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Welcome
"God loves you!" We, the Episcopal Church, invite you
to share in this proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ,
and to become a member of our Christian community.
The Episcopal Church
has a unique place in the spectrum of Christian experience.
Our worship is rooted in scripture, with vibrant expression of prayer,
music, sacrament, and word. Episcopalians have long stood for service
to the wider community, and we express our faith in outreach and
social concern; we attempt to "walk the talk" of Jesus'
teachings. We are known for asking good questions, rather than necessarily
providing pat answers for complex issues. And we are known for our
inclusiveness, recognizing that Christ's banquet is large enough
to include every person.
Some words which describe
Episcopalian values:
· Open-minded, and willing to live with ambiguity, knowing
that truth is discerned by many paths.
· Searching, questioning, and using reason to explore new
insights and possibilities.
· Intuitive, affirming the metaphorical, paradoxical, and
symbolic.
· Aesthetic, understanding that truth, goodness, and beauty
are inter-related.
· Moderate, holding the "middle ground" between
extremes.
· Naturalistic, delighting in the rhythms of life grounded
in Creation.
· Historical, valuing tradition and experience in understanding
the present.
· Political, appreciating civic virtues and affirmation of
free, peaceful, and public debate and discourse, and the role of
the church in influencing social, political, and economic life.
Our Beliefs
We believe in a loving God - Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer -
who created the universe, who through Jesus Christ redeems us from
sin and death, and who sustains us through love and grace.
We promise to follow
Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. We believe the mission of our
church is the restoration of all people to unity with God and each
other in Christ.
The cornerstones of our
faith are scripture, tradition, reason, and experience.
Scripture
Scripture is the word of God contained in the Old and New Testaments
of the Bible. The Old Testament recounts the story of God's love
for the world from Creation until the time of Jesus. The New Testament
contains Jesus' teachings, the accounts of his life as told by his
followers, and the beginning of the early Christian church. Scripture
is the ground of our faith and is read in public worship services
and daily devotions. We are not biblical "literalists."
That is, we study scripture in the context of history, and seek
to interpret God's word in scripture for our own day. We have a
willingness to live with diverse and changing interpretations of
scripture, rather than attributing scripture with infallible certainty
and binding prescriptions for all time and circumstance.
Tradition
Tradition is the embodiment of our experience as Christians throughout
the centuries, shaped by the Bible, historic creeds, sacraments,
and the ministry carried out by Christ's disciples. Tradition is
expressed with many voices, including worship styles, languages,
cultures, architecture, and music. Our tradition encourages this
diversity. We seek to value each person's life and story, and invite
each person to share in our Christian community.
Reason
We believe that our God-given ability to think critically and take
responsibility for our actions is a vital part of our Christian
faith. Reason, as a complement to scripture and tradition, leads
us to seek answers to our own questions. Human reason is set in
the context of our relationship with God, and God's call to us to
live full and healthy lives.
Experience
We experience God's love and our spiritual journey in the context
of community - both within the church and in the world-at-large.
Our daily living experience also shapes our questions, and nurtures
our quest for a closer relationship with God and Jesus Christ.
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