The Episcopal Church and the Love of God

The Episcopal Church in the United States of America is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which has approximately seventy million members.  We claim to be both catholic — that is, true to the historic and apostolic faith; and protestant — that is, truly reformed and insisting that God is still active and speaking the new word in our world.  Our profession of faith is in baptism, and our central act of worship is the Holy Eucharist, also known as Holy Communion.  Since we belong to the historic and apostolic faith, we embrace the historical sacraments of the church (baptism, Eucharist, confirmation, ordination, matrimony, reconciliation, and unction).  Because we are a global church, we cannot be parochial or isolationist.  Our unity of worship allows for variations that remind us of the universal nature of the church.  Thus, we celebrate our diversity, and tolerance is viewed not as an excuse or a sign of weakness but as our strength.

(Thanks to Trinity Cathedral Cleveland, who has graciously allowed us to use this description.)