This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. John 15:12
The Episcopal Church is a branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion—churches with their heritage and history in the Church of England.
Not exactly. The church in England had never fully embraced the rule of the Pope in Rome, and the trend throughout Europe toward separation from Rome had been building for quite some time. Henry VIII’s desire for an annulment of his marriage may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Episcopal priests can be married, and the Episcopal Church has ordained women since 1976. In 1994 the Episcopal Church passed a resolution explicitly affirming that no one could be refused ordination because of sexual orientation or gender expression. (Photo at right: St. Andrew's Lisa Aguilar at her ordination to the Diaconate.)
Baptism and Holy Communion (the Eucharist) are the two sacraments instituted by Christ. Confirmation, Marriage, Reconciliation (“Confession”), Ordination, and Anointing of the Sick are observed as optional sacramental rites. We define “Sacraments” as “Outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace.”
Both. Neither. Either. When the Church of England separated itself from Rome, it did not consider itself to be a “Protestant” tradition. Rather, it saw itself returning to the original, ancient structure of the church, with local/national congregations organized under the rule of their own bishops. In an attempt to reconcile the views of the Protestant Reformers with the traditions of the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church became a home for both, establishing its via media (middle road) based on scripture, reason, and tradition. (Photo at right: Fr. Keith celebrating the Eucharist at the Altar)
The altar is God’s table, not ours, and all are welcome for communion or a blessing. All baptized Christians may take communion in the Episcopal Church. A baptized child may take communion at any age; the decision of when to take communion is left up to the child’s parents.
Nobody loves tradition more than we do! But we know that Jesus, the Living Word of God, calls us to be faithful to traditions in ways that reach out to contemporary people. Jesus calls us to be messengers of God’s love and forgiveness to a broken and hurting world, a world that God created and loves and will, at the end, restore to wholeness. Jesus calls us to be his hands and arms and feet in service to all people and to all creation.
We believe that the Bible was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and contains all things necessary to salvation. Much of the liturgy from The Book of Common Prayer is based explicitly on Biblical texts. Our Anglican tradition holds that "The Bible contains all things necessary for Salvation." Our each worship service includes extensive readings from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the Epistles, and the Gospels, following the assigned readings for each Sunday according to the Revised Common Lectionary.
We believe that God makes those decisions and that we aren’t privy to them. "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only." (Matthew 24:36) We share hope in God’s incredibly bountiful grace that offers salvation to all people through our Savior Jesus Christ.
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church welcomes you to find communion and community here, and to join us in Christ’s work of love, reconciliation and service in the world. (Photo at right: Easter Morning Worship)
