What We Believe

As Episcopalians, we believe in and we follow the teaching of Jesus!

We believe that God loves you – no exceptions!

We embrace an inclusive message of love and aspire to exemplify God’s love for every human being! There is nothing - no sin, no past or present circumstance, nothing! - that can separate you from the love of God in Jesus Christ. So, no matter your step on the journey or place in the story - single, married, divorced, separated, or partnered, our welcome knows no boundaries of age, race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, economic condition, physical or mental ability. Indeed, we know that God delights in the diversity of creation and so do we.

We are Reformed, Catholic, and Anglican
Episcopalians consider themselves to belong to a church that is both "Reformed and Catholic." On the one hand, we stand in the tradition of the Reformation, which formally began in the 16th century but with roots dating much farther back. In the manner of the Reformation, we place a priority (NB. not a primacy) on sacred scripture and salvation by grace, and we relish in the worship and reading of scripture in one's native tongue. On the other hand, we are Catholic (meaning, "universal"), descended directly from the earliest Church with Christian roots in the British Isles dating to at least the 2nd century CE. In this Catholic tradition, we maintain the unbroken succession of bishops and continue practicing the ancient Sacraments and liturgical rites. Episcopalians, moreover, are members of the worldwide Anglican Communion, with 70 million members in 164 countries. Among other things, the Anglican Communion finds unity in and through the Archbishop of Canterbury and the long legacy of Anglican (i.e. English) spirituality. 

Our Core Beliefs are based upon...
Scripture, Tradition, & Reason
In the Bible, the sacred story of God's relationship with creation is revealed, written by human persons under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Bible is a formative (NB. not normative) story, understood to contain all things necessary to salvation. That said, one idea that truly defines Anglicanism is the idea that while the Bible (aka. sacred scripture) has priority, it must nevertheless be interpreted by tradition (i.e. the saints, the church before us, the bishops in succession, etc.) and reason (i.e. science, history, human wisdom, etc.). 

The Book of Common Prayer (BCP)
The Book of Common Prayer is the sign of our unity; we who are many come together in Christ through our common worship. All Episcopal services of public worship (even as they differ in style) follow the form laid out in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, which follows the legacy of the first English Prayer Book, produced in 1549. Such common prayer is vital in Anglicanism because of our belief in lex orandi, lex credendi ("the law of prayer is the law of belief"), the belief that prayer (worship) and belief (theology) are integral to each other. It means that in the church's prayer and liturgy are found the defining principles of what we believe.
Online Book of Common Prayer: BCPOnline.org

The Creeds 
"The Creeds are statements of our basic beliefs about God” (Book of Common Prayer, p. 851).  In the two foundational statements of faith - the Apostles’ Creed used at baptism, and the Nicene Creed used at communion - we join Christians throughout the ages in affirming our faith in the one God who created us, redeemed us, and sanctifies us.
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The Sacraments 
Anglican tradition recognizes sacraments as "outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace” (Book of Common Prayer, p. 857). Baptism and Eucharist were instituted directly by Jesus in earthly ministry and given to the Church. Other spiritual markers of our journey  were practiced by the early Church as signs of grace - Confirmation, Reconciliation of a Penitent, Matrimony, Orders, and Anointing of the Sick.