About the Society

The Purpose of the Society of Saint Mary Magdalene

The Society of St. Mary Magdalene is a fellowship of reformed or evangelical catholics within Christ’s one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church dedicated to supporting each other in the pursuit of holiness, sharing the good news of the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ, and renewing our distinctive theological and spiritual witness within our ecclesial communities. We take the name of Mary Magdalene in thanksgiving for her Biblical status as witness to the resurrection and protoevangelist, and for the practices of penitence and holiness of life ascribed to her by the tradition of the Church.

We joyfully confess the Creeds and Christological and Trinitarian dogma of the early church and the soteriological consensus of the Reformers as well as those ecclesiological commitments they share. We hold that God’s grace is given for the justification and sanctification of sinners, joining us with both Christ’s merits and his vivifying life in a mystical union. The regenerated will cooperates with God in doing good works in such a way that true progress in holiness of life is possible. Thus, the Christian is freed by the gift of salvation in Christ to seek holiness, do good works for her neighbor, and share the Gospel with those who do not know it. By the power of the Spirit, the Christian is transformed into the image and likeness of Christ, to the glory of God.

We make use of the two Sacraments ordained by Christ as sure and certain means of grace both for our justification and sanctification, and believe that the faithful communicant truly feeds upon the very Body and Blood of Christ in receiving the bread and the wine (understood as juice of the fruit of the vine) of the Eucharist. Members of our Society may have different understandings of how this real feeding upon Christ’s Body and Blood takes place, but do not understand these differences as impediments to Christian fellowship within our Society. We hold that God provides us with innumerable other channels or means of grace to aid us as individuals and as a body in becoming holy and serving as a light to the world. Some of these means have been recognized nearly universally in the Church, such as confirmation or mature profession of faith, holy matrimony, reconciliation, ordination, and anointing. Some among our members may in good conscience and with valid reasons also consider these sacraments, albeit of a different sort than the two Dominical Sacraments.

We draw particular inspiration from those figures throughout Christian history who have combined a robust sense of the absolute priority of God’s saving activity in Christ, a commitment to reverent worship rooted in the catholic tradition of the Church and oriented around the sacraments, and an emphasis on an active Christian life of seeking God, working for the good of the neighbor, and evangelism. The examples of Lewis Bayly, Johann Arndt, Nicholas Ferrar, Charles, John, and Susanna Wesley, Absalom Jones, Henry and William Muhlenberg, Hannah More, John Williamson Nevin, Henry McNeal Turner, and others show us a Christianity both reformed and catholic, high church and evangelical, unashamedly Protestant yet eagerly drawing upon the riches of Christians of all confessions.

All Christians in good standing in their local church who are in agreement with the Purpose of the Society and seek to abide by the Rule of the Society are welcome to pursue membership in the Society. The Society supports the ordination of women and the full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people in the life of the church, including marriage and ordination. In Society activities and fellowship with members of the Society, it is expected that members will not contravene or debate the conviction that people can be LGBTQ and faithfully Christian, and that women can be ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament.