Christian Socialist Party USA

A.C.T.S. is a community building movement, can be used within your own Faith journey and is designed for use by groups within a particular Church or community group. It is not designed to be used as an isloated study group, but for use by congregations who may find agreement with it and want to pursuit community renewal in rediscovering the early Church experience. It is neither an attempt to create a new Congregation but could be used as a starting point for one which does not exist in your local community.

First Week: I. Assembled: Here we mean a gathering. The word that generally translated as "church" in the English Bible is ecclesia. Here is what the Free On Line Dictionary says:

ecclesia [ɪˈkliːzɪə]

n pl -siae [-zɪˌiː]

1. (Christianity / Ecclesiastical Terms) (in formal Church usage) a congregation

2. (Historical Terms) the assembly of citizens of an ancient Greek state

Here we used assembled to mean a self governing congregation.

SECOND WEEK: II. Catholic: The word means universal and has been applied to the Christian Church since the second century of the common era.

Again the Free On Line Dictionary says:

cath·o·lic (kth-lk, kthlk)

adj.

1. Of broad or liberal scope; comprehensive.

2. Including or concerning all humankind; universal: "what was of catholic rather than national interest" (J.A. Froude).

3. Catholic

a. Of or involving the Roman Catholic Church.

b. Of or relating to the universal Christian church.

c. Of or relating to the ancient undivided Christian church.

d. Of or relating to those churches that have claimed to be representatives of the ancient undivided church.

n. Catholic

A member of a Catholic church, especially a Roman Catholic.

Webster adds: 1. A person who accepts the creeds which are received in common by all parts of the orthodox Christian church.

Here we use catholic to mean any Christian who accepts as

ecumenical and binding the Nicaean Creed, the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, the Communion of Saints, and Apostolic teaching authority of ecumenical Church. We don't wish to exclude other Christians. We acknowledge them as part of the body of Christ. However, we respect our brothers and sisters enough not to wish to burden them with discussions of patristics, Marian devotions, and veneration of saints which are not reconcilable with acceptance of the "five solas" of the Reformation.

THIRD WEEK: Toward: The use of the word toward would indicate we do not believe that socialism has ever been achieved on anything but small local scale.

FOURTH WEEK: Socialism: This is the scariest word. Again let's turn to the Free On Line Dictionary:

so·cial·ism (sō′s̸həl iz′əm)

noun

   1. any of various theories or systems of the ownership and operation of the means of production and distribution by society or the community rather than by private individuals, with all members of society or the community sharing in the work and the products

2.

        A. a political movement for establishing such a system

        B.the doctrines, methods, etc. of the Socialist parties

3. the stage of society, in Marxist doctrine, coming between the capitalist stage and the communist stage, in which private ownership of the means of production and distribution has been eliminated.

What does this have to do with Catholic Christianity? Obviously the groups name produces the acronym ACTS. So let us look to that book of Bible to see how the original Christians lived.

      All that believed were together, and had all things in common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

      (Acts 2:44-45)