What We Believe


		What We Believe	a statement on the Episcopal Church
		Welcome to St. Bartholomew's Church, affectionately known as St. B's. St. Bartholomew's is a member of the Anglican Communion of Churches numbering 70 million people in 38 provinces worldwide. We are followers of Jesus Christ, and as Anglicans trace our origins back to Christ and His apostles. As Anglican Christians, we look to the Scripture first as the authority over the church, tradition (the practices and writings of the historical church) and reason, for allowing continued development of doctrine. We regard the Bible, the three Creeds (Nicene Creed, Apostles' Creed and Athanasian Creed), the Thirty-Nine Articles and the Book of Common Prayer (based on Scripture) as the principal statements of the Anglican doctrine. St. Bartholomew's Church is a member of the American Anglican Council and the Anglican Communion Network. Our vision is: To imitate Jesus Christ and develop maturity in Him in knowledge, character and lifestyle, in devotion to God, in relationships and in ministry and mission. Our mission is: We are a family of believers on a journey to the fulfillment of our God-given purpose which is – To bring people to know Jesus Christ, To provide clear and life-changing discipleship training, and To help people discern their life's purpose and provide opportunities for them to fulfill that purpose in ministry and mission. The fruit of our endeavor is that God be glorified in all the world. What we believe: The Nicene Creed We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

		A statement on current issues in the Episcopal Church From time to time in the history of the Church, there have been divisions over both large and small issues. Some of these have been theological in nature, some political and some moral. All have risked separating the Body of Christ beyond repair and indeed the contemporary church stands divided precisely because of some of these very issues. On the other hand, a few of these apparently irresolvable issues have resulted in the development of some of Christendom’s most significant creedal statements. Our historic documents, including the creeds, were written to combat heresy and theological controversy. St Bartholomew’s stands squarely behind these very same historic declarations of faith. We add to these, the Montreal Declaration of Anglican Essentials, written to speak intentionally to increasing revisionist tendencies in the church. Our parish is a committed Episcopal parish living its life in the historic Anglican tradition. As it is written elsewhere on this Web site, we are people of the Book (bible) and living under the anointing power of God the Holy Spirit. We are also committed to live within the worldwide Anglican Communion and we pray that our voice will remain faithful to an historic understanding of Scripture. Practically speaking, this means that we are opposed to the ordination of any person living contrary to the expectations of all leadership models found in the Bible. We are committed to an historic biblical understanding of marriage and we believe that Christians are called to be faithful to their marriage vows. For those outside the covenant of marriage we understand that the call of God is to celibacy. We believe that membership in the Body of Christ is available to everyone who calls on the name of Jesus for salvation but that there are specific expectation on leadership within the Body.