Two Memberships, One Fellowship

Membership at St. Charles reflects our commitment to being both a local parish family and a Cathedral for the wider region. We recognize two expressions of membership: Covenant and Confirmed.

  • Covenant Members are those who call St. Charles their spiritual home and participate deeply in our community. You may come from a different denominational background and are still exploring the "ins-and-outs" of our Anglican tradition. We hope you will make a commitment to your church home as you participate in the life of your church!

  • Confirmed Members are those who wish to formally align themselves with the historic Anglican tradition. By being confirmed (or received) by the Bishop, you intentionally join not only St. Charles, but the Diocese of Cascadia and the Global Anglican Communion. This path involves affirming our Fundamental Declarations and recognizing our Bishop as our chief pastor.

What is the practical difference? At St. Charles, a member is a member. We serve, eat, and pray together as one. Both memberships are encouraged to vote on church matters. The main distinction is that we look towards our Confirmed members to serve on the Vestry, represent our church at Diocesan Synod, and lead ministry departments.

 

Steps to Membership

For both covenant and confirmed membership, the following steps are necessary.

  1. An informal conversation with a member of our clergy, expressing your interest.

  2. The membership form (below), which includes your Christian testimony.

  3. A formal meeting with a member of our clergy.

For those seeking confirmed membership, the following additional steps are required.

  1. Attend Catechesis (Confirmation Class), a 12-week class normally held in the Spring.

  2. Affirm all 8 of the Fundamental Declarations of the Diocese of Cascadia, which include affirmation of our episcopal polity, the Book of Common Prayer, and the 39 Articles of Religion (see below).

  3. Receive the sacramental rite of Confirmation by the Bishop when he visits (normally in early June).

 

Ready to pursue membership?

Please begin the process by filling out the membership form here. The next step will be to meet with our clergy to discuss your church background and next steps.

Membership Form
 

St. Charles Covenant

As a Covenant Member or Confirmed Member of St. Charles, I joyfully commit to the following practices of our common life:

  1. Faith in the Holy Trinity
    I confess the Triune God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — and have received baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

  2. Adherence to the Historic Faith
    I receive the authority of Holy Scripture as the Word of God and affirm the essential doctrines of the Christian faith as articulated in the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds.

  3. Confession of Jesus
    I confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and eagerly share my testimony of faith with others.

  4. Participation in Corporate Worship
    I commit to faithful participation in the worship of the church, especially in Holy Communion. If health prevents, our ministers are eager to bring communion to your house, hospital, or care facility.

  5. Life in Community
    I commit to participate in the life and ministries of the church, offering my time and gifts in service to Christ, his church, and our neighbors.

  6. Stewardship and Generosity
    I commit to worship God through giving financially to the church, its mission, and ministry, through pledging proportionate financial gifts.

  7. Shared Responsibility in Governance
    I commit to engage in the important decisions of the parish by praying for our leaders, staying informed, and voting when called upon.

 

Fundamental Declarations of the Diocese of Cascadia

1. We believe and confess Jesus Christ to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no one comes to the Father but by Him.

2. We confess the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired Word of God, containing all things necessary for salvation, and to be the final authority and unchangeable standard for Christian faith and life.

3. We confess Baptism and the Supper of the Lord to be Sacraments ordained by Christ Himself in the Gospel, and thus to be ministered with unfailing use of His words of institution and of the elements ordained by Him.

4. We confess the godly historic Episcopate as an inherent part of the apostolic faith and practice, and therefore as integral to the fullness and unity of the Body of Christ.

5. We confess the historic faith of the undivided Church as declared in the three Catholic Creeds: the Apostles’, the Nicene, and the Athanasian. Concerning the seven Councils of the undivided Church, we affirm the teaching of the first four Councils, and the Christological clarifications of the fifth, sixth and seventh Councils, in so far as they are agreeable to the Holy Scriptures.

6. We receive The Book of Common Prayer as set forth by the Church of England in 1662, together with the Ordinal attached to the same, as a standard for Anglican doctrine and discipline, and, with the Books which preceded it, as the standard for the Anglican tradition of worship.

7. We receive the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion of 1662, taken in their literal and grammatical sense, as expressing the Anglican response to certain controversial doctrinal issues of that time, and as expressing fundamental principles of authentic Anglican belief.

8. We receive the Global Anglican Future Conference Final Statement and Jerusalem Declaration issued 29 June 2008.