We Believe
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” -John 17:20-23
We, the Diocese of the Shepherd’s Heart, are a community of believers, centered on Jesus Christ, holding to the faith and traditions of the apostles as expressed in Holy Scripture and the ancient creeds of the undivided Church: The Apostle’s Creed, The Nicene, The Creed of Saint Athanasius.
We are a Christ-centered and Trinitarian people, believing the Sacraments impart the grace which they signify, and that Apostolic Succession unifies and empowers us to administer the Sacraments and to proclaim the Gospel given to the Church by our Lord Jesus Christ, the author of our salvation.
We freely accept the continued revelation of the Word of God through the Holy Spirit and the call to love God with all of our heart, mind, and soul while loving our neighbors as our self in the same sacrificial way that Christ has loved us.
In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity. We are a diocese of compassionate traditionalists.
Specifics of Our Faith
We confess the revelation of God in and through His Son, Jesus Christ, and are a Church consecrated to the task of spreading the importance of that revelation to the entire world. We believe in the Trinity — one God in three — God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We further hold that Jesus Christ, the second Person in the Trinity, is God and yet Man; that He was incarnated in the womb of the Virgin Mary; that he was crucified, died and was buried; that he rose again; and that He ascended into Heaven. He left as His ever-present witness in the world the Holy Spirit, whom we hold is the voice of God speaking in scripture, history, and in our individual souls. Where two or three are gathered together in Christ’s Name, there is He in the midst.
We further believe in His eternal witness, and that the Church is an essential part of the Spirit’s revelation. It is to this end that we are further dedicated to the unification of that Holy, Catholic (universal), and Apostolic Church, and to pledge ourselves to the struggle to follow and understand the historical traditions throughout all branches of Christ’s Church. We trust, as did the ancient Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, that the Holy Spirit will lead us in this.
We offer ourselves as a Church home to all who confess and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, regardless of their state of grace; and we would not exclude anyone from our fellowship, for we are committed to the principle that all are the Children of God and that “while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” Saint or sinner, we would exclude none from the joyful response in which we embrace the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the life to which we are called. We witness to Christ who lives and loves; therefore, we are free to commit ourselves to each other, and to live and love.
The Diocese of the Shepherd’s Heart historically embraces the traditional Seven Sacraments. All are prescribed by the Holy Scriptures and confirmed by God’s continual revelation. It is obligatory on professing Christians and members of this Church that they avail themselves of the Sacraments, especially Baptism, Communion, Confirmation, and Reconciliation, as far as is appropriate to their vocation and station in life, as acts of love and devotion, but none are to be considered conditions for Salvation. Faith in Christ is all that man needs for his soul’s salvation.
In the spirit of historic Catholic and ecumenical concord we hold that all worship done in the Name of Christ and in the presence of the Holy Spirit is acceptable unto Him.
Frequently Asked Questions
I. Is the DSH (Diocese of the Shepherd’s Heart) a Trinitarian believing diocese?
Yes, the DSH confesses the belief in the Triune God as taught by the Catholic Church in all times and places. We believe in the one true God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
II. By what process are you able to discern the world around you and test your faith?
We rely on three pillars that support our faith, Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. Always, grounding each pillar in the Great Commandment given to us by our Lord, that we should love God with all of our heart, mind, and soul, and our neighbor as our self. We look to Holy Scripture as found in what are commonly referred to as the Old and New Testaments, taking into consideration what some would call the Apocryphal Books as well. When Holy Scripture would appear to be silent or confusing we look to the venerable traditions of the Church and it’s saints. When tradition becomes a quagmire lost in time we must look to human reason and experience.
III. Is there any discrimination with the DSH?
Believing as Saint Isaac of Syria, “Do not try to discriminate the worthy from the unworthy, but let all people be equal in your eyes for a good deed,” we do not discriminate and hold no regard for a person’s race, color, age, gender, sexual orientation, preference, nationality, socioeconomic class, nor a person’s state of grace. We are fully committed to inclusivity (see question XV below) and our support for the LGBTQIAPP (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, questioning, intersexual, asexual, pansexual, polyamorous) and anyone who would seek to find a spiritual home within the Shepherd’s Heart is unwavering and unapologetic.
