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The two women at the grave. by L. Collot d'Herbois
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The Christian Community in Los Angeles is part of an international movement for the
renewal of religion, founded in 1922 in Switzerland by the eminent Lutheran theologian and minister Friedrich Rittlemeyer,
with the help of Rudolf Steiner, Austrian thinker and mystic.
The Christian Community is a church centered around the seven sacraments in their renewed form.
The text of our Creed,
is a metamorphosis of the Apostle's and Nicene Creeds. Members are not required to sign articles of faith, and
are encouraged to form independent judgments in religious matters. Nor do we have any formal written dogma. Each
priest has the freedom to teach anything which does not contradict the content of the sacraments whose texts form
the "bedrock" of The Christian Community . As a result, the teachings are rich, varied and evolving.
They are inspired by traditional Christian theology, the original work of Rudolf Steiner, and by independent research
and insights of priests and members. There is room in this modern Christian theology to incorporate such ideas
as reincarnation and karma, a truly cosmic conception of Christ, and the role of spiritual beings at all levels
of existence. |
There are approximately
350 independent Christian Community Congregations world-wide, with ten
congregations in North America. Services are also held through visits to
branch congregations in several additional locations.
Each Christian Community congregation is financially independent and exists through the voluntary pledges and donations
of its local members. There are regional and international administrative bodies to coordinate the work at those
levels.
For all of the above reasons, most congregations of The Christian Community in North America, the first of which
was founded in North America in New York City in 1948, are small and intimate. This gives individual members the
possibility of greater initiative and impact. Congregations in Europe, where The Christian Community has been longer
established, tend to be larger. Some of our churches in Europe seat 600-1,000. The scope of the work in Europe
tends to be broader, including, for example, large venue international conferences. |
Easter by Gerard Wagner
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Drawing from a wide range of available material, we present a selection of works
by priests and members. Since The Christian Community has no dogma, the opinions presented are those of the authors
and are not necessarily shared by all priests or members. |
