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Queen of
Heaven Gnostic Church
Portland Parish of the Ecclesia Gnostica
The Queen of Heaven Gnostic Church is a parish of the Ecclesia Gnostica, a Christian Gnostic sacramental church with its headquarters in Los Angeles, California. As a sacramental, liturgical church we employ chant, candles, incense, bells, vestments and other accoutrements for the purpose of elevating consciousness out of the ordinary and commonplace. The structure and content of our liturgies are age-old and inspired by the practices and metaphorical writings of the early Gnostics of the First through Fourth centuries.
We continue an established and recognized, apostolic tradition without moralizing judgments or dogmatic statements of belief in a setting that fosters mystical inquiry and spiritual understanding. We erect no barrier of creed, race, status or personal lifestyle around the altar of the Gnosis. We retain the early Gnostic practice of ordaining women on an equal basis with men and revere the feminine aspect of Deity in the fashion of our Gnostic forbears.
What is our purpose?
The primary mission of our Church is to provide the ancient wisdom and redeeming power of the Gnosis, our means of spiritual liberation, within the living context of traditional Christian ritual and sacrament. By working with the literature of various Gnostic traditions in a sacramental setting, the words of the early Gnostics begin to awaken in us and subtly bring to us mystical insights into the existential meaning of the material world and the spiritual realities which transcend it. We begin to know what they knew. By this means we can recognize the true divine core of our being as a spark of the divine light. We begin to find out from whence we have come and whither we shall return in the journey of the soul, the journey by which each individual spark of the Light returns to its home in the Fullness, the Pleroma, the Place of Light.
What do we offer?Although we practice an Independent Catholic tradition with similarities to mainstream Christianity, we have the additional interpretation and approach of the ancient Gnostics to more deeply participate in the divine mysteries of the sacramental life. As a community, we bring together a broad range of spiritual interests and backgrounds to amplify, deepen and expand our understanding of our Gnostic readings, rites and symbols. What we share as a community is an attraction to the sacramental mysteries of the early Church as a means for connecting us with this wide-reaching spirit of the ancient Gnostics. Although the Valentinian Gnosticism that we most closely resemble died out soon after the 4th Century, we retain an unbroken lineage to the early Apostolic Church of which it was a part, and have a direct succession from its Gnostic revivals in France and England.
What do we profess?
- Though we do not believe in a dogma that one must profess, we do share the following central points of view.
- Humanity is endowed with an essential spark of the Divine Light. Though, as we live in this world, we are a mixture of good and evil, our divine nature serves as a compass to guide us to our true home in the Pleroma (Fullness).
- Evil exists. While our sparks, our souls, are divine, evil exists in the form of archons or limiters that strive to keep us in ignorance of our divine heritage.
- There is a way out that involves the remembrance and return of the soul to its divine origin. A true desire for freedom upon the part of the individual soul may eventually open the way for him or her.There are intermediary beings and powers that can assist us to the Light. These Messengers of Light serve to guide us and open the way for us.
How can you participate?
The central mystery of our sacramental practice is the Gnostic Holy Eucharist, which is designed to assist in our uniting with the Indwelling Divinity by removing the barriers that separate the human and divine natures in ourselves. The Queen of Heaven Gnostic Church of the Ecclesia Gnostica invites all who seek this mystic union, to partake of the holy mystery of the Eucharist, and of the other mysteries (sacraments) which it administers.
Services are currently held every Sunday at 11 am. We meet at a home chapel at the address below.
For more information on our schedule of services and activities, subscribe to our quarterly bulletin. To subscribe for a year send a minimum donation of $6.00 to cover printing and postage to:Queen of Heaven Gnostic Church
5815 NE Everett St
Portland, OR 97213-3821
For inquiries call Steven at 503-233-0854 or email amergin777@gmail.comSpiritual consultations available by appointment.
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