1. Religion Ch. 8 By Grace O’Doherty

2. Christian Responsibility At your Baptism you accepted the challenge to think, act, and speak as a follower of Christ You became responsible for being a worshiping, believing, and serving member of the church As a worshiping member you participate in the sacraments As a believing member you put your faith in Jesus And as a serving member you give loving service to all God’s people

3. I Believe in the Apostolic Church In our creed we state our belief in the apostolic (apostle) church When we say she is apostolic we mean that she is rooted with the beliefs of the apostles and continues their mission We also mean that church leadership goes back to Jesus, St. Peter, and the other apostles Scripture and tradition show that Peter was head of the apostles She has a special teaching authority (Magisterium)

4. First Leaders After Pentecost the apostles set out teaching the gospels Jesus taught them Their enthusiasm and courage inspired others Soon more leaders were needed Through the Holy Spirit others were called to leadership positions

5. Who’s in Charge Today? Popes and Bishops continue the ministry of Peter and the apostles They adapt the message of Jesus to the modern age The Pope (Bishop of Rome) is chief leader of the church the whole world respects him as a spiritual leader All Bishops together form the College of Bishops Their responsibilities require them to: teach, govern, and sanctify God’s people within their own diocese or territory

6. Service in Three Roles Popes and Bishops have the responsibility in the church to be Priests, Prophets, and Servant- Kings PRIESTS: the Popes and Bishops celebrate all the sacraments and lead the people through them PROPHETS: they are official teachers in the church, infallibility: when the pope proclaims a teaching solemnly and officially on faith or morals, he can not be wrong SERVANT-KINGS: they speak with authority as Jesus did, they serve to us by caring for our spiritual needs, and they care about ALL people under any circumstances