OUR FAITH
We believe . . .
Christian faith is a lifelong journey of learning to trust in God and become increasingly like Christ. Our faith is our stumbling-but-developing trust as we travel this road with God and one another.
The heart of our life of faith is the person of Jesus. The Christian church believes that God has come to humanity as one of us, Jesus of Nazareth. Astonishing as it sounds, we believe that Jesus is God-made-human and is thus the definitive revelation of our Creator. In him, we see the invisible God.
Through Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and ascension, God was working to bring reconciliation and healing to our fractured and broken world. The Christian life is an invitation to learn to live in the reality of that healing.
THE APOSTLES' CREED
The Faith of the Church
From the earliest days of the church, Christians developed short, simple summaries of the faith. These short statements captured core elements of the biblical story and became known as creeds (from the Latin word credo, meaning ‘I believe and trust’). One version became accepted as the Apostles’ Creed, because it was thought to include the essential teaching of the twelve apostles, Jesus’ earliest followers. It was into that faith of the apostles that Christians were, and are, baptized. The Apostles’ Creed is therefore a summary of what the church teaches, and of what Christians together believe, rather than a detailed statement of individual and personal belief. Saying the Creed binds Christians together as a believing community, across different traditions and practices. As we say the Creed, we join Christians past and present, and from all over the world, in proclaiming our common faith.
The Apostles' Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
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,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
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.
Amen.