The mission of the order is the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ…..
The Anglican Order of Preachers is an apostolic religious community inspired by the spiritual tradition founded by Saint Dominic de Guzman in the thirteenth century. It was not until the last years of the twentieth century that an expression of Dominican spirituality and life could be found outside of the Roman Catholic Church. The Order is composed of men and women from around the world and various provinces of the Anglican Communion and her sister Churches.
The mission of the Order is the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with a particular emphasis on proclamation ministries of evangelism and discipleship. The brothers and sisters surrender their entire lives to an apostolic lifestyle dedicated to God. This lifestyle, inspired by the lives of the first apostles and Saint Dominic, is lived out within the ordinary challenges of life, so that all people in all places can hear the Gospel.
The community is dispersed, with brothers and sisters living across the world; by themselves, with their families or in small groups. They support themselves and the Order by their work, either within the Church or the world. Brothers and sisters take vows of marriage or vows of celibacy. In everything members are encouraged to live out the words of Saint Dominic, “to speak with God or about God.”
History
Saint Dominic lived in a period of transition and turmoil. Thirteenth century Europe was undergoing significant changes, politically, culturally, and religiously. The initial seeds of what would later bloom into the Renaissance were being sown. It was an age of new ideas and new possibilities. Dominic was born in Spain to a noble family and from an early age began preparation for the priesthood. Eventually, excelling at his studies, he became sub-prior to a group of canons regular. Canons were priests who lived in community and led services in their bishop’s cathedral.
On a traveling mission with his bishop, Diego, Dominic encountered the Cathars of northern France. Also known as Albigensians, this group had separated from the Church and professed beliefs in opposition to basic Christian doctrine. Bishop Diego began a preaching mission in an attempt to win the Cathars back to Christ and His Church. Eventually, Diego left Dominic in charge of the mission. After several years of apostolic ministry: preaching, teaching, and evangelizing, Saint Dominic felt called to establish a world-wide order of preachers. Dominic’s order, along with that of his contemporary, Saint Francis of Assisi (who founded the order of Friars Minor), had a deep and lasting impact on the world.
Over the centuries, many holy women and men followed Jesus Christ through the Dominican path of discipleship. Catherine of Siena, Thomas Aquinas, and Meister Eckhart among others gave witness to the fruit of Saint Dominic’s original vision. Anglicanism, tracing its roots back to Saint Augustine of Canterbury’s fifth century mission to England, has long embraced monasticism – in vary ways – in its common life. In the Anglican tradition, religious orders began to revive during the Oxford movement of the nineteenth century. Since that time, religious orders of various kinds, including Benedictine and Franciscan ones, have been part of the Anglican landscape.
The Anglican Order of Preachers, an Anglican expression of the Dominican Order, was founded in the late 20th century by the Very Rev. Dr Jeffery Mackey, O.P.A. Fr Mackey saw that in many ways our times are similar to what was happening in Dominic’s time, in that the Church must respond to new realities and new ideas. This will require Christian men and women to go where un-churched and de-churched people are and not expect that they will visit our churches without invitation. This will also require Christians to engage the great ideas and problems of our times with the truth of the Christian faith.
Anglican Dominicans are also committed to building up the church and helping individuals and congregations deepen their faith and move from being merely members of an institution to being committed disciples of Jesus Christ.
