Introduction

Many programs and ministries are available through this Church. Our hope is through these programs and ministries we will meet you at your point of need and help you to enjoy the exciting life of knowing God and trusting Him. We encourage you to join at least one of them in addition to Sunday Worship.

Our parish ministry strategy may be summed up in the following four words:

Gather

Having accepted Jesus as Saviour and Lord and received his forgiveness, we seek to follow Him, to worship Him in our daily living both as an individual and as a gathered community every Sunday and on special occasions and festival days, and to bear witness to our unity in Christ.

Grow

Through teaching and the study of God’s Word both at worship and in small groups, we strive to build a strong Biblical foundation and devotion to Jesus Christ.

Give

God has given us resources, talents and abilities and we seek to use them to serve others and to build up our community. We encourage the biblical principle of tithing as a response to God’s love and command.

Go

The joy of God’s forgiveness motivates us to share with others God’s love for us. We encourage each member to share their faith with someone who does not yet believe. We want every member to experience the joy and excitement of leading a person to faith in Jesus Christ.

A Brief History

St. Matthias Anglican Church was originally established in 1960 and was the last Anglican Church to be built in the city of Vancouver. It was positioned “in the heart of a city” and grew to become a large and vibrant Church. At one time there were plans to develop it into the Diocesan Centre.

St. Luke’s Anglican Church was established in 1894 and was one of the oldest Anglican parishes in Vancouver. In 1993 St. Luke’s began its ministry to the Chinese and a Cantonese service began. A group of Chinese Christians moved from Good Shepherd Church to St. Luke’s to form the core group in the Chinese congregation and served as the catalyst for rapid growth that outgrew their premises.

The amalgamated Parish of St. Matthias & St. Luke incorporates the traditions of the two former parishes. It ministers not only to the people of the former parishes but reach out to people around it and to immigrants from mainland China. A Mandarin outreach, with a particular focus on new immigrants, began in late 2003 with fellowship groups and Bible studies. These have developed into a weekly evangelistic fellowship and worship ministry. A Japanese community from Holy Cross Anglican Church joined us in 2005 and began an afternoon service in Japanese. Today the parish offers worship in English, Cantonese with Mandarin translation and Japanese. The focus for St. Matthias and St. Luke Anglican Church continues to be outreach and spiritual growth.

What We Believe

We affirm the statements of faith set out in the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. We believe in one God who has revealed Himself in three persons — Father, Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. God the Father is the creator and sustainer of mankind and the universe, Jesus the Son reveals God and is the Redeemer of mankind, and the Holy Spirit is God in the world revealing Himself as the comforter and guide for his people. Because of his love for his creation God operates throughout history to reveal himself and to redeem and restore all creation to himself.

Jesus came into the world by way of a miraculous virgin birth. He was fully human and fully divine. He lived a perfect life and taught and revealed God’s love and grace to mankind. He died a sacrificial death on the cross as a substitute for mankind thereby paying the debt for sin, satisfying divine justice, and accomplishing salvation for all people who trust and accept him as Saviour. Three days after his death and burial, Jesus became alive again by the power of God thereby conquering the bondage of sin and death and giving the gift of hope and bodily resurrection to all mankind. This gift is promised to all believers and followers of Jesus. Forty days later Jesus returned into heaven in glory to sit at the right hand of God. In heaven Jesus remains our mediator and continues to intercede for mankind in front of God. His promise is that he will return in glory to judge the world and to consummate the eternal plan of God.

The Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and the Son, Jesus into the world to be with all believers who have a relationship with God. His ministry is to help believers to live the life God calls them to live. He enlightens those who do not yet know Jesus and helps them to realise their need for Jesus the Saviour. The Holy Spirit permanently indwells all believers and becomes the source of their assurance, strength, wisdom and spiritual gifts. His main focus is to help and transform believers to become more Christ-like and to bear fruit to God’s glory.

We also believe that the future destiny of each person is tied to faith in Jesus Christ and our relationship with Him. Every person faces a physical death but the believer who accepts the gift of salvation offered by Jesus is ensured a resurrection of his body to an eternal life with God. Unbelievers however face eternal separation. In some ways we decide our destiny with the choices we make about Jesus and our relationship with Him.

Our Church is committed to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ in our preaching and teaching, through the Alpha Course and through other ministries. We are also committed to carrying out the five purposes set out in “The Purpose Driven Life” (by Rick Warren) — Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Ministry and Mission. We encourage new members to study this book.

Salvation

God’s central purpose in revelation is to call all people into fellowship with Himself and to restore them into his kingdom. Originally created in the image of God to have fellowship with God, man chose to defy God and went on his independent way. In doing so he alienated himself from God. In time man suffered corruption to his nature rendering him unable neither to please God nor to have a good relationship with Him. This corrupt nature is inherited by man and passed on from generation to generation.

Salvation is the work of God, initiated solely by God Himself, to bring man back into relationship with God. This unmerited act of God is called grace. Man by himself is not able to see his need for salvation and is not able in whole or in part to save himself from his sins by good works. God sent his only Son Jesus into the world as a human being to redeem man by taking Man’s sins and disobedience onto his own body and dying on the cross in Man’s place (crucifixion) and rising from death the third day (resurrection). In so doing he paid the full price for the sins of all mankind. Jesus offers the benefits of these gracious acts to all who would accept it. Those who do are given new beginning, new relationship with God and new life.

