What’s in a name? Quite a lot, it turns out! The Lord has blessed our community with powerful name and identity. What does it mean to Be New Creation Anglican Church?
In one sense, we are very much a new creation – there’s nothing else exactly like us in the Hagerstown community, or even in Washington County!
On the other hand, the name reflects a deep theological commitment on our behalf – one that we very much want to get into the heart of our congregation and mission.
The name is drawn from three levels of teaching about “new creation” in Holy Scripture.
Big Promises
It’s based on the cosmic “already-not-yet” vision of all things being made new, renewed and submitted to the lordship of Jesus (Rev. 21:5, Philippians 2:1-11). It helps us to keep the story straight, so to speak, and to remember that this is where we’re headed.
Here & Now in Word & Sacrament
In another sense though, our name helps us to remember that this isn’t just a future hope. The Church is called to live out new creation in the here and now, being a reflection (however imperfect and faltering) of what God will one day do for all of creation (Romans 13:11-14, 1 Corinthians 15, especially v. 58).
Personal
Lastly, new creation is about personal promise and transformation. We want to see people’s lives utterly transformed by the gospel of grace. As Paul so wonderfully puts it in 2 Corinthians 5:17, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation!