We believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

We believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life.

We believe the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God, containing all things necessary for salvation, and are the final authority and unchangeable standard for Christian faith and life.

We believe Baptism and the Supper of the Lord are Sacraments ordained by Christ Himself in the Gospel.

Water Baptism, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is a holy covenant by which people become members of Christ’s body.

Holy Communion or Eucharist is celebrated every Lord’s Day, Sunday, being the feast of the Resurrection. Any baptized Christian, being at peace with God and their neighbors may receive the body and blood of our Lord.

We believe we are all called, as Lay people, Priests and Deacons, to offer the very best of ourselves to God, so we may be effective ministers of the Gospel.

We believe our Lord’s teaching that the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony is in its nature a union permanent and lifelong of one man and one woman, and the failure of a marriage is always a tragedy requiring compassion and transformation.

We believe the teaching of Scripture that human sexuality is fulfilled in marriage; that God, and not man, is the creator of human life. The unjustified taking of life is sinful, so we are called to promote and respect the sanctity of every human life from conception to natural death.

We believe we must show Christ-like compassion to all who have fallen into sin, encouraging them to repent and receive forgiveness, and offering the ministry of healing to all who suffer physically or emotionally as a result of such sin.

We believe we are called to communion in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church through the Anglican Church of North America, subscribe to its constitution and canons, and embrace its vision: Reaching North America with the transforming love of Jesus Christ. 

Emmaus Church is a member congregation of the Anglican Church of North America. Due to its success, our diocese was divided into several new ones, and closed...leaving us in a time of discerning which diocese will be our new home.  

The Anglican Communion is a world-wide fellowship whose faith, rooted in Scripture, can be summarized in the ancient Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds. Anglicans have never claimed to be the only true Church. To be an Anglican is not to embrace a distinct version of Christianity, but a distinct way of being a Mere Christian.

Our beliefs can also be summed up in either of two creeds which are recited by the congregation in worship: The Nicene Creed and The Apostles’ Creed. We believe the catholic church is Christ living and visible in the world. We know our congregation, diocese, and communion are not the sum and total of Christ. In fact, belonging to any church is an exercise in patience, forbearance, and love. But in baptism, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and in the Holy Spirit, we are part of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. So at every baptism, all the people are asked again to renew their own baptismal covenant. Our aim, then, as individuals and as a congregation is to become, by God’s grace, more deeply and truly one with Christ! (Note that the word catholic in these creeds refers not to the Roman Catholic Church, but to the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ.)

The Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed is the most universally accepted profession of the Christian Faith. It is affirmed by most of the Protestant denominations, as well as by the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. It was adopted (in a slightly different version) by the Church Council at Nicaea in AD 325 and further revised to its present form by the Council at Chalcedon in AD 451. It has remained in use since that time and expresses the we, with God’s help, practice here at Emmaus.

The Anglican Way of Being a Christian

“The Anglican Communion,” Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher wrote, “has no peculiar thought, practice, creed or confession of its own. It has only the Catholic Faith of the ancient Catholic Church, as preserved in the Catholic Creeds and maintained in the Catholic and Apostolic constitution of Christ’s Church from the beginning. It may licitly teach as necessary for salvation nothing but what is read in the Holy Scriptures as God’s Word written or may be proved thereby. It therefore embraces and affirms such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the Scriptures, and thus to be counted apostolic. The Church has no authority to innovate: it is obliged continually, and particularly in times of renewal or reformation, to return to the faith once delivered to the saints.”

For more information on the Beliefs, history, and Constitutions and Canons of the Anglican Church of North America, goto Anglican Church