It is our pleasure to welcome you to our website. Eucharist Services 10:00AM Sunday
SINCE 1925, St. Raphael's has called the Bay Area home.
Our Clergy have acted in concert with the communities of the area and served in many forms. As members of the community we have held roles from doctor, scientist, and software engineer to Oakland Police Chaplin. As a parish of the Liberal Catholic Church, Province of the United States, a member province of the Worldwide Liberal Catholic Church, with headquarters in London, England, we draw inspiration from the diversity of our membership worldwide to aid in our service to community. In keeping with the understanding that Our Lord meant His presence to be freely available in the sacraments, communion is open and can be taken by all who approach in reverence, whether of one, many, or no denomination.
A MESSAGE FROM THE REGIONARY BISHOP OF
THE LIBERAL CATHOLIC CHURCH,
Province of the United States of America.
Our Statement of Principles and Summary of Doctrine state, “Christ ever lives as a mighty spiritual presence in the World, guiding and sustaining his people.” “The Liberal Catholic Church exists to forward Christ’s work in the world.” It is that mission to which we are committed and to which we dedicate this website.
I hope you will take some time to visit each of our pages to discover what the church stands for and teaches. Further, I hope that if you live near one of our parishes you will consider visiting and worshiping with us. Please be assured that you are welcome to our fellowship and to join us in celebration and participation.
It is hoped that as the result of your visit you will discover some Light on your Path. To that end, I pray in the words of St Paul, from his Epistle to the Ephesians “that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
~ The Rt. Rev. William Downey, Regionary Bishop of The Liberal Catholic Church, Province of the United States
THE LIBERAL CATHOLIC
ACT OF FAITH
We believe that God is Love and Power and Truth and Light;
that perfect justice rules the world;
that all His sons shall one day reach His feet, however far they stray.
We hold the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of man,
we know that we do serve Him best
when best we serve our brother man.
So shall His blessing rest on us and peace for evermore.
Amen.
For more information about The Liberal Catholic Church, begin here.
“The LiberaI Catholic Church believes that there is body of doctrine and mystical experience common to all the great religions of the world and which cannot be claimed as the exclusive possession of any. Moving within the orbit of Christianity and regarding itself as a distinctively Christian church it nevertheless holds that the other great religions of the world are divinely inspired and that all proceed from a common source, though different religions stress different aspects of this teaching and some aspects may even temporarily drop out of recognition. These teachings, as facts in nature, rest in their own intrinsic merit. They form that true Catholic faith, which is Catholic because it is the statement of universal principles in nature.” — from The Statement of Principles.
St. Raphael's
Come join us in worship
“With the words ‘Deo Gratias,” a great wave of thankfulness goes up to the Angels, who, as a parting gift, send back a fine stream in response. This is caught by the celebrant and poured out during the final benediction, along with the power and material of which the whole Eucharistic Edifice was constructed, which... dissolves into great streams of rushing force... spreading benediction wherever they go.” — Rt. Rev. C.W. Leadbeater, Late Presiding Bishop of The Liberal Catholic Church, The Science of the Sacraments.
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