HOLY TRINITY
There is but one eternal God, Creator of all that is, the true “All-Father”, yet Himself uncreated. Like three sides of one majestic mountain, He is in essence one but in persons three: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, in unity one Godhead which we call the Trinity.
JESUS THE CHRIST
Jesus of Nazareth, both humble son of a tradesman and eternal Son of the Father, took on man’s nature through the virgin birth, yet lived a sinless life of perfect obedience as the Christ (“Anointed One” or Messiah). Despite this, he was crucified, died, and was raised again on the third day. He ascended to the “right hand” of the Father where he reigns over heaven and earth, and will return again to judge all men at the Last Day.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The third Person of the Trinity proceeds from the Father and the Son, and is active today in guiding the Church, drawing in believers and empowering them to be “living sacrifices” for Christ.
SIN
A foreign word in our modern culture, sin is thought and deed contrary to God’s will. Both through the original sin of our first parents and our own choices, humanity is by nature in a “fallen” state, inherently inclined away from the Father and towards our own misordered desires. St. Paul writes that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And as a further consequence of mankind’s fall, all of “creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth—until now” (Romans 8:20).
SALVATION & REDEMPTION
“Apart from [His] grace, there is no health in us” (BCP), but through the works of Christ and his atoning self-sacrifice on the cross, our relationship to the Father is restored. Justification is through “faith alone” but not a faith that is alone. “Faith by itself, if it does not have works [fruit], is dead” (James 2:17).
RESURRECTION AND THE LAST DAY
Known variously as the Last Day, the Day of the Lord, “Domesday”, and Judgment Day, all mankind will be physically raised at the end of the age—some to everlasting life under a new heaven and new earth, and some to everlasting judgment.
HOLY SCRIPTURE
We believe the Bible, Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired Word of God, authoritative for our lives today and containing all things necessary for salvation.
PRAYER
Prayer is a vital means of offering praise, thanksgiving, confession, and intercession with our Father. Through prayer (both structured and extemporaneous), we grow closer to God, discern His will, and receive the grace and strength needed for daily life and service.
HOLY COMMUNION
Also known as the Eucharist (“Thanksgiving”) or Lord’s Supper, through this holy mystery and means of grace we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, “feeding on him in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving.” (BCP)
BAPTISM
Through this outward “sign and seal” of an invisible grace, God promises to induct us into his kingdom by the washing of the water, much like how God led the ancient Israelites out of Egypt through the Red Sea (symbolizing bondage to sin in our fallen natures). Not primarily a private act of our doing but a public one of God’s, Anglicans join with Catholics, Orthodox, and most major Protestant traditions in including children in this rite, as attested in the NT by households being baptized as a family unit. “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14).
CCA in Branford 