Our belief is rooted in the historic creeds of the Church, especially the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds. This means that we affirm the reality of one God who exists as three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe this God created everything in the universe and that the second Person, the Son or Word, became the first century, Jewish human being Jesus of Nazareth. The Son became human (became incarnate), lived among us, taught us, and died on the cross for us all so our sins could be forgiven, and so we could return to right relationship with God, grow into the people God created us to be, and ultimately be raised from the dead just like Jesus was. We believe that Scripture, meaning the Old and New Testaments, contains all the things we need to get to know God so we can accept God’s forgivenesses, return to right relationship with God, and grow into who God wants us to be. We believe that God has also given us ways to know we are forgiven and become more like Jesus Christ such as being baptized, receiving communion regularly, being a part of a Christian community (church), and praying and reading the Bible with others and on our own. We believe that being forgiven of our sins, returning to right relationship with God, growing into who God created us to be, and finally being freed from death are all completely the result of God’s love freely given (grace) and that we do not of ourselves have any way of earning these things. Furthermore, any ability we have to respond to God or cooperate with God is the result of the Holy Spirit (who is God) working within us. While this is what we teach and believe, we understand that not everyone who comes here is ready to accept all these claims—and that’s OK with us. Church is not a place for people who already have everything together or figured out. We want to walk with you as you explore these ideas and are more interested in helping you get to know God’s love through Jesus Christ than with getting you to believe a checklist of ideas. 

Our congregation (or parish) is fully LGBTQ+ affirming. While some members of our congregation may hold different views, we as a community hold that being LGBTQ+ is fully compatible with being a Christian and is not sinful. LGBTQ+ people are welcome to participate fully in our communal life and may take on leadership positions, be married, and receive all the means of grace available to all other members of the community.