The ACP Clergy Handbook is the foundational instructional text of the Apostolic Church of the Pleroma - a living Gnostic and Apostolic jurisdiction rooted in the sacramental traditions of Christ and the ancient teachings of the Holy Gnosis. Now in its Fourth Edition, this comprehensive volume serves simultaneously as a formation guide for Minor Order ordinands and as a reference and ritual tool for all levels of clergy.
The Handbook opens with a full Lesson Plan Outline for Holy Orders instruction, tracing the curriculum from the Porter through the Diaconate, and presents for the first time a complete public overview of the Ecclesiastical and Initiatic Schema of the ACP, its affiliated Martinist body the Christian Knights of Saint-Martin (CKSM), and the Order of Asiatic Architects (OAA) - a fraternity of Haut-Grade Maçonnerie and Hermetic initiation.
The theoretical portion provides a thorough grounding in Gnostic philosophy and mythology: the nature of the Unknown Father, the generation of the Aeons, the fall of Sophia, the rise of the Demiurge, and the redemptive mission of the Logos. To this doctrinal foundation is joined an annotated presentation of The Kybalion, with commentary by Tau Phosphoros illuminating its relevance to Gnostic doctrine and ACP practice. The seven Sacraments of the ACP are examined in depth, with particular attention given to the theology of the Eucharist, the central rite of the Church, and its relationship to valid Apostolic Succession.
The practical sections cover the ACP's liturgical life in detail, including the Mass of the Seven Seals and the Liturgy of St. Peter the Gnostic, the administration of the Sacraments, the ordering of the Sanctuary, instruction in meditative and theurgic exercises, and the alchemical dimensions of the spiritual life. A substantially revised Brief History of the Gnostic Church traces the tradition from its ancient roots through the modern French Gnostic revival and the lineages that have descended to the ACP.
This Fourth Edition has been carefully revised and expanded throughout, incorporating feedback from the Patriarch of the Ecclesia Gnostica Spiritualis, Michael-Paul Bertiaux, and restoring select initiatic and ecclesiastical documents from the earliest editions of the Handbook.
While the private ceremonies of ordination and initiation, and the higher teachings reserved to those in Major Orders, remain beyond the scope of this volume, the ACP Clergy Handbook penetrates well beyond the atrium of the Temple - offering the sincere aspirant a genuinely comprehensive introduction to the doctrine, practice, sacramental life, and initiatic heritage of one of the most carefully constituted Gnostic Apostolic jurisdictions of the present day.
