10 am Sunday Morning: Family Holy Eucharist with a contemporary twist.
Coffee Hour immediately following worship services!
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Saturday Worship Opportunities
First Saturday of each Month: Holy Eucharist at 9am followed by Adoration until Benediction at 12 noon.
Wednesday Morning Meditation
9:30 am Christian Meditation Group and Class. This class is based on the methodology of John Main, OSB and others. The class will be on going, and is structured in a way that allows new members to join at any time and that missing a class will not put you at a disadvantage. For more information please call the Church Office. You do not have to be a member or attend Love of God to participate in this class. Free will donations are accepted.
6:00pmChristian Meditation Group and Class. This class is based on the methodology of John Main, OSB and others. The class will be on going, and is structured in a way that allows new members to join at any time and that missing a class will not put you at a disadvantage. For more information please call the Church Office. You do not have to be a member or attend Love of God to participate in this class. Free will donations are accepted.
In addition to the worship and class schedule above, Bishop Bergland is in the Church and available on a walk in basis on Wednesday afternoons from 1pm until 5pm. All clergy are available by appointment as well.
Quotes of Interest
It is my belief that whereas the twentieth century has been a century of war and untold suffering, the twenty-first century should be one of peace and dialogue. As the continued advances in information technology make our world a truly global village, I believe there will come a time when war and armed conflict will be considered an outdated and obsolete method of settling differences among nations and communities.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
A
man may have never entered a church or a mosque, not performed any
ceremony; but if he realizes God within himself, and is thereby lifted
above the vanities of the world, that man is a holy man, a saint, call
him what you will...
-Vivekananda
All religions will pass, but this will remain: simply sitting in a chair and looking into the distance.
-V. V. Rozanov
Are We Unitarian Universalists?
Although Unitarian Universalists would be more than welcome to worship with us, we are not Unitarian Universalists. People often ask us how we are different. The best was to think about that question is that both the Universal Anglican Church (UAC) and the Unitiarian Univeralists (UU) believe that all paths lead to God. In fact, Unitarian Universalists celebrate and include in their education offerings many different traditions - Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Indigenous Spiritualities, and a host of others (but generally not Christianity, which has acquired a negative image in most UU Fellowships).
In the Universal Anglican Church our spiritual tradition is Christianity. While we believe that all paths lead to God and all paths are good for some people, we do not believe that all paths are good for one person. We believe that, to make progress in the spiritual life, you must choose the tradition which fits you best. For us, that is Christianity. Other paths may influence our Christianity, but we are Christians, or more accurately Followers of Jesus, and our liturgical worship reflects that reality!
Your generous contributions keep our community funded and enable us to continue to deliver our services to the community.
The Deacon's Corner
Here at Love of God Cathedral, we are truly "inclusive" of all who come in search of spirituality. We must always remember to focus on how we are all the same, not on how we may differ. Whether it is our physical appearance, color, sex, sexual orientation or socio-economic place, we all seek peace, love, respect and salvation. Join us in the celebration of all we share, in the love of God and in our deep reverence of the our community. There is a place here for you, regardless where you have been, who you are or what someone else thinks of you. Peace.
Welcome to Love of God Cathedral!
We are glad you are visiting our website! In appreciation of your visit, we would like to be completely honest with you. We expect that you may well be wondering what it is about us that makes us different, or why you should visit us. The best way for us to answer that question is to be honest about who we are and what our perspective is. Let's begin by saying:
Most of the Church is selling you a bunch of nonsense that is very harmful and in no way represents the Love of God in Christ Jesus.
Many, if not most, of us have been there - caught in the trap of a performance based spirituality. The notion that there are things we have to do and to avoid doing to be acceptable to God. We hear that we need to read our Bibles more, pray more, study more, tithe more, attack our culture more, attend church every Sunday, go to confession more, attend daily mass, sing and/or listen only to so called "Christian" music, send our children to so called "Christian" schools - the list goes on and on. At Love of God, we find it very interesting that we can find no indication that Jesus would have supported any of this nonsense. In fact, we find ample evidence in the New Testament that this thought process is just the sort of thing he vehemently opposed! The natural question is, "If Jesus opposed these things, why does most of the Church teach them." Unfortunately, the answer isn't pretty:
Most of the Church is much more interesting in controlling your feelings, thoughts, and behavior (thereby making you dependent on the Church for any sense of security you might develop despite these techniques) than in journeying with you toward God.
Why? Primarily because power is very seductive, and those in power in the institutional church don't want to surrender their power. The secondary reason is that those in power in the institution are just as insecure in their relationships with God as the average person is - but they feel a need to hide those insecurities in order to retain their power.
What is the alternative to this nonsense? The alternative is a relationally based spirituality that reflects the truth that God in Jesus Christ is constantly calling us into relationship with the fullness of God. There is nothing we have to do to be acceptable to God because that has been accomplished once and for all. There is nothing that we could do to separate ourselves from the Love of God. We can, however, choose to withdraw from our relationship with God because God does not force Godself on anyone. Even if we do withdraw, God still loves us and longs for us to return.
