Our Beliefs - Quinn Chapel

Quinn Chapel Africian Methodist Episcopal Church
70198 Martin Luther King Drive
P.O. Box 55
Tangipahoa, Louisiana 70465
Rev. Troy Grimes, Pastor
Rev.Elsie Smith, Local Elder
Quinn Chapel
Founded 1840
"The Church Where Everybody Is Somebody"
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Our Beliefs

Our Beliefs as Members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church are embodied in our Twenty Five Articles of Religion, which are found in DisciplineThe Doctrines and line of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and cannot be changed under any circumstances by the vote of the general Church.
Twenty-five Articles of Religion
We believe:
1.     That there is one God who interacts with us as God the Father, who created all that is, God the Son, who saved us from our sins, and God the Holy Ghost, who lives in and directs the lives of all believers. The three persons of God are of one substance and always work for our well being.
2.     That Jesus is the Christ (which in Greek means the Messiah or Anointed One) who came into this world born of a virgin as God in human form – the Word of God made flesh – to show us how to live and to save us from our sins by dying for us.
3.     That Christ died on the Cross and arose from the dead in body and spirit three days later to guarantee us everlasting life.
4.     That the Holy Ghost does not just anoint us in worship but guides and directs our daily living.
5.     That sixty six canonical books of the Scriptures are sufficient in direction and instruction for our salvation as the inspired Word of the Lord recorded by humankind.
6.     That the Old Testament is as essential for our salvation as is the New Testament. The Old Testament shows that we can’t save ourselves by our work and can only be saved by the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
7.     That all of us are heirs of Adam and inherited the tendencies to sin shown in the original sin of Adam.
8.     That because we are heirs of original sin, we cannot exercise the free will to save our souls.
9.     That we are justified not by our work, but by the saving Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
10. That the good works that we do spring from our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and our willingness to walk in the Spirit of God.
  1. That the idea of    works of supererogation – works beyond what we need for salvation,  is not relevant because the good that we do is offset by the bad that we   do.
  2. That, while we   all sin after justification, we can be forgiven if we earnestly ask   the Lord to forgive us.
  3. That the    church is not a building but is a congregation of the called out of  God who come together for worship, sacramental sharing fellowship    instruction, mutual support and service.
  4. That there is no  such place as purgatory.
  5. That worship   should always be done in a language that can be understood by the   worshipers.
  6. That there are  two Sacraments ordained by Christ – Baptism, because Christ   submitted to Baptism, and The Lord’s Supper, because Christ instituted it   so that we can remember His sacrifice.
  7. That Baptism,   regardless of the means, is an outward sign of an inner change, and that     children of the church should be Baptized.
  8. That the Lord’s     Supper is our sacred way of remembering that the Body and Blood of   Christ were offered for our salvation.
  9. That all     worshipers are entitled to the Lord’s Supper in both kinds – the     bread and the beverage.
  10. That the one     oblation of Christ upon the cross was the sacrifice for our sins and     that no other signs or symbols are needed as aids for our forgiveness or     salvation.
  11. That the   marriage of ministers is appropriate and encouraged so that the clergy     can be productive members of their families, communities and the family of     believers.
  12. That the   rites and ceremonies of the church should be sufficiently standard to     allow worshipers in any AME Church to find common ground, but flexible    enough to allow for local custom and for the work of the Holy Spirit.
  13. That the Rulers   of the United States of America or of any country and their just laws     are to be respected by the family of God.
  14. That the   goods of a Christian are gifts from God to the individual and not    common property, but should be shared for the work of the church.
  15. That the    taking of oaths is permissible in a court of law, but that Christians     should not swear vain and rash oaths that we can’t keep because of our     human frailty.
To find out more about what we believe as AMEs, read Our Beliefs on the Official Website of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.


Apostle's Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead; and buried. The third day he arose from the dead' he ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Church Universal, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen.
 
THE MEANING OF THE ANVIL AND CROSS
 
 
The meaning of the Cross is obvious to anyone with faith in God and a knowledge of the Holy Bible and the Christian Church: the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the power of Salvation through Him, and the immeasurable grace of God that covers the sins of the world and empowers His people to be more than conquerors through Jesus Christ who strengthens us.
 
 
The Anvil, on the other hand, has a symbolic and a historical meaning which must be noted by all who call themselves African Methodist. OUR beginnings emerged from the depths of racism and bigotry and when our founding fathers chose to stay with Methodism, they purchased a blacksmith's shop and converted it into their house of worship; they called it BETHEL, meaning "House of God." In the blacksmith's shop was an anvil used to pound and shape metal ores into a usable and functioning object. And, as any blacksmith will tell you, hammers may wear down, and many a man may lose his life to the exhaustion from the hard work of being a blacksmith, but the Anvil never fails. A man only needs to purchase one in his or her entire lifetime, and it continues to last through MANY lifetimes. So it is with God; He cannot be beaten down and He is Eternal. The Anvil represents our beginning and the lasting Strength of our Lord and Savior that never ceases.
 
 
The Cross and the Anvil: Our Salvation and our Strength. Our beginnings in a blacksmith shop and our eternal ending in God's heavenly realm.
 
 

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Quinn Chapel Africian Methodist Episcopal Church
God Our Father, Christ our Redeemer the Holy Spirit Our Comforter, Humankind Our Family
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