Church of Cambria

THE ANCIENT

CHURCH OF CAMBRIA

And the WORD was made flesh, and dwelt among us,

and we beheld His glory. . .

- John 1:14

Long before Christianity was divided into splinter groups, there was the old catholic Church. Each locality had a church, and each church had its bishop who superintended their spiritual life. All churches and all bishops stood on equal footing with one another. For they were all direct recipients of the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the Apostles.

Each locality applied the Sacred Scriptures to their unique cultures. And from that effort, four great branches of Christianity developed: Asian, Greek, Latin and Celtic.

The Asian branch represented the Aramaic and Parthian perspective, which developed into the "Church of the East". It was later called the Nestorian Church. This great church evangelized the Asian world (including China) and gave us the Peshitta - the Textus Receptus in the language spoken by our Lord.

The Greek branch developed in the Hellenistic world which later became the Byzantine Empire. Most of the great Church Fathers came from this branch. They were responsible for formulating the early Creeds of Christianity.

The Latin branch originated in North Africa and later rooted in southern Europe. The Roman Catholic Church and many Protestant denominations have come from this branch. It became the Classical expression of Christianity during the Middle Ages.

The Celtic branch of Christianity has been the minority branch within Latin Christianity for the last one thousand years. But during the first one thousand years of the Christian era, it was the dominant branch in northern Europe and the British Isles. It was responsible for the survival of Christianity and of general knowledge during the barbarian invasions following the collapse of the Roman Empire.

Celtic Christianity represented the interaction of the Druids with the teachings of the Bible. It was responsible for the unique personal consciousness, love of liberty, and the curiosity of Western man.

THE CAMBRIAN CHURCH

The Church of Cambria was the fountainhead of Celtic Christianity from the time of the Apostles and for many centuries thereafter. This was the logical result of the fact that Cambria had also been the center of Druidism. Converted Druids became the leading bishops of the Celtic world.

During the early Middle Ages, the Cambrian Church formed the core of the resistance to the dictatorial tendencies of the Roman Popes. During the late Middle Ages and the early Modern Era, its spiritual heirs continued that resistance against the entire edifice of Latin Christianity, whether Roman Catholic or Protestant.

Today, the Cambrian Church is in "diaspora", especially in America. That means it was scattered, much like the Jews were scattered in ancient times. While Wales is the Cambrian homeland, Wales, like Palestine, is only a shadow of its glorious past. America has become its most recent refuge.

Institutionally, the Cambrian Church was absorbed by the Anglican Church. But spiritually, it survived in the various Protestant sects which came to America. Roger Williams and Thomas Jefferson were seekers and neophyte spokesmen for its tradition. Non-sectarian churches, Christian libertarians, mystics and familists, although unconscious of their heritage, nevertheless, reflect the influence of Celtic Christianity today.

If you too are a truth-seeker and lover of the "Word made flesh", you may be hearing the call of your spiritual ancestry. If you are tired of organized religion and want to connect with a free, yet historic church with Apostolic foundations, then consider further this Celtic Church.

DRUIDIC ORIGINS

Proponents of modern witchcraft, Wiccan religion, and New Age philosophy tend to see the current Celtic renaissance in America as a rebirth of pre-Christian paganism. They see neo-Druidism as part of that pagan past. The Cambrian Church disputes that reasoning.

A careful look at the historical record demonstrates the opposite. The two philosophical perspectives which struggled for the support of early Christianity were two opposing systems: the one was Druidism; the other was Gnosticism.

Druidism taught a Trinitarian view of God. Gnosticism taught a dualism. The Gnostics, like modern man, were alienated from nature because they thought it was evil and the creation of an evil god. Druidism sought harmony with the created order, and virtue - the discipline of man's moral will - was the chief methodology in that quest.

New Age religions are dualistic and seek harmony with nature through the denial of their humanity. Their roots are in Mithraism and Gnosticism, not Druidism.

The Druids loved Jesus Christ because they saw in Him the key to man's cosmic destiny, which they, like the Magi, looked forward to with great expectation. They saw in Christ's death and resurrection salvation from the endless cycle of self-atonement. Mankind was no longer stuck in the past of a fallen world. There was now a future full of hope.