Why, then, go to church? Certainly not to make ourselves acceptable to God, because we are now and ever acceptable to God. We go to church to celebrate the Love that we all share in God. We go to church to share in fellowship with others who recognize (or are struggling to recognize) that God loves us unconditionally. We go to church so that we might work together to free those who are still in a performance based spiritual bondage and to introduce them to the authentic God we find in Christ. There are myriad reasons why we go to church but the one reason we don't go is to gain something we already have - God's approval and love.
So, come to Love of God to celebrate the Love of God and move out of the fear of God imposed by the fear and control Churches. The move will change your life!
Why not join us this Sunday in person?
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We are an Anglo-Catholic Church
What does that mean? It means that we are a parish of the Anglican (Church of England) tradition that identifies completely with The Oxford Movement in Anglicanism, which held the following:
That the Church was not a mere human institution but rather a divine organism, the Body of Christ in the world.
The the Church of England was not a denomination, founded at the Protestant Reformation, but the selfsame branch of the Catholic Church planted by missionaries from Rome and Ireland in the sixth century.
That Christ's promise to lead his disciples into all truth was addressed to the whole Church, not to any single branch of it, and that the only authoritative teaching was that which had been accepted throughout the Church before the break between East and West in 1054.
That although the Church of England, reacting to increasingly extravagant claims about papal authority for which Catholic tradition provided little support, had declared its independence from Rome in the sixteenth century, it had not cut itself off from communion with the Church of Rome, but that schism had occurred only in 1570 when Pope Pius V had excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I.
That although the sixteenth centure Reformers' rejection of papal authority had been justifiable, the Reformers' own teaching could claim no authority except to the extent that it reflected the teaching of the undivided Church.
That the Book of Common Prayer ought not necessarily to be interpreted as its compilers intended, but according to the tradition of the Catholic Church.
That the Church of England, unlike the Protestand bodies on the continent, had steadfastly maintained the threefold ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons traceable to the first century and that its bishops derived their authority not from the State but from Christ and his apostles through the laying on of hands in historic succession.
That this threefold ministry was essential to the very being (distinguished from the mere well-being) of the Church.
That the ministry of validly-ordained bishop or priest was essential to the celebration of the Eucharist.
That the sacraments are effectual means of grace.
That Baptism bestows a new birth.
That Christ is objectively present in the sacrament of his Body and Blood.
That the Eucharist is an act of sacrificial worship offered to God the Father by Christ through the Church, his Body.
Another way of saying all of this is that the Oxford Movement saw the Church of England not as in schism with the Universal Church, but rather as in communion with the undivided Catholic Church and the Ecumenical Councils of the first millennium of the Church. In other words, Anglo-Catholics see their movement as being rooted in and in communion with the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches before the split of East and West in 1054. Of course, there are those who hold that we are wrongin believing this. To them we say that they certainly have the right to believe whatever they wish and we won't try to stop them. At the same time, we are clear about the origins of the Anglo-Catholic tradition and find that we need no human being's approval to claim our rightful place in the Church or to worship the God in whom we live, move, and have our being!
Practically speaking, this means that if you come from a Catholic tradition or one of the other liturgical traditions, you will find our worship differs very little, if at all, from the worship you are used to. You will find the bishops, priests, and deacons you would find at any other catholic church. You will find monastic Orders and devotional societies. You will also find the Saints, the Mass, the focus on social justice, the deep prayer life, and the rich Tradition of the Church. You won't find the guilt, the second and third collections to "keep the lights on", or any of the manipulative techniques that drove you away from the Church. You won't find priestly celibacy or any of the other unhealthy attitudes toward sexuality that made you wonder how a priest could presume to counsel you about your relationship when he wasn't allowed to be in one! You also won't find yourself excluded from the Sacraments for any reason whatsoever, nor will we make you wear a scarlet letter "D" if you are divorced.
We invite you to visit us this Sunday!
Can We Talk About Doctrine?
One way to understand what doctrine is would be to describe it as the "definitions of the Church." A more cynical way to view it would be the things you have to believe to remain in the club. However you view doctrine, it was literally defined over the last 1700 years and it was mostly written to describe was God, Jesus, and/or the Holy Spirit was not. At some point there were varying ideas about a religious topic and there were arguments, votes, and worse. In the end, the winners got to define the doctrine so that their view of God prevailed. Notice, that mean their view prevailed - not necessarily that it was correct. The result is that we are left with a whole lot of things that the Institutional Church says you have to believe to be a Christian. Not all of them are in the Bible - in fact, many of them were written hundreds to thousands of years after the Bible.
At Love of God, and throughout the Universal Anglican Church (UAC) we don't have a list of doctrines or other things you have to believe in order to join us. All you have to believe is that you are called on a spiritual journey - that's more than enough. We invite you to join us, and we promise that we will never tell you to go away (unless, of course, you try to burn the church down or something like that!). It just doesn't matter what you believe, we don't have tests of right belief, and none of us have all the answers because having all the answers would make us God!
It is true that most of us are Followers of Jesus, but if you aren't you are certainly welcome here. Together we are building community and exploring what God is calling us toward becoming. We really hope you will join us, because in diversity there is not only strength - there is God!
