WHY ARE WE DIFFERENT
TO OTHER CHURCHES?

We believe Christ is in you - which makes you a very special person whose individuality should be honoured and respected. We believe in your goodness.

Honouring the individual automatically means we respect everyone -  you are all welcome in our church.

Anyone can partake of communion in our church - you don't have to be baptised or confirmed or go to confession. If you love Christ, then come and partake of communion, for there are no restrictions on his power and love.

We love the ancient traditions, but we are not bound by them. We know why we do certain things because to the ancient traditions we have added modern thinking, understanding and knowledge. We do not blindly follow the rules. We do this intelligently, with thought for the ethics and morality of the situation.

We have the beautiful ceremonies and liturgies the traditional church used to have. We also have the emphasis on knowledge and teaching, and love music. We are down-to-earth and know how to laugh and have a good time. We know that union with God is possible for everyone and that indeed it is our destiny.

We love the Bible and use it as a 'spiritual blueprint' - that is, we see in the Bible a picture of the unfolding divinity in us all. This is called the 'metaphysical' approach and it sees the stories of the Bible as taking place within self. We don't interpret the Bible in a moralistic way; rather we internalise it.

We encourage you to stand on your own feet, think for yourself and know for yourself.

We're free-thinking and progressive. We actually like to be 'ahead' of the times. We like to think of ourselves as pioneers. For instance, we pioneered the spiritual healing ministry in Australia. We were the first esoteric and metaphysical church to be born in Australia. We were the first to have a late-night coffee shop and encourage people to come to church all week rather than just on Sundays! We were the first to bless the union of two gay people. We have been conducting the 'Covenant of Love' service since 1973. We believe Christianity should be leading the world not limping along behind.

We are - as our name says - independent. We practice what we preach. We believe everyone should be a free-standing individual and we are a free-standing church.

We ordain women and have done since 1979. We believe in the qualities, skills and talents of people. People have a priestly nature or they do not - regardless of who they are!

We believe in reincarnation and the journey of the soul. Our souls yearn to become more and more in tune with our creator and reincarnation and karma help this inner yearning come to fruition. If one can view the world through the philosophy of reincarnation and karma one knows that 'perfect justice rules the world and all God's children will one day reach his feet'. We practise the sacraments - particularly baptism and the last rites - with this journey of the soul in mind.

We encourage all our members and friends to celebrate the Mass for themselves at home. We give them the consecrated hosts and the words of the ritual and we encourage them to have a time of communion with their God every day.

We incorporate the teachings of Anthroposophy in a Christian sacramental setting. That is, we practice a spiritual psychology, acknowledging the growth of your soul through past lives and the perfection of your spirit.

We are a community of people who are united through our love for God, that is, our own inner spirit, and we have a mission to see that the world becomes more spirit-filled.