Home - Diocese of the West, Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church

WELCOME TO THE DIOCESE OF THE WEST
ANGLO-LUTHERAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

United in faith, hope, and love; and committed to visible corporate reunion with the Bishop and Church of Rome, we are the Diocese of the West, Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church. We offer solid Catholic theology, beautiful liturgical worship, and the seven sacraments of the Church, celebrated by Augustinian Priests ordained in the historic Apostolic Succession of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Our Diocese covers all of the United States West of the Western borders of Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan; and all of Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada West of the Western border of Ontario.

Gathered in the Name of Jesus the Christ we joyfully celebrate the Holy Eucharist as the summit of worship and the source of all blessings, in which, by a stunning miracle, we receive the actual Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ.

Blessed with families of multi-ethnic and multi-cultural heritage, empowered by God the Holy Spirit, our community offers beautiful worship services, solid, time-tested principles of Catholic spiritual formation, and a solid commitment to the social doctrines of the Church.

As a Diocese of the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church, we are also committed to working for visible, corporate reunion with the Bishop and Church of Rome. Join our journey "to restore everything in Christ;" that, as Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, the day will come when the wounds needlessly inflicted on the Church in the Reformation will be healed, and we will all be one: in one Church, under Christ and His Vicar, the Successor to St. Peter.

The Holy Eucharist is celebrated in the warm intimacy of the beautiful sanctuaries of our parishes, a list of which is online at http://anglolutherancatholic.org .

Private Masses for special intentions are available on request in our parishes.

Private Confessions may be heard before Mass or by appointment.

Our Bishop is The Most Reverend Thomas J. Stover, S.S.S.A., M.Div., D.Min., Ph.D., D.D. His contact information follows:

Office of the Bishop of the Diocese of the West
13335 Palomino Drive Suite 204
Apple Valley, MN. 55404

Website: www.holytrinityalcc.org
E-mail: toms@holytrinityalcc.org

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
ABOUT THE ANGLO-LUTHERAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

What is the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church (ALCC?) The ALCC is a Church in the Lutheran Evangelical Catholic tradition.

What is an Evangelical Catholic Lutheran? An Evangelical Catholic Lutheran is first of all a Christian. An Evangelical Catholic Lutheran also believes that Lutheranism is not at all Protestant. Lutherans believe that Lutherans are Western Catholics who were involuntarily expelled from the Roman Catholic Church and are conscience-bound to return to the Catholic Church as soon as circumstances permit. Lutherans consider Lutheranism to be "Protestant" only to the degree that it has accepted Calvinist (Presbyterian, Congregationalist and other Reformed) influence through the centuries. Evangelical Catholic Lutherans completely reject the doctrines and principles of Calvinism. This is nothing new. Whether they have been known as Gneiso-Lutherans, Old Lutherans, Romanizing Lutherans, or Evangelical Catholic Lutherans, they have been an integral part of Lutheranism since the time of Martin Luther. The ALCC is at the most Roman Catholic edge of this very special and continuing Lutheran tradition.

Why is the word "Anglo" in your name? Unlike other Lutheran churches, the ALCC also has some Anglo-Catholic ("high church") Anglican roots. This is reflected in our Church's name and in its coat of arms (the Church of England's St. George's Cross and the Luther Rose.)

Most Lutheran Churches only have two sacraments: Baptism and Holy Communion. Is this true for the ALCC? No. In union with the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, the ALCC recognizes seven sacraments and celebrates them using the rites of the Roman Catholic Church exclusively.

But don't the Lutheran confessional documents in the Book of Concord say that there are only two sacraments? Yes. But the ALCC does not consider the Lutheran confessional documents in the Book of Concord binding whenever they conflict with Roman Catholic faith, tradition, order, and spirituality as defined by the current Catechism of the Catholic Church , the documents of all Ecumenical Councils accepted by the Catholic Church (including the Councils of Trent, the first and second Vatican Councils all other documents of the Catholic Sacred and Ordinary Magisterium.

What does the ALCC teach about Baptism? The ALCC's teachings about Baptism are the same as those of the Roman Catholic Church as presented in the current Catechism of the Catholic Church. Baptism is regenerative, removes original sin, actual sin, and causes a profound ontological change in the baptized person--changing him into a "child of God." It is not a rite through which a person joins a congregation or a denomination. It is how a person becomes a Christian; it is how a person is "born again."

