Our Vision
To be a space for people to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ.
Our Mission
To love God and others and to proclaim by word and deed the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our Values
- Worship. True worship is the offering of ourselves – our souls and bodies – to God. In our liturgy and music, we strive to create an atmosphere conducive to that offering.
- Biblical formation. Biblical formation is the shaping of our minds and hearts to be in conformity with God’s revelation of Himself in the Holy Scriptures, our supreme authority in matters of faith and practice. Our preaching and teaching strives to facilitate this formation.
- Prayerfulness. Prayerfulness means recognizing that apart from Christ, we can do nothing – so that prayer permeates every aspect of our life as a congregation, as a means of deepening our relationship with God, caring for one another, and obtaining what we need to fulfill God’s purposes for us.
- Tradition. We are the recipients of an unchanging faith that has been handed down from Christ and the Apostles, as well as a tradition of parish life by those who have gone before us. We honor this local heritage and hold it with gratitude, while remaining open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
- Generosity. As our blessings come from God and are entrusted to us as stewards, we value the free giving of our time, talent, and treasure to glorify God, build his Church, and love our neighbors.
- Community. We are not isolated individuals, but a body of believers who value the time we spend together to worship, pray, work, and play.
- Hospitality. We receive every guest as Christ, and seek to welcome those who come to us with openness and honor.
- Service. We value service as a practical outworking of love for our neighbors, commanded by our Lord, and as a means of fellowship with one another.
What We Believe
THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
As Anglican Christians, we are committed to the “faith once delivered to the saints.”
We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God and contain all things necessary to salvation.
We believe that the Apostles’ Creed, The Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed are true and sufficient summaries of the faith once delivered, and faithfully articulate the teaching of the Bible.
We believe that the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion articulate both the historic faith of Christianity and the particulars of Anglican belief.
We believe that the Book of Common Prayer is the “Bible rearranged for worship” and faithfully expresses in communal prayer what we believe.
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
We believe that all human beings are born estranged from God with the stain of sin and a natural inclination toward self-centeredness and idolatry. It is not our sinful acts which make us sinners, but the reverse: it is our sinful nature – our corrupted humanity – which inclines us toward sinful acts. To be reconciled with God, we must be forgiven and given new life (“You must be born again”). God accomplished this for us by sending His son Jesus Christ to atone for our sins on the cross and by giving us new life in the Holy Spirit. We believe that we cannot obtain this forgiveness or new life by good works or good intentions. We can only receive this gift by repentance and faith. This new birth is effectually signified by the sacrament of Holy Baptism, in which our sins are washed away, our old self is buried with Christ, and we are raised to new life in the risen Lord Jesus. In Baptism we are made children of God, members of Christ’s body, and inheritors of the Kingdom of God.
We believe that this life is nourished by grace, which is given to us through many means. The primary means of grace are the sacraments, whereby God shares His divine life with us through ordinary physical means. The two sacraments of the Gospel are Baptism and Holy Communion, where God gives us new life and then nourishes that life with the body and blood of His risen son Jesus Christ. There are five other sacraments through which God pours His grace into our lives: Confirmation, Holy Matrimony, Confession, Holy Unction, and Ordination. Our life in Christ is also nourished and sustained by prayer; corporate worship; the hearing, reading, and preaching of the Word of God; fellowship; and service to each other and our neighbors as we seek to follow Jesus in every area of our lives.
A Note on Human Sexuality and Gender
As Christians committed to the Scriptures and the historic faith, we believe that human beings are created in the image of God; male and female. Our gender is neither a social construct nor a psychological inclination; it is a fixed identity woven into the very fabric of our created being. We recognize the tragic reality of persons who experience a disconnect between their given sex and their psychological sense of gender. We recognize the suffering this can cause, and the prejudice and abuse suffered by many. We believe that all human beings are created in the image of God and therefore should be welcomed, loved, and cared for by the Christian community. But the church cannot bless or affirm “gender transition” as we believe it is contrary to human nature as created by God. We believe that there are two sexes: male and female.
We also recognize that there are many men and women who experience same-sex attraction. Again, Christians are called to love these neighbors as ourselves. But we believe that the Bible teaches, and the historic Church affirms, that sexual activity is intended by God to be expressed within the bonds of Holy Matrimony; a life-long union of one man and one woman. As such, we cannot bless same-sex unions or any other sexual union outside of marriage.
THE CHRISTIAN HOPE
We believe that in the resurrection of Jesus, death has been destroyed. While we will all face death eventually, we believe that our souls will depart and be with Christ while our bodies rest in hope. We believe that Jesus Christ will return again to Earth to raise the dead and all humanity will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Those who are in Christ will be raised to eternal life with Him, while those who have rejected Christ will spend eternity separated from Him. We believe that God will usher in a new heaven and new earth where there will be no more sin, death, suffering or brokenness.