Eric Michel Ministries International, a Christian ministry, is the vocational work of living and teaching about faith, in the hopes of increasing the population of God’s people done by the Church, Church officials, congregational members, and Jesus followers. The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature defines Christian ministry as “to denote a devotion to the interests of God’s cause, and, in a technical sense, the work of advancing the Redeemer’s kingdom”. All ministries fall under the call of the Great Commission, which Jesus presented to his disciples to continue the spread of the Gospel.
While the spread of the Gospel is every believer’s purpose, the primary and only Vocation of the bible is to live a life aligned with God, as his children, towards the intention of displaying the love of Jesus through one’s actions and decisions.
Some see Vocation as one’s true calling professionally, yet others see it as a furthering of God’s kingdom, not the occupation, “the work itself is not the vocation”. Vocation calls Christian ministry to reach all aspects of one’s life, a way of life that many believe in. In short, Christian ministry, as a whole, is any Vocational work done for the sake of the Great Commission.
Someone’s ministry is shaped by what they feel called to do. Vocation can be any activity, a specific activity, or an organization within a church dedicated to a particular purpose. Some ministries are formally identified as such, while others are not; some ministries are directed towards members of the Church, and others towards non-members.
EMMI Nomenclature
The term “We” refers to Eric Michel Ministries International and the New Life Catholic Chaplain Ministry, which uses Anglican Rites from the Book of Common Prayer.
We use the term “independent Catholic churches” advisedly. We do not mean that we are affiliated with or have any resemblance to the Catholic Church or the Anglican Communion. The term refers to the church order.
We share some common characteristics:
- We have a three-fold order of ministry: deacon, priest, and bishop.
- We claim that our bishops belong to the historic episcopate through a valid apostolic succession.
- We are not in Communion with the Catholic, Anglican, or Orthodox churches, but we are in Communion with the Apostolic Old Church Mission.
- We are called autocephalous.
- We are also referred to as “independent catholic churches.”
- We imply that we are part of the Western tradition, as expressed in the Nicene Creed, in which Christians profess that the Church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.
Order Ministry
The sacrament of holy orders in the Catholic Church includes three orders of men: bishops, priests, and deacons, in decreasing order of rank, collectively comprising the clergy. In the phrase “holy orders”, the word “holy” means “set apart for a sacred purpose”. The word “order” designates an established civil body or corporation, such as EMMI, with a hierarchical structure, and ordination refers to the legal incorporation into an order. In context, therefore, a group with a hierarchical structure that is set apart for ministry in the Church.
Holy orders leave an “indelible” mark on the soul of each man ordained, meaning that ordination is an irreversible act, the same thing as being baptized. Thus, no person’s orders and abilities as an ordained man can be removed, though their ability to perform actions licitly may be revoked in some cases.