We believe, that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are God’s inspired Word. They reveal to us the truth of God and the truth of who we are. All things necessary to salvation are contained within them, which is why we believe the Bible is our supreme authority. At St. Stephen’s we teach and preach the Bible because, as St. Jerome said, “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.”
Beliefs
An Ancient Faith for Today
St. Stephen’s is committed to “Reformed Catholicism.” As an expression of Anglican spirituality, we are both catholic and reformed. The word “catholic” refers to what the whole church has always believed, or simply put, mere Christianity. We are committed to the Holy Scriptures as the supreme authority for doctrine and practice within the Church. And we receive and interpret the Scriptures in accordance with the consensus of the early church fathers and the Ecumenical Creeds (Apostle’s, Nicene, and Athanasian).
The word “reformed” means that we affirm the truth of the Gospel which was reasserted and clarified during the English Reformation. That is, we believe a person is saved by the justifying work of Jesus Christ alone through faith alone. We also believe there are two sacraments of the Lord which are generally necessary for salvation: baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
We confess the truth that God is a Holy Trinity. He is both one God and three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The truth of the Triune God was revealed to mankind in Jesus Christ who is fully God and fully man. Everything we do and believe comes from these foundational truths.
The Bible and our personal experience shows us that we are sinners. God made us perfect and righteous but we fell away from our original righteousness and innocence. The result has been catastrophic to ourselves, our relationships, and our world. It has caused the disintegration of all that is good and true and beautiful. But God was unwilling to allow His creation fall into utter ruin. In order to put the world to rights the Father sent His Son to die on the cross and rise again to save man. This is the Gospel, the “good news,” of Jesus Christ.
God wants his people to worship him together, corporately, and it is through this community of worship that Jesus calls us. As we declare the mighty acts of God together, we are drawn into the reality of heavenly worship where Angels and Archangels continually cry Holy, Holy, Holy. Worship changes us. As we worship, God slowly removes our sinful passions and restores us to His likeness. As we hear from God’s word in Christ and partake of His Holy Sacrament, we are given renewed strength to be imitators of Christ. Being transformed, we reflect His goodness to the world around us. This is why worship is the central and defining characteristic of St. Stephen’s.
Our worship is ordered by the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer (1928). Over 80% of the Book of Common Prayer is Holy Scripture. The liturgy directs us to pray God’s words back to Him. By prayer and faith we are daily brought into communion with the Triune God. First published in the 16th century, the Book of Common Prayer sets forward the Faith and the practice of the Church throughout the ages and it continues to bind Anglicans together in common worship.
The heavens declare the glory of God. God made this world. He works in and through it. With the incarnation of His Son, he began to restore it. Through Jesus’ bodily life, death, and resurrection, He offered salvation to mankind. Sacraments are the physical means by which Christ continues to restore us and shape us into his likeness. In them the grace of God obtained by the death and resurrection of Jesus is given to us. Though our faith is essential, the Sacraments are not the works we perform for God, rather they are gifts we receive from Him.