Unity

As a Communion of the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church,” the ARCHSH is committed to the unity of the wider Body of Christ.  This communion pursues this worthy calling with the whole Church through affirmation, association, and cooperation.

First, the ARCHSH endeavors to affirm, in love and blessing, the whole Church in its many and varied expressions.  Whether of the sacramental/liturgical stream, or the evangelical stream, or the Charismatic/Pentecostal stream, or in Convergence, all who belong to Christ are recognized.  To do otherwise would be inconsistent with the calling to be a communion in Convergence (and the calling to be Christ-like).  Rather, by being a living example of the three streams of the Church flowing as one river, the ARCHSH becomes a model of Christian unity to the whole Church.

Second, the ARCHSH seeks to contribute to the unity of the Church through association.  The ARCHSH seeks to be in relationship with other communions, Christian bodies, and ecclesial networks.  In this regard the Communion utilizes the historic Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1886 and 1888 as a minimum standard for association (as well as for membership within the communion).  In 1886, the House of Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America passed a resolution on Christian unity; in England at the decennial Lambeth Conference (a worldwide gathering of all Anglican bishops), an amended version was passed by resolution (Resolution II).  In order to appreciate the intent, spirit, and contents of the Quadrilateral, the Chicago resolution is here quoted in full: