Sometimes, people will ask what our church or denomination is all about. After considerable thought, we have decided to answer future inquiries like this: “We are an SEC Church.”

No, it’s not what you think, even though quite a number of the folks in our local congregation strongly support one of the universities of the Southeastern Conference, known in athletic circles as the SEC.

We define a sacrament as “When the Divine touches the Common and something Holy and/or Mysterious occurs.” There are sacraments, sacramentals, and sacramental acts. For example, in the Creation account, God (the Divine) touches the Common (a pile of dirt, which he also breathes on), and man is created in the very image of God (something Holy and/or Mysterious). That is a sacramental act. So is the account of Moses’ burning bush and Jesus changing water into wine … in fact, the whole of scripture is full of sacramental occurrences. We believe this is to be expected.

It is also about what God is doing, not us. We get the benefit and perhaps even to participate, but God is doing the action. What about Baptism?

God is circumcising the believer’s heart (See Colossians 2) not just in symbol but in truth. Holy Communion? God is doing something holy and mysterious. Jesus expounds on this in John 6. And on it goes. Perhaps the greatest sacramental act is when an unregenerate, sinful, and unholy person accepts Christ as Lord, and the inner transformation is so profound that they are said to be “born again.” We believe that all of life can be a sacramental experience.

Evangelical does not mean “allied with the political Right” or any other political persuasion. It means that we hold a high view of scripture and believe that its teachings are authoritative. We believe in missions, in a personal relationship with God (while recognizing that the Christian faith is a corporate thing), and that Jesus Christ is the only means of salvation, or reconciliation, with God.

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through Me.”

We believe in the Cross’s centrality and the price paid for our redemption there. We also believe that if we have faith, it will be seen in our actions. One example is our giving out blankets and coats to Atlanta’s homeless and our involvement in other worthy efforts.

“E” could also stand for “Episcopal.” This means the denomination is led and governed by men selected to serve as bishops (from Late Latin episcopus, or Greek episkopos, literally, “overseer”). We don’t have any affiliation with the Episcopal Church in the USA (ECUSA) nor are we a splinter group of that church.

Men who serve as pastors are accountable to their bishop and the local council. Accountability is a good thing.

Sometimes, people hear this word and imagine anything from television evangelists to snake handlers. On this, you can relax. For our purposes, we believe that the Spirit of God, aka the Holy Spirit, still inhabits, guides, comforts, teaches, empowers, and manifests Himself in the life of the Church and in the lives of the believers.

He did not retire when the last Apostles died, and He is alive and well and actively involved in today’s world and today’s Church.

Simply put, this means that (1) whatever was possible in the New Testament Church is possible today, and (2) whatever was normative in the New Testament Church ought to be normative today.

“Do you pray for the sick?” What did they do in the ancient church? “Do you believe in the gifts and fruit of the Spirit?” Same answer. “Do you believe that God can do miracles?” Again, the same answer. We also believe that true worship, worship “in the Spirit,” is solely directed to God and not to man. We are not a “Christian entertainment center.” We are a worshipping, serving gathering of believers.

We enjoy singing! Our church has worship teams and bands, and the music is both quiet and, at times, enthusiastic.

We believe God is pure love and thirsts for a relationship with those created in His image. We believe He is more willing to forgive than we are to ask.

A visitor to our church once said, “You look kind of like a Catholic church, preach like a Baptist church, and sing like a Charismatic church.” That’s not a bad description. We’re an SEC congregation. We’re looking forward to meeting you!

– David Epps is the pastor of the Cathedral of Christ the King and the Bishop of the Diocese of the Mid-South.