation is through no other Name’ (Acts chapter 4 verse 12).

If you believe the above truths, we believe you will feel at home in our church environment, with our liturgy, and with our teaching.

‘Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work’
2 Timothy 3:12-17.

‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.’
Hebrews 13:8