Mass/Liturgy Schedule

Mass / Divine Liturgy: Sundays at 11:00 AM (see our calendar for the latest updates).

All are welcome. Our liturgies are similar to the services found in common Roman Catholic parishes. They include prayers, readings from the Bible, a homily ("preaching"), the celebration of the Lord's Supper, and some hymns. The main differences are that we have a general absolution at the beginning of the service--the priest communicates Jesus' forgiveness for everyone's sins and failings--and that we practice a "open" communion. That is, the Eucharist is offered for any baptized Christian who is attempting to live out the teachings of Jesus Christ.

The service is usually followed by a time of fellowship with tea, coffee, and some pastries or other snacks.

If you are closer to Canby, Oregon, you might enjoy visiting our "sister" parish, Holy Trinity Old Catholic Church, 117 NE Third Ave. They hold a Mass on Sundays at 10 AM. They have a wonderful, friendly congregation that is larger than our own.

Directions

The chapel address is 805 NW Alder St., McMinnville OR, 97128.

From Highway 99 in McMinnville, turn west on 8th street. The chapel is located in the basement of a large white house on the corner of 8th street and Alder. Use the side, chapel entrance.

Google Map Directions

The chapel is not wheelchair-accessible. The entrance to the chapel involves stepping down about six steps.

Why Become a Christian?

God, the creator of the universe, loves you. He desires your goodness and happiness. He calls to you, and offers friendship and relationship with all of mankind. To those who humbly seek him -- who respond to God's call -- God offers forgiveness, and the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort us in our daily lives, choices, relationships, work, etc. We participate in this by humbly praying (speaking) to God, acknowleding our need for him, being baptized, and learning about and following Jesus' teachings. By seeking God and accepting his guidance, grace, love, and forgiveness, we become a part of the "People of God."

If you would like to learn more about Jesus, becoming a Christian, or you just seek some prayer, advice, or support, please call or text Fr. Murray at 503-437-3450.

Why join or attend the Old Catholic Church?

"The Church" refers to the totality of the people who have been called by God and are responding to that call. There are many different manifestations of the Church of Christ today, and we encourage every person to attend whichever church will help him or her draw closer to God and be more perfectly transformed by Jesus' teachings.

Our group, Holy Family Old Catholic Church, is an apostolic, sacramental Christian church, and one of many local Christian assemblies that attempts to follow and live out the teachings of Jesus in today's world. We gather weekly to pray together, read from and discuss the scriptures, share in the Lord's Supper (i.e., the true Eucharist), and support one another. To be apostolic means that our bishop's spiritual lineage traces to the apostles. To be sacramental means that we celebrate the true, traditional sacraments established by Jesus.

Our services and prayers are similar to those found in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, though we are a much smaller and less formal group, akin to the ancient "house-church" of the first decades of Christianity. The primary way that we differ from other apostolic, sacramental churches is that we expressly offer Christ's forgiveness in every service, and we invite all Christians to receive the gift of the Eucharist. We are distinct from the various Evangelical churches in that we have apostolic succession, valid sacraments, and a more "liturgical" service. With all of these churches and groups we share a love and care for one another, and a desire to follow Jesus. In any event, anyone who is seeking God is welcome here, but whether you worship and pray with us or at another Christian community, we consider you our friend and "brother" (or "sister") in Christ.

About Us

Holy Family Old Catholic Church is a small, neighborhood mission chapel. We strive to follow the teachings of Jesus as they come to us through the Gospels, the writings of the apostles, and the lived example of the early Christian Church.

The naming in honor of the holy family--Jesus, Mary, and Joseph--expresses the recognition of the importance of the family as a place of love, holiness, and where we help each other grow and follow Jesus.

Holy Family Old Catholic Church is a parish of the Diocese of St. Thomas in the Old Catholic Communion of North America. Our bishop is Robert Burgess and the local pastor/priest is Seth Murray.

Other Ministries and Activities

Fr. Murray is available to assist those seeking prayers, spiritual counseling, sacraments, and similar.

We host a multi-family homeschool co-op. Contact Tyra Murray for more information: 503-560-3263.

We also host an exercise/self-defense group that meets in the chapel several evenings per week (led by Fr. Murray): Stronghold Jiu Jitsu. We also participate in a community senior-movement and health program that practices Tai-Chi movement several times per week.

We encourage those seeking food, shelter, or financial assistance to check the following:

• St. Vincent de Paul: 503-472-6216. Emergency assistance for food, clothing, paying bills.
• Yamhill County Gospel Rescue Mission: 503-472-9766. Emergency assistance for food and shelter.
• Yamhill County Food Pantries. Supplemental food boxes.
• Oregon Department of Human Services. Food, medical, shelter, child care, emergency funds.
• Mental health emergency: Call 988 to speak with a counselor at any time.

What is the Old Catholic Church?

The Old Catholic Church is an assembly of Christians who attempt to live out the Gospel in keeping with the words of Christ and the apostles as they come to us through Scripture and the example of the early Church. Old Catholics celebrate the traditional Christian sacraments of baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, matrimony, holy orders, healing, and confession/forgiveness, maintain the tradition of apostolic succession by which it traces its spiritual genesis back to Jesus, and uphold the moral principles taught by Jesus.

The Old Catholic Church sees Jesus as its origin and reason for existence. Well, if we wish to be accurate, it is part of God's eternal plan of creation, love, and redemption of mankind. Jesus is the central figure in this event and the reason for the Old Catholic Church. As part of his redemptive passion, Jesus gathered followers: apostles and disciples. He suffered and died for them (and for all of us), and told them to follow his teachings, to forgive, love, and care for others, to baptize others, and to also teach others about his message of forgiveness.

Over history, Jesus' disciples have generally, collectively been known as the "assembly," "ecclesia," or "church." That church had (and has) several characteristics. Christians and the church are called to be one, holy, universal ("catholic"), and apostolic. Each of these characteristics has a rich historical meaning. Overall, what it means is that we are called to be lovingly unified with each other through our belief in and following of Jesus' teachings, which are for all people.

As the decades and centuries rolled forward after Jesus and the apostles, Christianity spread and developed over the entire world. Also, differences and divisions arose among church groups. Some churches kept on adding to and changing Jesus' teachings. Others denied or reinterpeted them in contradictory or even harmful ways. Over many centuries, these changes led to a specific circumstance in the 19th century where a group of Christians determined that the Church of Rome had made too many changes to the Gospel. These Christians wished to simply continue to follow Jesus' teachings as they had for the previous centuries, tracing back to Scripture and the witness of the early Church -- these who wished to practice historical Christianity and rejected the changes that Rome was introducing became known as the "Old Catholics."

Today, one of these Old Catholic groups is the Old Catholic Communion of North America (OCCNA). We attempt to humbly live out Jesus' teachings in our personal lives, families, work, and communities. We look primarily to Scripture and the example of the early Christians, while listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to discern how to carry this out from day to day. We see many good, true, and helpful practices in the various Christian groups over history, and attempt to avoid those things that appear to have been errors or mistakes.

Though we believe that the Church of Rome has made some errors in its doctrinal developments, we recognize that they are Christians who are trying to follow Jesus and have done many wonderful things on behalf of Christ. We see them and all followers of Jesus as our "spiritual brothers and sisters." For its part, too, Rome has recognized that groups such as the Old Catholics, Orthodox, etc. are authentic Christian churches who follow Jesus and have true sacraments.

For more information about Old Catholicism or the OCCNA, feel free to contact us, or see our "parent" diocesan parish web site, St. Barnabas the Apostle. You could also see the OCCNA web site.