About Us

What is an Episcopal Church

We are followers of Jesus seeking to put our faith in action in our daily lives. The word “Episcopal” comes from the Greek word episkopos, which means “overseer” or bishop. We are a branch of Christianity, guided by our bishops, and served by our priests and deacons who support the work and witness of the majority of our ministers, the baptized members of our church. The Episcopal Church began as the American Colonial branch

of the Church of England.

It is now an autonomous province of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Anglican Communion has spread well beyond its English roots, with about 70-80 million members in countries circling the globe. The Episcopal Church has over 7400 congregations in 110 dioceses plus three regional areas in 16 countries with two million members. The Episcopal Church has members in the United States, as well as in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras, Micronesia, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Venezuela, the Virgin Islands, Cuba, and the Convocation of Churches in Europe.

We are are black, white, asian, Latino, Native American, Caribbean, and more. We are young and old, poor and rich, straight and gay. We try to reflect the diversity of the communities in which our congregations are located. Even though we are not there yet, we do strive to be welcoming communities of faith, sharing the love of God with all.

We may be firm in our faith or constantly questioning. We find our unity, not in a common consensus on all matters, but in a common journey toward God through the worship and ministry of our churches. What ties us together is our belief in the love of God, as found in Jesus.

Jesus taught us that God’s deepest hope for us is that we would love God and love our neighbors (Matt. 22:37-40). In Jesus, we have found forgiveness for sins, which are the ways in which we fall short of the mark set by God. We seek to live into that forgiveness we have been given by being open and loving communities of faith. It’s a lofty goal, and when we fall short, we still have the love of God supporting us as we attempt to change to be more Christ like in our words and actions.

Our Beliefs

We believe first and foremost that we can best come to know God, our creator, through a relationship with his son, Jesus Christ. The clearest statements of what we believe is to be found in The Apostle’s Creed and The Nicene Creed. These 2,000-year-old creeds (short statements of faith) are held to be true by billions of people around the world today. Beyond that, the best place to learn what Episcopalians believe is the Bible, which is the source of our theology, and the Book of Common Prayer (BCP). The BCP is not only the guide to our conduct of worship, but it is also articulates our theology.