Overview
Chief Justice Roberts, during his confirmation process, described his judicial decision-making philosophy as being guided by the virtue of humility. He may well have known that he was tapping into principles set forth in Holy Scripture for decision-making and the discernment of what is true. At Mariners’ we strive to maintain a healthy balance of proper humility; first and foremost, toward God, believing that we never know better than Him–He is the Boss–the Perfect, Holy, Good, Loving Boss.
Second, we want to be humble toward Tradition, believing that godly Saints through the ages usually have thought and prayed through the issues and priorities of life and the meaning of Scripture better than we have. We think it is arrogant to act as if the Apostolic writers of Scripture only “talked the talk” of making godly disciples and didn’t really “walk the walk” of passing on the faith–which is the view of those who say that the early Church quickly fell away from the Lord. Thus, although we are not blind to many mistakes and errors of people in the Church, we strive to be humble before the wisdom and practices of Tradition.
Third, we must be humble before “Reason.” We use our minds at Mariners’ and are not afraid of the best scholarship from any source. While it is true that God can not be perfectly known and that there are mysteries to the Faith, there is no excuse to dismiss rules of logical thinking and rational discernment.
Jesus’ Example
The Sermons (Homilies) and other teaching from Mariners’ Church keep true to the ancient Faith. We love modern people, but we do not change the perfectly trustworthy Scriptures to fit modern trends and the latest fads of society. Rather, we seek to be transformed ourselves into the timeless, loving likeness of Christ–as set forth in Scripture. As Jesus Christ himself taught that the Bible was true, life-giving and authoritative, we choose to not contradict Him, and do our best to follow His example.
Encouraging and Challenging, Word and Sacrament
We trust that the sermons/homilies and whole liturgy will encourage you, challenge you, and draw you closer to our Savior. Moreover, Word and Sacrament were intended to go hand in hand during worship; Christ commanded both. And just like it was the pattern of the early church to gather on Sundays, so it was their pattern to celebrate both Word and Sacrament whenever they gathered for worship. With our traditional services, you will experience the Word complementing the Sacrament, and vice versa; all to love Him, worship Him and draw us closer together.
Sunday School Teaching
Children in Sunday School are faithfully taught lessons from the Bible in an interesting and engaging time during the 11:00AM service.