Episcopal is a Greek word meaning bishop, or overseer.  The Episcopal Church is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion whose mother is the Church of England.  The Anglican Communion is the largest Christian body in the English-speaking countries of the world.  It is a multi-national, multi-lingual, multi-racial church.  In this diversity are common essential characteristics.  We promise to follow Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  We believe in One God:  the Father who creates us and all things, the Son who redeems us from sin and death, and the Holy Spirit who renews us as Children of God.  Episcopalians affirm that salvation is the end of our separation from God and the beginning of a new relationship with God and with one another.

The Episcopal Church is a Bible church.  We “believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the word of God and to contain all things necessary to salvation.”  The Bible is the source of our belief and moral standards.  As God’s words to us, the Bible is the lens through which we view and evaluate all other claims to truth.

The Episcopal Church is a catholic church.  Catholic means universal and refers to that which has been consistently believed and practiced from New Testament times.  Our worship and life draw from the rich treasure of two thousand years of Christian experience.  The Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, ancient statements of the undivided Church based on Biblical truth are our creeds today.  The Book of Common Prayer, which enables us to worship together, contains the catholic treasure of worship and enables us to use it every time we gather for praise and prayer.  The catholic balance of sacrament and word in our worship is evidenced by our frequent celebrations of Holy Communion and our emphasis on Biblical preaching.  The rich inheritance of the liturgical year (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Pentecost), centuries of sacred music, and solemn and festive ceremony are welcomed and encouraged in our church.

The Episcopal Church is a missionary church.  The church has been established wherever its members have gone.  The first Christian worship service held in North America was from the Book of Common Prayer, and was led by the chaplain of Sir Francis Drake’s flagship in 1579 in San Francisco Bay.  The first church in the American colonies was an Anglican one founded in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607.  We take the Jesus Christ’s call to go into all the world seriously.

The Episcopal Church is a Church that is clear about the Christian faith:

• It is not preoccupied with secondary issues.
• It stands in the rich tradition of Christian worship.
• It encourages people to grow in the faith they profess.
• It believes we ought to live so as to make a difference.

We welcome you and invite you into this faith and fellowship of Jesus Christ.