The Sanctuary Church philosophy is that everyone is welcome. To be quite honest, a lot of church bodies say everybody is welcome, but when you investigate further, you discover that is not necessarily the case.
The notion of Sanctuary implies a place of refuge for all people. When we say our Church is a place of refuge, we mean the following things are true:
1. All people are welcome. You do not have to be a member to be welcome here, you do not have to act or believe a certain way to be welcome here (although we do expect people to comply with basic human decency toward each other) - you are welcome here simply by virtue of your humanity and the fact that you are a child of God. Nobody can ever take that away from you.
2. There are no litmus tests of orthodoxy or right belief here. There is no one right way to believe. There are many paths that lead to God. Our way may not be your path, but you are welcome and respected here regardless of your path.
3. We do not excommunicate people and we do not presume to have the ability to separate people from God. We find such practices to be arrogant and idolatrous. As St. Paul wrote, "Yes, I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor ruling spirits, nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us, nothing below us, nor anything else in the whole world will ever be able to seperate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39 CEV)
4. We find in the life and ministry of Jesus an acceptance and love of all people, as well as a preferential option for the poor and the outcast of society. Following his example, we open our doors and hearts to all. We also offer the sacraments and pastoral care to all people.
As a Sanctuary Church we offer respect and welcome to all people, no matter where they are on their spiritual journey. We strive to journey with them into the fullness of the people God created them to be. We commit to not interfere with that process in any way, but rather to offer our love and support at all times.
Thought to Consider
The truth that many people never understand, until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering the more you suffer because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you in proportion to your fear of being hurt.
~Thomas Merton
Consider this.....
We have all, at one time or another, heard Church leaders make statements that would seem to indicate that God became trapped in the very system that God created. They say things like, "God had to sacrifice Jesus to satisfy God's sense of justice." Wouldn't that mean that God had made a terrible mistake? Wouldn't that mean that somehow God had created a system of justice only to discover, some years later, that the only way to satisfy that same system of justice would be to sacrifice the Son of God? And wouldn't that mean that God had made some sort of horrible mistake in which God had become trapped and couldn't find any way out but child sacrifice? Some would answer by saying that God's sense of justice isn't our sense of justice, but how can we possibly reconcile a loving God with a murdering God? How can we reconcile a God who would kill to satisfy a system of God's own making - in effect, that God would kill to please Godself - with any kind of being worthy of worship?
Come to Love of God Cathedral to hear a message of hope and love deeply rooted in the very same Bible that so many others use to intimidate and frighten. Come discover the reality that God loves all people and wants all people to come to salvation. Come worship a God who is truly loving, truly worthy of worship and praise!
Hospitality - the Heart of Christianity
Often folks are asked a question that goes something like, "What is the essence of Christianity?" I have heard a lot of answers to that question, most of them rather unsatisfactory. In essence, the Judeo-Christian tradition is a tradition of hospitality to all. Often times, particularly in the Hebrew Scriptures, God is described as becoming angry with God's people. Very often people have asserted some very strange reasons for God being angry, often having to do with the identity of the folks involved, when in truth the problem is a profound lack of hospitality.
For example, are we really to believe that in the story of Sodom that God found it to be OK that Lot offered up his daughters to be raped in exchange for the safety of the men whom the residents of Sodom were seeking to assault? Isn't it much more reasonable to look at God's discomfort with what happened there as having to do with a profound disregard for the value of hospitality?
In fact, when it comes right down to it, it would be very reasonable to say that God is intimately concerned with how we treat one another. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving shelter to the homeless, visiting the sick and imprisoned are all profound acts of hospitality - and the heart of Christianity.
Great News!
You might find this hard to believe, but we will never, ever ask you to go knock on somebody's door and ask them any questions about what they believe, or where they are going to go when they die, or anything else for that matter.
Why not? Well, for two reasons. The first is that such behavior is, quite frankly, rude and intrusive. The second is that it simply is not our job to go out and "save" anybody. Why not? It has already happened. The notion that we are somehow separated from God and now need to claw our way back is an illusion. Most of us have been taught that we are separate from God, and we have believed that misinformation - but it is misinformation nevertheless.
We believe God wants us to share with other people the truth that God loves all people and wants all people to come to fullness of life. That reality is already accomplished through Christ consciousness. To learn more about Christ consciousness, visit us this Sunday!
Clergy Contact Information
Generally speaking, our clergy are off on Sunday afternoons and evenings. However, clergy are always available in an emergency. To contact clergy at any time, please call (414) 430-0888 for Bishop Craig or (262) 337-2139 for Fr. Mike Wilson. If there is no answer, please leave a message and your call will be returned shortly.
Weekly Communion
At Love of God Cathedral, we celebrate Holy Communion every Sunday. All people are welcome to receive Communion in our Church, because we recognize that the Bible provides no indication that Jesus placed any restrictions on who participated at the Lord's Supper when he established the practice of Holy Eucharist (Communion). Therefore, we invite you to God's table with whatever understanding you have of the meaning of Communion. At its most basic level, Communion is a meal shared between friends. We believe that is sufficient reason to approach God's table and receive the Eucharist!
