The Episcopal Church
“aspiring to tell and exemplify God’s love for every human being”
WHO WE ARE
We Episcopalians believe in a loving, liberating, and life-giving God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As constituent members of the Anglican Communion in the United States, we are descendants of and partners with the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Church, and are part of the third largest group of Christians in the world.
We believe in following the teachings of Jesus Christ, whose life, death, and resurrection saved the world.
We have a legacy of inclusion, aspiring to tell and exemplify God’s love for every human being; women and men serve as bishops, priests, and deacons in our church. Laypeople and clergy cooperate as leaders at all levels of our church.
Leadership is a gift from God, and can be expressed by all people in our church, regardless of sexual identity or orientation.
We believe that God loves you – no exceptions.
Who is the Episcopal Church?
The Episcopal Church is part of the 85 million member world-wide Anglican Communion. Episcopalians believe that the Bible contains all that is necessary for salvation. We believe that tradition and reason are also important in understanding and expressing the faith. Our beliefs are stated in the historic Apostle's and Nicene Creeds.
We believe that two sacraments (Holy Baptism and Holy Communion) are ordained by Christ in the Gospel, and others (Confirmation, Holy Matrimony, Penance, Unction and Holy Orders) are helpful to salvation. Learn more on the Holy Sacraments.
The liturgy and doctrine of the Episcopal Church are detailed in The Book of Common Prayer (1979), first published in America in 1789, and closely resemble the prayer books of all Anglican Churches, and trace back to the original Church of England (1549) book with the same name. Episcopal means "governed by bishops" and bishops, priests and deacons are all ordained by bishops, who were in turn ordained in an unbroken line back to the Apostles (Apostolic Succession).
All Episcopalians are ministers, responsible to love and serve the Lord, using our God-given individual spiritual gifts.