Our Vision and Values

Our Vision

Our vision is to be a community that obeys Jesus Christ and to live out the Gospel in our daily lives. We are actively involved in God’s plan for the salvation of mankind. Our goal therefore is to reflect Jesus in our lives, to be a friend and a witness to all people who come within our sphere of influence, and to be an instrument that further the cause of Christ and advance His Kingdom and purpose on earth.

Our Values

We believe that:

1. the study and teaching of God’s pure and unadulterated word transforms individual lives and the Church;
2. all people regardless of condition of their faith matters extremely much to God;
3. the Church is to be culturally sensitive in her teaching because people’s cultures are important;
4. striving for a continuous individual spiritual growth is essential to the person’s well being;
5. a unified Church community that recognises and shares each other’s spiritual gifts in ministry glorifies God;
6. striving for a good and vibrant relationships and fellowships are essential continuing goals of Christians;
7. small groups are fundamental to a Church’s well being and growth;
8. all believers’ pursuit of growth in devotion to Christ and His mission is essential.

Some Characteristics of the Anglican Church

The Anglican Church

The term “Anglican” is used to describe the people, institutions, and churches as well as the liturgical traditions and theological concepts developed by the Church of England. The Anglican Church has its roots in the Church that began over 2000 years ago when Jesus commanded his disciples to go into the world to make disciples under the guiding power of the Holy Spirit. It is a theologically broad and often divergent affiliation of thirty-eight provinces that are in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Anglican Communion considers itself to be part of the One holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and as being both Catholic and Reformed. For some adherents, it represents a non-papal Catholicism and for others a Protestantism without a dominant figure such as a Luther, Knox, Calvin or Wesley. For many Anglicans, self-identity represents some combination of the two. The sixteenth century cleric and theologian Richard Hooker described Anglican authority as being akin to a three-legged stool of Scripture, informed by reason (the intellect and the experience of God) and tradition (the practices and beliefs of the historical church).

The Sacraments

The Anglican Church is also sometimes called a sacramental Church. Sacraments are Christian rites that convey divine grace. They are not mere symbols, but rather, signs which effect what they signify, that is, the sacraments when rightly administered, are used by God as a means to communicate grace to faithful recipients. There are two sacraments in the Anglican Church — the Eucharist (Holy Communion) and Holy Baptism. Other practices and acts of the Church are also seen to have sacramental functions. They are Confirmation, Ordination, Holy Matrimony, Confession and Absolution, and Holy Unction.

The Ordained Ministers — Bishops, Priests and Deacons

Bishops, priests and deacons are the names used in the Anglican Church for the positions of elders, presbyters, and deacons of the New Testament orders found in the book of Acts. In the Anglican Church these are Christians who have been called by God to a special function within the Church. This calling is affirmed by the Church in their ordination and installation thereby giving them the respect, authority and leadership due to the office and functions to which they have been called. Bishops, priests and deacons are first of all Christians. Their ministry is to give leadership and guidance in the area of their calling. Bishops give leadership, care and nurture within a Diocese (a group of parishes). Priests give leadership, care and nurture within a parish (a group or Christians that worships together as a Church or community). Deacons give support and help to the ministry of the priest within a parish. It is the function of all three orders to preach, teach and minister to the people with the sacraments. They all promise to:

1. believe both the New and Old Testament to be the Word of God;
2. accept the doctrine, discipline and worship of the Anglican Church;
3. affirm the 39 articles and undertake not to teach anything contrary to them.

The Thirty-Nine Articles

The Thirty-Nine Articles are the historic defining statements of Anglican doctrine. The Articles were not intended as a complete statement of the Christian faith, but as a statement of the position of the Church of England over against the Roman Catholic Church and some Protestant Churches. Today the 39 Articles still provides an agreed body of teaching in the Anglican Church and a general test for orthodoxy.

The Book of Common Prayer

The Book of Common Prayer (“BCP”) is the official service book of the Anglican Church. It contains the various rites, ceremonies, practices and observances of the Anglican Church and provides uniform and understandable worship within the worldwide Anglican Communion. The BCP was first produced under the auspices of the Church of England in 1549 to translate the Latin services and provide for simple and uniform worship in the language of the people. It was Thomas Cranmer’s desire to remove the mystery of the Eucharist and to combat wrong teachings and superstitions that surrounded worship and the Sacraments at that time. Since 1549 the Prayer Book has undergone many revisions to reflect changes in language and new understanding in Biblical theology, but the BCP continues to provide a solid biblical foundation for worship.

Alternative forms of Worship

The Anglican Church of Canada has authorized a Book of Alternative Services (the “BAS”) to be used in addition to the Book of Common Prayer. We frequently use the liturgy set out in the BAS. For the Chinese language service, we use an alternative service “Rite 2” produced by the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui and approved for use by the Bishop of New Westminster.