WE ARE THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
The Episcopal Church is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and traces its heritage to the ministry of the Holy Apostles. The historic episcopate continues the work of the first apostles in the Church, guarding the faith, unity and discipline of the Church, and ordaining women and men to continue Christ’s ministry. We honor tradition and strive to live by the example of Jesus Christ, welcoming the stranger and the outcast, helping our neighbors and offering love and forgiveness. We want our communities to be better because The Episcopal Church is here. There are no prerequisites in the Episcopal Church … everyone is welcome!
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.
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What is an Episcopalian?
The Episcopal Church celebrates diversity. We are young and old, male and female, gay and straight, single, married, divorced and widowed, Anglo, African American, Latino, African, Asian, CEO and unemployed, student and teacher, rich and poor. We worship together, study and ask questions as we move more deeply into the mystery of God. We are known for our engaging and beautiful worship services. and walk the "middle way" between Protestant and catholic traditions.
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Our Presiding Bishop
The word “Episcopal” refers to government by bishops (from the Greek “episcopoi” meaning “bishops”). Pictured above is the Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry who is the 27th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. He is chief pastor to the Episcopal Church's 2.4 million members in 16 countries and 110 dioceses, ecumenical officer, and primate, joining leaders of the other 38 Anglican Provinces in consultation for global good and reconciliation. Bishop Curry was elected at the 78th General Convention on June 27, 2015, and installed at Washington National Cathedral on November 1, 2015.
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The Book of Common Prayer
As Episcopalians we turn to the Book of Common Prayer to shape our liturgies and engage in worship. 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, as Armentrout and Slocum note in their An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, that “Anglican liturgical piety has been rooted in the Prayer Book tradition since the publication of the first English Prayer Book in 1549.” 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. |
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The Episcopal Shield
The founding fathers of the Episcopal Church were also the founding fathers of our country, and the shield's red, white, and blue colors are similar to that of the American flag. Red represents the blood Christ shed for us; white symbolizes purity, and blue is the traditional color of the Virgin Mary. The large red cross that divides the shield is a cross of St. George, the cross of the Church of England, that represent our ties to the mother church. The nine small crosses in the upper left quadrant represent the nine dioceses that founded the Episcopal Church in 1789, and are arranged in a St. Andrew's cross, the cross of the Church of Scotland. When no Anglican bishop would ordain a bishop for the new church in America, bishops of the Church of Scotland agreed to lay hands on Samuel Seabury, ordaining him the first bishop of the Episcopal Church. This cross honors the role that the Church of Scotland played in the birth of our church. |
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All are Welcome! NO Exceptions!
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