What does the ALCC teach about Holy Communion?
The ALCC's teachings about Holy Communion (the Holy Eucharist or the Mass) are exactly the same as those of the Roman Catholic Church as presented in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Catholic Magisterium. When consecrated by a priest, the bread and wine actually become the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ while retaining the outward appearance of bread and wine. This is called "the Miracle of the Mass." The technical term for this miracle is Transubstantiation. The ALCC rejects all Protestant Eucharistic theologies.

How is the ALCC different from other Lutheran Churches?
1.  The ALCC accepts the Anglican 39 Articles of Religion from the Book of Common Prayer as reconciled with Roman Catholic theology by John Henry Cardinal Newman in Tracts for the Times (only,) and even then only insofar as they agree with Roman Catholic faith, tradition, and spirituality as defined by the current Catechism of the Catholic Church and all the documents of the Catholic Sacred and Ordinary Magisterium.

2.  The ALCC accepts the current Catechism of the Catholic Church and all the documents of the Sacred and Ordinary Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church as its ultimate standard of Faith, Order, Tradition, and Spirituality. It believes and teaches nothing contrary to the Catholic Sacred and Ordinary Magisterium. All ALCC clergy are required to sign and abide by an enhanced versions of the (Roman Catholic) Mandatum, which is a vow in the form of a legally binding contract requiring them not to preach, teach, write, or publish anything contrary to the Catholic Magisterium. Compliance with this is enforced.

3. The ALCC accepts Papal Primacy and Papal Infallibility. Though it is not legally under Papal control at this time, it acts as if it is, and is actively working toward visible, corporate reunion with the Roman Catholic Church. The ALCC also operates under Roman Catholic Canon Law to the greatest extent practical in matters not covered by its own Canon Law Code.

4.  The ALCC teaches that Bishops ordained in the historic Apostolic Succession are of the essence (esse) of the Church. The ALCC's clergymen are ordained into a sacerdotal (sacrificing) Priesthood consisting of the three Sacred Orders of Deacons, Priests, and Bishops, in the historic Apostolic Succession in lineages recognized as valid by the Roman Catholic Church, using the Ordination rites of the Catholic Church Catholic Church within the setting of the Mass of Pope Paul VI (Novis Ordo) or the Mass from the Roman Catholic Anglican Use Book of Divine Worship exclusively. The ALCC's primary apostolic lineage is the Duarte-Costa branch of the Rebiban (Vatican) Succession, though it also holds the apostolic lineage of the Dutch Old Catholic Church among many others which have been ruled technically valid by various Popes.

5. The ALCC accepts the Roman Catholic Church's teachings about "the Last Things," the Saints, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. It encourages prayers and other devotions to Mary and the Saints, along with all of the other aids to devotion used in Roman Catholicism.

6.  The ALCC has the same ecclesiology (teachings about the nature of the Church, and how the Church is organized and governed) as the Roman Catholic Church. It worships using the rites and ceremonies of the Catholic Church exclusively. It observes the Seasons, Holy Days, and Saint's Days of the Roman Catholic Church's Calendar. The ALCC accepts the same books of the Bible recognized by the Catholic Church. The Pontifical Biblical Commission's magisterial document, "The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church" and the Vatican II Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation - Verbum Dei have been officially adopted as the ALCC's official statement of the nature and authority of Scripture, the principles and methods to be used to interpret the Bible, and the rules, boundaries, and limitations of those methods.

How is the ALCC different from the Old Catholics and Independent Catholics? Unlike Old Catholics and Independent Catholics, the ALCC accepts and enthusiastically proclaims the doctrines of Papal Primacy, Papal Infallibility, and the doctrines about the Blessed Virgin Mary proclaimed by the First Vatican Council. The ALCC's apostolate is working (from within Lutheranism) for the return of large numbers of Lutherans (and those from other Communions as well) to visible, corporate reunion with the Roman Catholic Church. This is the "bottom line."

Then why doesn't the ALCC simply join the Roman Catholic Church?

The ALCC is actively working on just that, and is making excellent progress toward that goal. It's petition to enter the Catholic Church was answered by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith with a letter from its Secretary directing the ALCC to enter the Catholic Church through the terms of provisions of Anglicanorum coetibus. That was officially accepted by the ALCC and the process has begun, but it will take time.

In the meantime, the ALCC has been blessed by God with the unique task of being a bridge for those who understand Christ's prayer and call that we “all may be one,” but do not want to “swim the Tiber” alone. We feel particularly called to assist those who feel lost or cast aside as a result of recent problems in the mainline Protestant Churches. Visible, corporate union with the Roman Catholic Church in whatever form is deemed appropriate by the Vatican, bringing along as many Lutherans and those from other Communions who want to be fully Catholic along with it, is the ALCC's apostlate and goal.