IV. What Sacraments do you believe in?
A Sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, instituted by Christ within the Church. The DSH holds to the seven Sacraments as traditionally defined by the Church, none of which are necessary for salvation but all of which are efficacious and several of which obligatory for self-professing Christians. The seven Sacraments being: Baptism, Confession, Holy Eucharist, Confirmation, Holy Matrimony, Holy Orders, Holy Anointing. Volumes of books have been written about the Sacraments but in short what follows is the belief of the DSH:
Baptism: We believe that Baptism is the primary act where a person is “born again” to be a child of God. It is through this access that all other Sacraments become available to the new child of God. We acknowledge any baptism that has been performed with water and in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as a valid sacramental baptism and would never knowingly “re-baptize” a person.
Confession (Reconciliation): In the Sacrament of Confession the penitent Christian, in the presence of the spiritual confessor, opens to God his darkened and sick heart and allows the heavenly light to enter, cleanse and heal it. In Confession, as in Baptism, the great re-birthing power of the crucified Son of God is concealed. This is the reason that after this Sacrament, the truly penitent person feels cleansed and renewed, as a newly baptized infant. He obtains new strength to battle the evil within himself and to restart a righteous life. A Sacramental Confession should be made to a priest as often as possible but is offered as general confession within the confines of the liturgy for Holy Eucharist. This practice however in no way is intended to supplant the need for regular Sacramental Confession with a priest but rather as an aid to supplement and augment the practice.
Holy Eucharist: We believe in the very real presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in the outward and visible elements of bread and wine at the Eucharistic Feast. We try not to get up in definitions or explanations of how this happens or even when, suffice it to it is a Holy Mystery of faith but for us those offerings of bread and wine become the very Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Holy Eucharist for us is the essence of our worship and certainly the central act of worship within the Church. We welcome everyone to the table regardless and withhold the Sacrament of Holy Communion from no one.
Confirmation: This Sacrament confirms a member to the Catholic church. After study and receiving Baptism, Reconciliation, and Eucharist, a person can be confirmed as a full member of the Catholic Church. Through the Rite of Confirmation a person is indelibly marked by the Holy Holy Spirit and sealed through Holy Chrism as one of Christ’s own forever and ever.
Holy Matrimony: Marriage is an outward and visible sign to the community of the invisible God living in our midst – the living God who bears fruit in the lives of people who love one another. They are an ever-present sign of His Love in the world. There is special grace and ministry within every committed relationship that God has joined together. While the fruit they bear is more than genetically linked offspring, certainly the bearing of children is a blessing and also evidence of the shared love. Moreover, the harvest of their fruit should show a strengthened understanding of the sacrificial nature of love that we are all called to. It is in this relationship, one to another, that we begin to truly grasp God’s love for us, His commitment to us and our own call to “love one another as He has loved us.” While divorce is always born out of sin, just like the breaking of any relationship and should not be approached lightly, the DSH offers the Sacrament of Marriage to consenting adults regardless of previous marital status without restriction other than that of the general, mandatory premarital-marital counseling which is taken by all who would seek to avail themselves of this Sacrament within the DSH. In regards to this Sacrament as with all the Sacraments our support for the LGBTQIAPP (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, questioning, intersexual, asexual, pansexual, polyamorous) and anyone who would seek the church’s blessing upon a relationship between consenting adults is unwavering and unapologetic. We celebrate love when it blooms and support it when it grows, regardless of the form or expression.
Holy Orders: Ordained clergy serve as imperfect channels of God’s perfect grace. We believe that our ordained clergy have been set apart by God for special ministries. Jesus gave special powers to His apostles. He gave them the power to forgive sins in his name and He commanded them to carry on the Eucharistic feast in remembrance of Him. For most of the history of the church, the people elected their bishop but they always had to get other bishops to lay hands on him and pass on what we now call the Apostolic Succession. As Catholics, we believe that Apostolic Succession matters. It guarantees us that God grants to bishops consecrated in the unbroken line from the apostles the same powers Jesus gave to them. It means that priests and deacons ordained by these bishops receive power from the Holy Spirit. Most importantly, it means that the Sacraments given by our clergy are valid and are used by God to impart grace through the action of the Holy Spirit. We do not claim that God acts only through clergy in the Apostolic Succession; but we do claim that the Apostolic Succession guarantees us that our parishioners receive the Body and Blood of Christ when we celebrate the Eucharist. What is distinctively Catholic about our belief in Holy Orders is that we believe that the Sacrament not only sets those ordained apart for special ministries, but also conveys God’s grace to help them accomplish God’s purpose for those ministries. We believe that the successors of the apostles have inherited the special privileges given to them by Christ of conveying God’s grace to His people through the Sacraments. Holy Orders within the DSH are open to all qualified and called people.
