What do Episcopalians believe?
Whether we like it or not, many people associate “church people” with heaping on guilt upon guilt, believing ghat only cleaned-up people, perfect people turn to the church. The irony, of course, is that “none is righteous, no, not one” (romans 3:10), and Jesus made the balm available, saying “come to me all who are weary and heavy lade, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). We rests on the foundation that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that all who believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
The Episcopal Church is not bound together by a shared position on academic theological questions or by tests of doctrine. We are bound together by our love of God in Christ Jesus, by our shared traditions and experiences of God in the worship and the life of our community.
That is not to say that Episcopalians don’t believe specific or particular things. It is just that each member of our community is able to think for herself or himself, to wrestle with doubt and the questions of faith, and to arrive at conclusions which may be different than those of other members within the community.
This openness has led The Episcopal Church to a number of positions, what you might call beliefs, that actually are somewhat unique among Christian churches. These ideas and practices are not so much points of doctrine, like you might learn in Sunday School or a theology class, but they are defining characteristics of our church.
What Episcopalians believe is simple, to some extent, but not simplistic.
A true answer might be to say that we believe in God, in Jesus Christ the Son of God, and in the Holy Spirit. Our list of “non-negotiable” points are very few, and largely shared with most every other Christian tradition. Those relatively few points are:
- There is one God, who is a Trinity of Persons.
- The First Person of the Trinity, traditionally called “Father,” created all things at the beginning of time.
- Jesus Christ, the very human rabbi from 2000 years ago, was and is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, and our Savior.
- The Holy Scriptures (the Bible) are the revealed word of God, written by human beings under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit, who is the Third Person of the Trinity. The Bible contains all things necessary for salvation.
- We accept the Incarnation, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ as being fundamental to our understanding of our Triune God and one another.
- We believe that the Church must continually explore methods of conveying the Gospel in a culturally relevant and sensitive manner, while adhering to the eternal truth of the Gospel.
Not only does The Episcopal Church accept and welcome a wide range of theological ideas and thoughts, we also accept and welcome all people. We do not discriminate against anyone or any group for any reason.
Our faith is a living faith, and our church is a community, not an idea.
The only way to know what Episcopalians believe is to come and see for yourself. We invite you, with all your doubts, fears, joys and beliefs, to worship with us, pray with us, and sing with us at the table of the Lord.
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is a treasure chest full of devotional and teaching resources for individuals and congregations, but it is also the primary symbol of our unity. We, who are many and diverse, come together in Christ through our worship, our common prayer. The prayer book, most recently revised in 1979, contains our liturgies, our prayers, our theological documents, and much, much more.
Download a copy of the Book of Common Prayer in English, Spanish or French.