What We Believe
Restoration longs to see broken people being restored by grace and finding their place in God’s story.
We are all broken people. We experience that brokenness in many ways—through what we have done and what others have done to us, through choices we have made and circumstances far beyond our control. The details vary for each of us, but ultimately we have this in common: God created us to be in a relationship with him, and that relationship has been broken beyond our ability to fix it.
The good news is that God hasn’t left us in our brokenness. Jesus—God incarnate in human form—came for us. He lived, died, and rose again to restore our relationship with God, to heal all our brokenness. This was an act of love that was offered as pure gift—as grace. As we accept that grace and experience God’s restoration, we find that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves. God is committed to bringing restoration and wholeness to all things, and he invites us to join him in that work. We all have a place in God’s story.
Restoration’s place in that story is to be a church in North Arlington that connects people to God, to others, and to the needs of the world. We do this through vibrant corporate worship, through small groups, and through service in our community and around the world. We are convinced that the gospel—the good news of God’s grace offered in Christ—changes everything. And we’re passionate about seeing that change in our lives and the lives of others.
Our Name
Restoration Anglican Church. It’s a name we chose carefully, and we think it says a lot about who we are and what we believe:
Restoration: The Bible promises that Jesus is coming back as King to restore all things and to reconcile all things to God. He is bringing a new heavens and a new earth. In those last days, there will be a judgment and a separation. Truth will be vindicated. We will receive beauty for ashes. The broken will be bound up. The devastations of many generations will be repaired. Tears will be wiped away. What we believe about Jesus’ coming reign also influences how we live in this present time. It affects our priorities, our relationships, our materialism, our generosity—everything. We are a church compelled by God’s project of restoration.
Anglican: We are part of the multi-ethnic, multi-national, multi-cultural Anglican Communion that is historically rooted in the English Reformation. Specifically, we are a parish of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic in the Anglican Church in North America. Our Anglican identity also shapes who we are liturgically. We want to express the hallmarks of Anglican liturgy—dignity, historicity, and transcendence—in our worship.
Church: We are not just a community, a chapel, a service agency, or a group of friends. We are a gathering of God’s people, the worldwide body of Christ. In the New Testament, we see that God chooses to gather Christians into discrete local congregations under the servant leadership of deacons, presbyters, and bishops. It is as a church that God chooses to use us to serve the world and to grow us as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Anglicanism
We affirm the Jerusalem Declaration issued by the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in June 2008.
We seek to be and remain in full communion with all Anglican churches, dioceses and provinces that hold and maintain the historic faith, doctrine, sacraments and discipline of the one holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
Our Creeds
As Anglicans, we subscribe to The Apostles Creed, The Nicene Creed, and The Athanasian Creed as true proclamations of the Christian faith.