Holy Anointing (Unction): The Sacrament of Holy Anointing or Unction is the anointing with consecrated oil along with prayer for healing and should be a natural part of the life of every Christian’s life. We believe that, in addition to taking advantage of the knowledge given by God to physicians and healers of all kinds, the Sacrament of Holy Anointing should be requested on any occasion of dis-ease of body, mind or spirit and offered liberally with confidence. We believe in the power to heal given by Christ to His followers and we claim His victory over dis-ease. We maintain that healing always takes place when sought after and called upon from God, although the manner of the healing might be contrary to our wishes or understanding and its manifestation not always obvious at first glance. Never the less, we do believe that healing takes place always and everywhere when the name of the Lord Jesus is invoked. Healing is a gift given by God and not something earned through strength of faith.
V. What is the DSH’s stance on war?
“War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!” We believe unequivocally that war is against the very wishes of the Prince of Peace and commit ourselves to ushering in His reign of peace which surpasses all understanding. The DSH promotes Christian nonviolence in all walks of the Christian life. Believing in the Gospel call to conversion as found in the Beatitudes, the DSH denounces and resists the evils of violence while striving to reflect the Peace of Christ.
V. What is the DSH’s position on abortion?
We believe in the sanctity of all life regardless, both of the mother’s and of the child’s, and in the commandment of our God, “Thou shalt not kill.” However, we acknowledge that sometimes medical termination of a pregnancy is necessary to preserve life and in such situations great compassion and sympathy are our pastoral and Christian duty. In instances of choice however, not unlike God in the Garden of Eden, we are also committed to uphold each individual’s freedom of choice and it is in that freedom of choice where our Christian calling is engaged and challenged. Even still, we as Christians are called to compassion and sympathy, not condemnation and judgment. Rather than rallying against an issue and trying to bring about political change, the DSH seeks to change hearts and not laws. We feel that if we change the heart, laws won’t matter much and it is in the heart that God is interested. We seek to be part of the solution to abortion and not simply a “loud gong or a clanging symbol” and commit ourselves to aiding alternatives to abortion.
VI. Where does the DSH stand in regards to the capital punishment?
We agree with our God when He said, “Thou shalt not kill.” It was a commandment and not a suggestion. We stand against capital punishment in all cases and in every instance. We are not interested in debates on the cost of capital punishment nor in the deterrence factor in regards to crime. We rely on the commandment of our God when He said, “Thou shalt not kill,” and on that alone.
VII. Do you believe in Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory?
We believe in Heaven and in Hell most assuredly, but rather than seeing them solely as places of residence or final destination exclusively, we see them as beginning with conditions of being. Just as people can and have had little foretastes of heaven, we all know somebody who lives in a state of hell and we believe that this eternal journey is begun from the moment we are conceived. It is our goal to try to aid in the rescue of souls from the sorrowful place of hell and bring them into the saving grace of Jesus. We reject as dogma the non-Biblical concept of purgatory and find such teaching to be contrary to the saving message of the Gospel.
VIII. Do you worship the saints or pray to the saints?
Let us first address the notion of “worshiping the saints.” The DSH does not believe in the worship of the saints, nor do the majority of catholics, contrary to the popular idea otherwise. Rather it is a relationship of love and devotion for the physically departed that most people who have been accused of saint worship are expressing. You see, we believe in eternal life and just because the body is no longer alive we do not believe that the soul too must be dead, asleep or forgotten. Certainly we reject the notion of “worshiping the saints” for worship is reserved for God alone but we support the familial bond between Christian people alive in the flesh and those alive only in the spirit and encourage the continuance of that relationship upon physical death.
This leads to the next part of the question, do we pray to the saints. If by prayer you mean that we pray to them the way we pray to God then the answer would have to be no. We do not. However, if you mean prayer in the form of simple communication then the answer would be yes. We have already stated that we see the afterlife as a state of being rather than a place and to this end, we believe, much like our Celtic ancestors in the faith, that the veil between the physical world and that of the spiritual world is thin. Just as we would ask someone alive in the flesh to pray for us we also ask those alive only in the spirit to pray for us and we see very little difference in the two practices. We do however reject the notion of treating our spiritually alive loved ones as some sort of “spiritual slot machine” in begging for favors just as we would reject that practice with our physically living loved ones or even with God for that matter.
No, our relationship with one another does not end at physical death and as Christians we believe in eternal life.
IX. What about Mary?
We do not worship Mary, as worship is reserved for God alone. We do however hold Mary the Mother of God, the Christ Bearer, in high esteem with great reverence and adoration, and in much love. Like Old Catholics before us we do not support the notion of the Immaculate Conception as promulgated by Pius IX in 1854 in defiance of the Holy Scriptures and in contradiction to the tradition of the centuries. Nor do we subscribe to the dogma that she was perpetually a virgin and believe that Jesus most certainly, in accordance with Holy Scripture, had physically related brothers and or sisters and that Mary lived out a normal and sexual married life with her husband Joseph.
