Christian Icons

Some Anglicans understand that icons are not just decora­tions, but rather a way to encounter the person or event portrayed. They also understand that God, through the icon, bestows grace. One Anglican iconographer has said, “Icons bring us face to face with Christ, his mother, his friends the saints and angels — in short, with the heavenly kingdom.” The Living Church, May 19, 2005

Christians and Icons: Icons are in colors what the Scripture are in words: witnesses to the Incarnation, the fact that God has come among us as a person whom we can see, touch and hear, to offer us the new life and begin the new creation. The Seventh Ecumenical Council, 787.

Anglicans and Icons: [Anglicans] accept that it is legitimate to regard the icon, not merely as a decora­tion, but as a means of entering into relationship with the person or event it represents; and to hold that in response to the faith and prayer of the believers, God through the icon, bestows his sanctifying grace. The Dublin Agreed Statement 1984.