Anglicans Planting Church in Crystal Lake

The Rev. Heather Ann Martinez

Never can tell what one will encounter at the Crystal Lake Kiwanis Club.

Wednesday at Colonial Cafe, the speaker was the Rev. Heather Ann Martinez.

Encouraged by a Crystal Lake couple who had been attending the West Chicago Anglican Church in North America, Martinez, an Anglican Priest, is in church planing mode.

The West Dundee resident is starting the Resurrection Anglican Church in Crystal Lake. Bible studies are being held at Panera Bread for the present with the goal of reaching the unchurched, those displaced from other churches and immigrant populations. The Martinez family is from Puerto Rico.

Considering the state of the economy, Martinez is concentrating on what the Bible says about financial issues.

Heather Ann Martinez speaking about her passion--starting an Anglican Church in Crystal Lake.

The meetings will be held at non-traditional times, rather than Sunday mornings.  She envisions them being on Sunday nights and during the week.

Martinez can be reached at 630-334-1877.

The Anglican Church of North America was started in 2008 and has grown to 100,000 members. It has thirty bishops and 700 parishes throughout North America.

What location will it find in Crystal Lake?

“Several locations have been offered,” she said.

Thirty different locations are under consideration.

Bible studies will start  at Sunrise Assisted Living at one PM on June 5th.

When asked whether she was like Paul, who financed his ministry by making tents, Martinez replied in the negative.

“You really are parachuting,” one member observed.

I asked for more details and Martinez provided the following:

The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) has these elements.  This is from our statement of faith:

The Church confesses Jesus Christ to be “the Way, the Truth, and the Life”; and that no one comes to the Father but by him. Consistent with this, it identifies the following seven elements as characteristic of the “Anglican Way” and essential for membership:

  • The Bible is the inspired word of God, containing all things necessary for salvation, and is the final authority and unchangeable standard for Christian faith and life.
  • Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are sacraments ordained by Christ and are to be ministered with unfailing use of his words of institution and of the elements ordained by him.
  • The historic episcopate is an inherent part of the apostolic faith and practice, and therefore integral to the fullness and unity of the Body of Christ.
  • The Church affirms 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, it affirms the teaching of the first four Ecumenical Councils and the Christological clarifications of the fifth, sixth and seventh Councils, in so far as they are agreeable to the Bible.
  • The Book of Common Prayer as set forth by the Church of England in 1662, together with the Ordinal attached to the same, is a standard for Anglican doctrine and discipline, and, with the Books which preceded it, is the standard for the Anglican tradition of worship.
  • The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion of 1562, taken in their literal and grammatical sense, express the Anglican response to certain doctrinal issues controverted at that time, and express fundamental principles of authentic Anglican belief.[23]

The Church has both Anglo-Catholic and evangelical orientations which are theologically more conservative than the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada.

The ACNA is mission-driven.  Our archbishop has the goal of planting 1000 churches in the next five years.  Resurrection Anglican is orthodox (adhering to an established or traditional faith), gently charismatic (believing in the gifts of the Holy Spirit), evangelical (mission-focused), and Anglo-Catholic (liturgical).  I would not say every church or missional church plant in the denomination would say it is strongly evangelical or charismatic.

The Resurrection Anglican Church Plant is most concerned with reaching people who do not have any faith at all.  We want to help those that have been negatively affected by economic struggles, job loss, loss of loved ones, poverty, and other needs in our society.


Comments

Anglicans Planting Church in Crystal Lake — 2 Comments

  1. Yay! I go to the church that Heather Ann is associated with in West Chicago, and I LOVE this church! They really know how to love one another and have a heart for reaching out to serve the community.

  2. Go… Heather!!! We are proud of you and wish you well. We will be praying for you and your ministry and your new faith community.
    Love,
    Linda and Barney Eiserloh

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *