WHAT WE BELIEVE

You may have come here searching. We welcome you, and invite you as we walk alongside each other in love.

You may have come here with questions. We welcome you, and your questions.

You may have come here having been hurt by the Church, or feeling that the Church has left you behind. We invite you to rest here awhile, and allow us to sit with you.

You may have come seeking a faith that is ancient and yet modern. Welcome. The Episcopal Church seeks to ground its theology on the principle of scripture, tradition, and reason. We also believe that God’s revelation is ongoing in the world among us right now, for we seek to follow a living Savior, informed by the Holy Spirit. We fully affirm that faith and reason are not in opposition but are complementary—we do not deny science based on a literal reading of scripture. And yet we hear and ponder more scripture in a Sunday than many other denominations that consider themselves “Bible-based.”

If you are wondering about what the Episcopal Church holds as its core values in living faithfully in the world, one of the best places to start is with our Baptismal Covenant. It can be found online, without commentary, here.

The Baptismal Covenant is a statement of both ancient articles of faith, and an explanation of how to try live a faithful, reverent life as followers of Jesus. Our Baptismal Covenant starts with affirming ancient beliefs, and commits us to transformation and action.

The Baptismal Covenant is affirmed by us, or if we were infants, was affirmed in our names, at our baptism. All worshipers are invited to repeat it and reaffirm its principles several times throughout the year together, and are encouraged to revisit it repeatedly. Even if you were not baptized in the Episcopal Church, the Creed is offered to become your own commitment as you walk and worship alongside us. The Covenant asks us three questions about belief, and five questions about our relationship to God and each other.

In the next six sections, we will explore the core values expressed by the Baptismal Covenant. Each section will have a brief outline, and then a section to go a bit deeper, should you wish.

When we contemplate the mystery and yet presence of God, we are invited to respond in wonder, awe, reverence, and gratitude for all that God has done and has made, is doing and making, and will do and will make in the world, grounded in love and relationship. Past, present, and future, God is and sustains all.

To study a more detailed, online outline of the Episcopal faith from the Book of Common Prayer, you can go to An Outline of the Faith (commonly called the Catechism), click here

The Episcopal Church is both Catholic, and Reformed. As such, we affirm tradition as a living foundation to ground our spiritual life in both gratitude and mystery.

Our Baptismal Covenant therefore begins with one of the oldest statements of an individual belief in God, known as the Apostles’ Creed. The candidate for baptism is asked three questions, and answers from this creed.

Question:       Do you believe in God the Father?

Response:       I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

Question:       Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

Response:       I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.

He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again.

He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

Question:       Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?

Response:       I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

This creed, which probably originated in the 4th or 5th century, is a very basic statement of belief in God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Unlike the much more detailed Nicene Creed, its three basic sections begin with “I” rather than “we.” This is one of the reasons why it is well-suited to begin affirming the relationship each of us as individuals seeks to have with God.

After affirming the mysteries of the Creed, we continue, in the Baptismal Covenant, from beliefs to how our relationship with God calls us to growth, behavior, and action—to living a life of integrity with the principles we receive from God through scripture and ongoing revelation.

Notice that the Creed doesn’t say anything about what we DO based on these beliefs. The next five questions of the Baptismal Covenant addresses what a life of faith entails, and how we live out our beliefs in practice.

The questions now shift from asking about belief to willingness to continue to grow and to live in relationship. The questions shift from “Do you believe?” to “Will you…?”

The verbs used in this section of five questions are very significant:“Will you continue…?”

“Will you persevere…?”

“Will you proclaim…?”

“Will you seek and serve…?”

“Will you strive…?”

It might seem daunting. But not to worry. In all things, we also affirm that we are helped by God in our life of faith. These next five questions and the commitments they represent help us focus on how to build our relationship with God and each other.

Going Deeper:

The Creed addresses the mystery of God as one God, and as Holy Trinity. Each of the three questions addresses one of these three persons:

God the Creator, traditionally called God the Father, who gives life and sustains life to all things. Notice that the statement about God the Father is the shortest of all the statements. This can invite us into a broad understanding that God is greater than our imagining, and yet whose presence is revealed in a myriad of ways.

Jesus, the Son of God, who although born among us as a human person was also the Eternal Son of God and Our Savior. He came to show us how to live a God-directed life as a human person. After his execution at the hands of Imperial Rome, we believe that Jesus was resurrected and returned to existence with God, but still remaining a source and guide for our lives now. Jesus modelled God’s dream for human flourishing through reconciliation, healing, teaching, and challenging us to see God’s presence in our lives in new ways.

The Holy Spirit, who inspires us and continues to reveal God’s truth to us. It is through the Holy Spirit that the Church was born at Pentecost, that the eternal fellowship of the saints of God is sustained, that sins are forgiven, that our human flesh and souls share in God’s eternity.

We believe that these three persons are nonetheless one God. God in Trinity means a God whose very essence is a community bound in mutual love and sharing.

The great mystery of faith expressed in the Creed is meant to expand our imaginations and challenge our assumptions. This mystery reminds us that what we know of God is nonetheless a small part of who God is. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “Now we see through a mirror dimly, then (when we are with God) we shall see face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Question:       Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of

bread, and in the prayers?

Response:       I will, with God’s help.

A common misperception is that once you simply say you believe in God and in Jesus, everything else doesn’t matter. But being a follower or Jesus continues us on a beautiful journey of growth. The good news is, we aren’t expected to go it alone.

This fourth question asks each of us to commit to finding, supporting and getting involved in a community of people who support each other in this journey.  Here you affirm to continue seeking to learn about our faith, to share communion, and to pray together as a regular and dependable part of your life.

This question and the one following, in particular

And for the first of five times, your answer is not just “I will,” but “I will, with God’s help.”

Going Deeper

In the ancient church, people were not baptized until they had completed a three year course of study that culminated in their baptism and invitation to join in Holy Communion. We don’t require such a long instructional period any longer, but we know that the faithful life requires practice, prayer, and study.

Continuing in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship means remembering that Jesus called people into a new family, gathering around him a new community, seeking to unite rather than to divide. It means giving yourself the gift of always learning. It also means learning and praying together and supporting one another throughout our lives—that’s what Christian fellowship is all about.

The “breaking of bread” refers to one of the two most important sacraments we Episcopalians observe: the Holy Eucharist, or Holy Communion. Along with baptism, these two rituals are especially central to being faithful followers of Jesus because Jesus himself established or participated in them.

 Since 1979, the expectation is that, as long as there is a priest or bishop available, the people will gather together each week at their main worship service and share in Holy Communion.  It is a ritual based on remembering how God has acted to save us throughout history, and how Jesus instituted a fellowship meal among his disciples meant to remind us of our actual, full, and real unity with Jesus. All come together, regardless of differences, and share in this sacrament of “communion,” which literally means “union with” God and each other.

The backbone of the Episcopal spiritual life is prayer—prayer throughout the day, and prayer together each week and on holy days, as we are able. That’s why so much of our Anglican spirituality revolves around our Book of Common Prayer. Although not every worship service is included in its pages, all are available to anyone who wishes to read or study them.

If you look at the arrangement of prayers and liturgies in the Book of Common Prayer, you see instruction for brief services of prayer that can be done throughout a single day and led by anyone, ordained or not. You don’t have to do them all, but it IS good to get into some sort of regular prayer habit, and so our Book of Common prayer starts with all of those options.

Question:       Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent

and return to the Lord?

Response:       I will, with God’s help.

Our theology in the Episcopal Church emphasizes that humanity was created in the likeness and image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). However, we humans also have free will to choose how we will act. And sometimes those choices, or our choices not to act, hurt our relationships with God and with each other and all creation.

So right here, in the midst of our commitments in our Baptismal Covenant, we get reminded that for all our resolve, we all also fall short of full commitment to our love of God and love of each other. We are made for relationship—and sometimes we fall short in our relationships. Sin is about damaged relationships. Evil is about refusing to acknowledge relationships at all.

Sin is seeking our own will rather than God’s. God’s will, revealed to us in scripture, in history, and in our prayer life, asks us to open to healthy, loving relationship with God and with all of creation. Sin is when we act in ways that separate ourselves from loving God, loving each other, and loving creation.

Evil is something deeper, and in some ways de-personalized. Evil is, at its most basic, the absence of good. Evil is depraved and disordered, a system where cruelty is the point. And often, evil works by convincing others to go along with courses of action that lead to these things.

That’s why we are asked to stop and take engage in perspective and self-awareness. When we feel the temptation to sin, or worse to give way to or engage in evil, we are called to acknowledge that, to stop and turn around, and make amends for any harm we have caused. That’s what repentance is. “Repent” literally means “turn around.” And for as often as we fall short, we have the option to turn around and return to “walking in the way of God.” With God’s help.

Going Deeper:

Sometimes, we neglect our relationship with God or each other accidentally, when we are tired, or ill. Sometimes, we can even sin against ourselves by not remembering that we are beloved children of God, no matter how imperfect. Perhaps we ourselves have been harmed by others, and made to feel alone and worthless. None of us are perfect. But we are responsible for our actions and their consequences, whether for good or for bad.

It is often said that “Hurt people hurt people.” But if we realize that the injuries we ourselves have suffered are causing us to hurt others, we need to seek help to break the cycle so that we do not perpetuate the pain visited upon us onto those around us.

But other times, our actions are the result of choices—choices to act, and choices not to act.  In other words, we sometimes choose to do what we shouldn’t, and sometimes we don’t act when we should.  Sometimes we stay silent when we see something wrong going on around us. Sometimes we don’t consider the consequences of our actions on others (and in this case others can include creation itself). Actions or inactions we take that harm our relationships with God and others are called sins. Actions that harm our relationships are called “sins of commission.” Failures to act or speak out in the face of harm to others or the world around us are called “sins of omission.”

Nearly all opportunities for worship, or liturgies, in the Episcopal Church include a shared confession, especially before Holy Communion. There are several varieties but a common one is this, which helpfully lists seven broad sources of common sinfulness

Most merciful God,

we confess that we have sinned against you

in thought, word, and deed,

by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart;

we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.

For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,

have mercy on us and forgive us;

that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways,

to the glory of your Name. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p. 360)

Evil is broader, and more devious. Evil acts without conscience. Evil delights in destruction, havoc, warfare, envy, exploitation, cruelty, and hatred. Evil inflames grievance and grudge, and refuses to forgive any slight, no matter how minor. Evil literally disorients us, usually systematically. It seeks to numb us against caring for others, and then moves to actively encouraging us to delight in pain and suffering. Evil convinces us that we are unaccountable for anything but our own benefit, comfort, and pleasure.

The good news is, as long as we are sincere in our desire to no longer damage our relationships with God, each other, and creation, God forgives. And as we know we ourselves have been forgiven numerous times, so we too are called to seek reconciliation and forgive when someone acknowledges that they have hurt us and they actively work to stop that cycle.

Question:       Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?

Response:       I will, with God’s help.

Sharing the Good News of God in Christ is a part of that path of reconciliation and generosity that is at the heart of God’s relationship with us. It begins with the understanding that we are all interconnected by our common source in God’s creative activity in the world, and that we bear mutual obligations to each other to care for each other.

Sharing the Good News of God in Christ means sharing the peace you’ve found in the love, healing, and teaching of Christ with others.

Some wise person once said, “Preach the Gospel often; sometimes use words.” 

Sharing the Good News of Jesus can mean being brave enough, if someone asks you why you may be showing more evidence of kindness, patience, equanimity, perseverance, even in the face of difficulties, that you share as you can in the ways you have experienced the presence of God in transforming your life.

But your loudest testimony is often simply living a life of integrity, or attempted oneness, with Christ’s examples of generosity, healing, compassion, empathy, teaching, and meeting others where they are. It can be through living a life that centers building up good and seeing others as beloved of God.

Episcopalians have often been reserved. We are not prone to flashy displays of piety. But we must also share our testimony of God’s goodness in a world that can seem cruel and vengeful—even among our fellow Christians.

Going Deeper:

 “We do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.”

-- Madeleine L’Engle, celebrated author (and Episcopalian) who wrote the classic A Wrinkle in Time, correctly made this observation in her book Walking on Water.

Likewise, Anne Lamott, a popular writer of humorous novels and spiritual reflections Once famously said, “You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”

Sharing the Good News of Jesus starts from a place of positivity. It does not have to mean knocking on strangers’ doorbells, or standing shouting on streetcorners with a Bible in our hands or cornering people so that they can’t escape and telling them all the ways they are wrong, or sinful, or less-than. It doesn’t mean scaring people with images of a fiery eternity of torment. It also means, in the Episcopal Church, taking the Bible far too seriously and reverently than to take it literally or use it as a bludgeon to denigrate others.

Sometimes, sharing the Good News means reminding us all that the same God who has had mercy on us means also reminding us that God calls on us to likewise ground our actions in mercy; this reminder is especially important to those who hold power over others, as Episcopal Bishop of Washington Mariann Edgar Budde witnessed on January 21 of 2025 in a sermon at the Washington National Cathedral.

Question:       Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

Response:      I will, with God’s help.

It can be easy to think you see Christ in the person sitting in a pew next to you. It can be easy to see the face of Christ in a person serving in worship, or standing at a food pantry distributing food or a warm meal.

But we are also challenged to see the face of Christ in the clients at the food pantry or at the soup kitchen. We are called to see the face of Christ in the refugee, in those fleeing death, chaos, and persecution in their homelands, in children orphaned or facing starvation due to war.

We are called to see the face of Christ in those the world considers outcast, in the exploited, the oppressed, in those who labor under the burdens of racism, sexism.

We are called to see the face of Christ in those of different faiths from us, and those with no faith at all. We are even called to love and pray for our enemies or those who hate us. These people are also our neighbors. We don’t have to be perfect, but we should never let the inability to be perfect get in the way of the chance to be good—with God’s help.

Going Deeper:

All persons means all persons. “Neighbors” is not shorthand for “people just like us,” as Jesus himself emphasized repeatedly. In fact Jesus frequently got criticized for hanging out with people others looked down on. In our Baptismal Covenant, we Episcopalians are called to commit to embodying the love of God that Jesus literally embodied in human form, however imperfectly.

Now there is a note that needs to be made here. There are some people who are coming from such a place of pain that they inflict pain on those around them. We are not called to be abused emotionally, physically, or spiritually when people are awash in their own pain. We can still love them—but we can love them from all the way across the room, or even from another building altogether.

A wise rabbi once remarked in a seminary class, “Love of neighbor begins with love of yourself. You love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. If you do not compassionately love yourself, you cannot love anyone else, not even God.”

Question:       Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the

dignity of every human being?

Response:       I will, with God’s help.

True justice as a religious and spiritual ideal in Judeo-Christian scripture is grounded in ensuring that all people benefit from the same rights and privileges as others.

Peace, likewise, is a state of being where security and well-being reigns over all when all are fed, cared for, and able to be at ease, as the Prophet Isaiah described numerous times, including Isaiah 65:17-66:2. Real peace is intertwined with true justice for all people. It is therefore inseparable from true respect for the dignity and worth of every human—as our Baptismal Covenant has been leading us to this conclusion in our promises about how we treat our neighbors and even our enemies.

This means, that in most of the Episcopal Church, we acknowledge where we ourselves have failed historically to maintain this standard, as we seek to acknowledge injustices against African Americans, Native Americans, and other persons of color. It also means as individuals that we are called to thank God for the gift of diversity that makes all life possible. It means that we not only tolerate but welcome and affirm the dignity and worth of all people regardless of race, creed, sexual or gender orientation, national origin, ability or disability, language, culture, wealth, or status.

In our Baptismal Covenant with God, we disavow dehumanizing, stigmatizing, or scapegoating others, and instead affirm everyone’s full equality and belovedness before God and before the Church.

As our former Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry famously and repeatedly insisted, “If it’s not about love, it’s not about God.” This is the basis of our faith in God as revealed in Jesus. And we uphold it with God’s help, in faithfulness.

Going Deeper:

One of the phrases you may hear especially in the Episcopal Church is “the communion of saints.” Most saints are not and were not perfect people— St. Peter was really impulsive; St. Paul had a tendency to humble brag; St. Nicholas once punched someone he thought was a heretic.

But saints are people who love God and in some way make Jesus visible and who inspire us to ty to embody what President Abraham Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature.”

That’s why in the Episcopal calendar of saints, there are people included who have not been officially designated as saints in the way that requires miracles performed by their intercession. We celebrate people as saints including those who embodied the prophetic voice of speaking truth to power, which is usually not a way to become popular or the life and soul of the party.

One of saints added to the Episcopal Church’s calendar of saints is the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was a famous advocate for the full citizenship and freedom of all persons, regardless of race, ethnicity, or creed. His use of nonviolent protest was nonetheless often considered to be against the law, and he was arrested multiple times. King was especially gifted at clarifying, as when criticized by so-called “moderate” religious leaders in Alabama, what words like “peace” and justice” really mean.

Too often today, “justice” is taken to be a synonym for “punishment,” as in the phrase “bringing someone to justice,” or the concept of “vigilante justice.” Likewise, “peace” is too often used to describe when people have been cowed into not speaking up for what is right, or for denying not just the right but the obligation to protest when we see injustice, inequality, or other forms of oppression.

In a sermon entitled “When Peace Becomes Obnoxious,” Dr. King described peace that is obnoxious, or hypocritical and empty of meaning, because it prizes order and control over ensuring equality and liberty for all. Instead, Dr. King insisted, true peace is grounded in doing God’s will. True peace is grounded in positive good—as justice is, as well.

Justice is grounded in mercy, compassion, and respect.  Even when presented with wrong-doing, justice that rehabilitates is grounded in mercy and reconciliation wherever possible, rather than simply retribution. God’s justice also particularly is a state of society that uplifts the poor, frees the oppressed, and protects the marginalized, as Jesus’ mother Mary sang out in her song of triumph known as the Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55, and as Jesus described in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12.

Scott Gunn and Melody Wilson Shobe, Walk in Love: Episcopal Beliefs and Practices, 2018

Michael B. Curry, Love Is The Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times, 2020

_____________, Following the Way of Jesus: A Clarion Call to Join the Jesus Movement, 2019

_____________, The Power of Love: Sermons, Reflections, and Wisdom to Uplift and Inspire, 2018

_____________, Crazy Christians: A Call to Follow Jesus, 2013

_____________ and Megan Castellan, et. al., Following the Way of Jesus: Church’s Teachings for a Changing World, vol. 6, 2017

Megan Castellan, Welcome to a Life of Faith in the Episcopal Church, 2019

Jordan Haynie Ware, The Ultimate Quest: A Geek’s Guide to (the Episcopal) Church, 2017

Stephanie Spellers and Eric H. F. Law, The Episcopal Way: Church’s Teachings for a Changing World, vol. 1, 2014

C. Andrew Doyle, Unabashedly Episcopalian: Proclaiming the Good News of the Episcopal Church, 2012

Chris Yaw, Jesus Was an Episcopalian (And You Can Be One Too!):  A Newcomer’s Guide to the Episcopal Church, 2008

Christopher L. Webber, Welcome to Sunday: An Introduction to Worship in the Episcopal Church, 2002

Rachel Held Evans, Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church, 2015

The Episcopal Church website