Faith & Order

Under Father Vilatte's leadership, a general assembly was held in St. Mary's Church (left), Duvall (Kewaunee), Wisconsin, on November 16, 1889. Clergy and lay delegates made the following faith and order declaration which is still observed today:

DECLARATION OF DUVAL
(1889)

• Art.1 We are a covenanted community of persons
• Art.2 based on the Holy Scripture
• Art.3 the Nicean & St. Athanasius Creeds
• Art.4 and the definitions of the accepted General Councils of the Undivided Church
• Art.5 We celebrate the seven sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, Holy Eucharist, Holy Matrimony, Holy Orders and Annointing of the Sicks
• Art.6 We are a society of believers who has Christ our Lord as its Leader and Source of its sanctity
• Art.7 We see the historic Episcopate as necessary for our church life. Minister of the sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Orders, the Bishop is also the centre of unity, the guardian of the deposit of the faith and the defender of the catholic tradition
• Art.8 Holy pictures and statues can be used for devotion but not for worship. This practice is not necessary for justification nor for salvation
• Art.9 The saints are venerable and can be invoked for inspiration and wisdom, but our Lord Jesus Christ is the only Mediator between God and humankind
• Art.10 Committing to the Church of Christ Uniting will erase our divisions and rebuild the undivided church.

The declaration was published in 1890, under the name A Sketch of the Belief.