As was said above, the converted Druids became the bishops of the Celtic churches. They were the immediate successors of the Apostles in Celtic lands. When the Dark Ages arrived, those churches were destroyed or converted into pagan temples by the barbarians. Often in flight, the successors of the Druid bishops became known as Culdees. They were the founders of the great monasteries of Europe. Among this great constellation of holy men (and women) were Morien, Patrick, Columba, Columbanus, Kentigern, Asaph, Alcuin, Gall, Brigid, Hilda and many more.

ORDERS

There is only one order of ministry with Apostolic authority which remains in the Cambrian Church: the ordained Christian father. As the Celtic world continued to shrink from the expansion of Roman Catholicism, the Culdees lost control of most of the great monasteries. They then turned to a remedy which made the Cambrian Church the most unique in all the earth: the family abbey. Families and clans devoted part or all of their estates to Christian missions.

Their chieftains were ordained by Culdee monks as priests, and in turn became the abbots of the new family monasteries. Generally, abbots were married and had children, often many children. Apostolic succession became patriarchal, not ecclesiastical. If a Celtic leader could produce a pedigree ordained by a Culdee, he could then claim to be Christ's vicar upon his estate. The Celtic custom of abbots (fathers) and abbesses comes from this doctrine.

For many centuries, the Cambrian Church has existed without an episcopal office. However, with discoveries from ancient writings, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, a way has been found to restore that office. Obtain literature from the Cambrian Episcopal Church of the Grail to learn more.

MEMBERSHIP

Because we believe the Church of Jesus Christ is an ecclesia, it is an organism (a body) rather than an organization. An organism is a living thing which grows and changes. It requires order, but also diversity. An organization is the artificial imitation of an organism. Its power comes from without in the form of dogma, rules and coercion.

Because the Church is an ecclesia, its parts are branches of the human race: the Ecclesia of Corinth, the Ecclesia of Ephesus, the Ecclesia of Rome, the Ecclesia of Cambria, etc. Ecclesias are always ethnic and reflect a group of people in community, whether it is the city, village, province, or clan. The principle of the parish is inherent in the ecclesia. The Church is an outpost of the rule of Christ, and therefore, must have jurisdiction within a geographical venue.

Consequently, if you are a Christian of Welsh descent, then you are already in the Cambrian Church. If you are a Christian of Celtic descent (Scot, Irish, Breton, etc.), you are an ethnic cousin. You merely need to notify us of your intention to operate within this Tradition and receive a letter of recognition from us and then adhere to its creeds and customs outlined below. If you are not of this heritage, yet desire to be enrolled in the Cambrian Church, you will be welcomed into the "fosterage" of an ordained family.

If you are not family-oriented and like the structure of the institutional church, you should consider enrolling in the continuing Anglican Church or the recently formed Celtic Churches which adhere to the traditional doctrine of Apostolic succession. Recall that earlier, we said that the bishoprics of the Cambrian Church were merged into those of the Anglican Church, which gave the Anglican Church Apostolic foundations independent of Rome.

LITURGY

With some modification to properly reflect the uniqueness of the Cambrian Church, the respected Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican Church is our guide for faith and practice. We are more simple in worship than the Anglicans and require footwashing at the end of the Eucharist. Our calendar emphasizes the Celtic saints and not those famous in the Latin Church.

Since the Druids appear to have invented the learning tool of the catechism, we use good catechisms (such as the Westminster Catechism) for pedagogical purposes, but not for tests of orthodoxy. The Ecumenical Creeds are the confessional creeds of the Cambrian Church.

CANON LAW

Cambrian canon law is based upon the tribal customs of the Celts which were "sained" (hallowed and blessed) during the Apostolic era. These would be reflected in such codes as "brehon laws" after they were modified by the Church authorities. These allowed for a much more personal kind of holiness than what was taught by most church traditions. The prevailing tradition of the non-Celtic churches was imperial, pseudo-familial, and even misogynist. Not so among the aboriginal Christians among the Celts.

MISSION

The crisis of Western civilization represents the collapse of the Latin model which has prevailed the last 1000 years. The 21st century looms with violence, but also with opportunity for a renaissance of Celtic Christianity. If it is not smothered-out by a wave of militaristic technology, Celts who are conscious of their heritage can lay the foundations for a new order which reflects the vision of their ancestors and opens the Church to new dimensions in its dominion task upon the earth.

For the Celtic Sunrise,

For further information, contact

mailto:celt@grailchurch.org

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