X. Do you pray the rosary?
Some do, some don’t. It is one of the many prayer forms that are utilized within the DSH and as with all prayer forms it is encouraged.
XI. Do you believe in the infallibility of the Pope and are you under his authority?
While we respect the Pope as the Bishop of Rome and as the “First Among Equals” we are not under his jurisdiction or authority but rather the DSH is under the authority and jurisdiction of it’s own validly consecrated bishop who holds valid apostolic succession. As to the infallibility of the Pope, like Old Catholics before us, we reject the decrees of the so-called Council of the Vatican, which were promulgated July 18th, 1870, concerning the infallibility and the universal Episcopate of the Bishop of Rome, decrees which are in contradiction with the faith of the ancient Church, and which destroy its ancient canonical constitution by attributing to the Pope the plenitude of ecclesiastical powers over all Dioceses and over all the faithful. By denial of this primatial jurisdiction we do not wish to deny the historical primacy which several Ecumenical Councils and Fathers of the ancient Church have attributed to the Bishop of Rome by recognizing him as the Primus Inter Pares.
XII. Does the DSH include the “filioque” clause in the Nicene Creed?
We use the pre-1054 form of the Nicene Creed, considering the “filioque” added by the Pope at that time to be an unnecessary obstacle to unity with our Orthodox brethren.
XIII. Does the DSH believe in clerical celibacy?
Certainly we do but it is not mandatory. Celibacy is a gift like any other gift given from God. Some are called to it and some are not. We hearken back to the teachings of the primitive church that allowed clergy, like St. Peter, to be married or not. In 305 A.D. the Council of Elvira in Spain, while not forbidding marriage, passed the first decree on celibacy for all bishops, priests and those who served at the altar. Pope Siricius in 385, commanded celibacy for bishops, priests and deacons. Then in 1123, the First Lateran Council forbid clergy to marry and decreed that those who had must dissolve their unions. None of these edicts were decisions by an ecumenical council of all the Christian Churches in Apostolic Succession. In fact the ecumenical Council of Nicea in 325 decided not to ban priests from marriage. All clergy in the Diocese of the Shepherd’s Heart may marry if they wish to do so, either before or after ordination or consecration.
XIV. What is the DSH’s stance on human sexuality?
It’s a God given gift and should be celebrated, respected, and enjoyed accordingly. It is time for the church to renounce its obsession on the physical act of sex between consenting adults and instead reaffirm human sexuality in all of its beauty and diversity by promoting healthy sexual relationships between consenting adults. Chastity and not sex needs to be the focus of the church and its clergy.
Chastity is an affirmation of the Resurrection of the body, and therefore leads us into responsible, nurturing physical relationships founded on Love. Chastity is love which comes from the body, the mind, and the spirit in harmony, without compulsion, possessiveness, or selfishness. It is love, sex, and physicalness made obedient to God.
Chastity must not be confused with celibacy, although some of us will be called to celibacy, either for a short time or for life. This is an individual decision, between the self and God, entered into with the support and advice of the community, either as a life-long commitment, or for a brief period as an aid to chastity.
Chastity is a part of our calling and life-style, but is also a gift of grace. It uniquely frees the hearts of men and women so they can become more fervent in love for God and all humanity. It is the confirmation of our responsibility for the whole world. It is the most perfect manifestation of the love between Christ and his Bride. Through chastity we are freed to find a truly loving relationship with ourselves, our families, friends, and spouses, the world we share, and God himself. Chastity is our taste of the Kingdom of God.
In short, the conversation should be on love and not on sex and to that end we celebrate love when it blooms and support it when it grows, regardless of the form or expression.
XV. Is the DSH inclusive, and if so, how inclusive is the DSH?
Our inclusiveness demands that we welcome all who would seek to find a Christian home with us, turning no one away, traditional, conservative, moderate, progressive, and liberal thought, doctrine, and liturgical expression are all welcomed, however, our support for the LGBTQIAPP (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, questioning, intersexual, asexual, pansexual, polyamorous), our commitment to follow the Prince of Peace as pacifists and peacemakers, and our radical inclusivity and hospitality has always been unwavering and unapologetic. It is who we are and what we do. Seeking to be a home to all who wish to join us in this ministry, we allow for various life-styles, so that all who feel called may find their place with us.
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