The altar of St. Michael's Lutheran Church ALCC, in St. Michael's House.
ST. MICHAEL'S LUTHERAN CHURCH - ALCC Worshiping in the beautiful chapel of St. Michael's House, International Headquarters of the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church 1200 N.E. 81st Terrace, Kansas City, MO 64118-1361 Parish Office: (816) 468-9691 E-mail: ALCClutherans@kc.rr.com
Most Rev. Irl A. Gladfelter, C.S.P., D.D. Metropolitan, Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church; Archbishop, Archdiocese of the West; Rector
SUNDAY MASS: 11:00 A.M.
WEEKDAY MASS: 9:00 A.M.
PRIVATE MASSES: By appointment
CONFESSION: Before Mass or by appointment
Please call the Parish Office for information about our midweek adult education programs. "To be deep in History is to cease to be a Protestant." - John Henry Cardinal Newman
Most Rev. Irl A. Gladfelter, D.D., Rector
Spacer
St. Michael the Archangel
- Albrecht Durer
Spacer
Spacer
"Almighty God, we pray that your angel may take this sacrifice to your altar in heaven. Then as we receive from this altar, the sacred Body and Blood of your Son, let us be filled with every blessing." - Eucharistic Liturgy, Roman Canon (Novis Ordo)
Spacer
Christ's Resurrection by Grunewald, Isenheim, Germany
Spacer
Benediction and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Michael's. "Adoro Te devote, latens Deitas / Humbly I adore Thee, Diety unseen." - Saint Thomas Aquinas
Spacer
WELCOME TO ST. MICHAEL'S LUTHERAN CHURCH A PARISH OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF THE WEST, ANGLO-LUTHERAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
Feel the Mystery! Experience the joy! Share the Vision! Know the peace!
United in faith, hope, and love, we are St. Michael's Lutheran Church of Kansas City, Missouri. We offer solid traditional theology, liturgical worship, and the seven sacraments of the Church, administered by clergy ordained in the valid historic apostolic succession of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church; presenting our Triune God of Grace as a
loving "God of second chances."
Gathered in the Name of Jesus the Christ and eager to believe in Him, hope in
Him, and love Him with all our hearts, we joyfully celebrate the Holy Mass daily as the summit of worship and the source of all blessings, in which, by a stunning miracle, we receive the actual Body and Blood of Christ.
Blessed with families of multi-ethnic and multi-cultural heritage and empowered by God the Holy
Spirit, our parish community is committed to beautiful worship services,
solid Catholic Christian education, time-tested principles of spiritual formation and growth, a solid commitment to the social doctrines of the Church, and to all other aspects
of Catholic Christianity.
As a parish of the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church, we are also committed to working for the visible, corporate reunion of the Church; that, as Jesus prayed, we may all be one, in one Church, under Christ and His Vicar, the Successor to St. Peter. Mass is celebrated in the warm intimacy of the beautiful chapel of
St. Michael's House, International Headquarters of the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic
Church, 1200 N.E. 81st Terrace, Kansas City, MO 64118.
Private Masses for special intentions are celebrated on request.
Confessions are heard before Mass or by appointment.
Oremus pro Pontifice nostro Benedicti. Dominus conservet eum, et vivificet eum, et beatum fecit eum in terra, et non tradet eum in animam inimcorum eius. Amen.
Let us pray for Benedict our Pope. May the Lord preserve and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies. Amen.
- Archbishop Robert W. Edmondson, C.S.P., D.Min., D.D. Vicar General of the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church
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 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 authentic Roman Catholic faith, tradition, order, and
spirituality as defined by the Catechism of the Catholic
Church and the other documents of the Catholic
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 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 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 and Blood 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
authentic Roman Catholic faith, tradition, and spirituality as
defined by the Catechism
of the Catholic Church and the Catholic Magisterium.
2.The
ALCC accepts the Catechism of the Catholic Church and all
other documents of the 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 Magisterium. All clergy and postulants for
ordination are required to sign the (Roman Catholic)
Mandatum, and may not preach, teach, write, or publish
anything contrary to the Catholic Magisterium.
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" has 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. But such things take time. In the
meantime, we have 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.