Evangelical Catholic    

Church of the Apostles, Lutheran

75 17th Avenue, North Tonawanda, NY     716-207-3679
Holy Eucharist Wednesday 7pm, Sunday 10:30am

Evangelical Catholic

We are not Protestants! You may hear that and say “but wasn’t Martin Lutheran the one who started the protestant movement”? The answer is no. Luther was a Roman Catholic reformer within the church catholic and who wished to discuss the abuses of the church in his time and reform the church into what it had been centuries before. Luther believed that the scriptures should be the foundation of the teaching of the church and was simply pointing out areas in which church and scripture had parted ways. His was a desire for an evangelical approach to the church catholic that held the Word as its central core while maintaining the churches traditions that had been passed down as long as they did not contradict scripture or take anything away from the salvific event of Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension.

The best term we can use to describe ourselves is that we are an Evangelical (scripture) Catholic (accepting the traditions of the church that have been the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit) Church. We hold the Holy Scriptures as the living Word of God revealing the truth and way of life for all the faithful. We also hold to the Mass as it has been developed and transmuted from generation to generation from the earliest centuries. As a community we are indeed catholic in our teaching, worship and practice. But we are not Roman catholic who have their head Bishop in Rome. We faithfully combine all that is good about the catholic faith with a living witness in worship, fellowship and outreach.

So when you come to worship with us on a Sunday what should you expect?

                -The mass in its fullness using liturgical settings that are also commonly found in the Roman rite.

                -Full participation of the congregation in worship, through singing, response and prayer.

                -A spirit of holiness and the presence of the living God.

                -The bread and wine are physically the Body and Blood of Christ.

                -A community devoted to serving Christ.

                -Preaching on the texts listed for the liturgical season and day that can be applied to daily life

                  and the world around us.

                -The finest of the 2000 year catholic tradition with evangelical spirit.