Affirmation of St. Louis, the

A statement adopted by the St. Louis Congress, called by the Fellowship of Concerned Churchmen, Sept. 14-16, 1977. The Affirmation stated the basis for the structure of continuing Anglicanism in the United States and Canada. It argued that the Episcopal Church had “departed from Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church” and that the holy orders of bishops, priests, and deacons consist “exclusively of men in accordance with Christ’s will and institution.” It insisted that the only standard of worship for Episcopalians was the 1928 BCP. The Affirmation said that the World Council of Churches was non-Apostolic, humanist and secular in purpose and practice, and that the Consultation on Church Union was non-Apostolic and non-Catholic. “The Affirmation of St. Louis” was the theological and ecclesiological basis for a number of new churches which were formed later.