About Us

“We are Catholic, but not Roman.” The word “catholic” means “universal,” and we are catholic because our church “holds fast” (believes) what the unified, universal  “Catholic/Orthodox” Christians have always believed from the founding of our Christian faith at Pentecost. Our Faith is defined further in its authoritative expression of the first seven ecumenical councils of bishops that met over the period of the first 1000 years of the church. Accordingly, the Charismatic Old Catholic Church is part of the Ultrajectine tradition that began in the catholic dioceses of the Netherlands who maintained that the Catholic, (or universal) faith is that which was endorsed by the seven ecumenical councils of the early churches and not additional matters from the Roman Catholic Church after the Great Schism (the split between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches in 1054). While we respect the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church, we are not organizationally affiliated with them in any way. 

To further clarify the foundation of our Faith, Christ is the Head and we are the Body. The Charismatic Old Catholic Church is committed to the spiritual teachings and practices of the Ancient church, which are based upon this principle. In fact, nothing has changed for the core essentials of our Faith in over 2000 years.

We are a Full-Gospel Faith Community: Liturgical, Evangelical, and Charismatic in our worship, beliefs, and practices. This precious Heritage of Faith was entrusted by Christ to the Apostles and then through their successors, is Biblically-rooted, articulated in the ancient creeds (the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed (Council of Nicea 325 A.D., Council of Constantinople, 390 A.D.) and re-clarified in The Fourteen Theses of Bonn (1874), and the The Declaration of Faith of Utrecht (1889).

Upon reading the Fourteen Theses of Bonn and The Declaration of Faith of Utrecht, one will see more specific matters outlining the differences between the Old Catholic and Roman Catholic churches. Accordingly, Old Catholics do not require belief in matters for which the Roman Catholic Church promulgated after the Great Schism, and even more-so, after the creation of papal infallibility. One example would be Roman Catholic Dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Like the “Filioque” expression (added only by Rome to the Nicene-Constantinople Creed), we neither declare nor support unilaterally created Dogmatic Proclamations.

The governing structure of the Charismatic Old Catholic Church is an autocephalous (self-governing) Faith-based family model. And to distinguish how we govern from other Christian Communities, we follow the “Biblical-Traditional” hierarchical offices of Bishop, Presbyter, and Deacon. Although there are some local parishes with pastoral councils, we do not govern as some faiths which are modeled after a “Federalist” or “Congregational” ideal.  Nevertheless, our bishops, priests and deacons have true apostolic succession/heritage and offer the same seven sacraments of the Traditional Catholic faith.  The Charismatic Old Catholic Church is an independent communion not formally affiliated with any other church or organization. We do, however, honor the historical Bonn Agreement of 1931 with those Churches of Anglican descent who have not gone contrary to Biblical teachings.