beliefs

Over 140 years of faithful WITNESS in San Antonio

An ancient faith for a changing world.

What We Believe

We don't have a written confession, beyond the historic faith of the universal Church. Instead, we're united by shared worship, the creeds, and the principle that prayer shapes belief. Here are the core convictions that guide us.

  • The Triune God

    We believe in one God eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This God created everything in the universe, and created it all good.

  • Jesus Christ

    We believe that the second Person—the Son or Word—became the Jewish human being Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus, who is fully God and fully human, lived among us, taught us, and died on the cross for us all so our sins could be forgiven. He did ll these things so we can return to right relationship with God, grow into who we were created to be, and ultimately be raised from the dead like him.

  • The Holy Spirit

    The Holy Spirit is God's continual presence, empowering and renewing the Church, providing special guidance and protection to Christians, and empowering us to become more and more like Jesus. Any ability we have to respond to God or work alongside God comes from the Holy Spirit working within us.

  • Scripture

    Holy Scripture, or the Bible, is composed of the Old and New Testaments and contains all the things we need to get to know God, return to right relationship with God, and grow into who God wants us to be. Scripture contains all things necessary for salvation and is read through tradition and reason.

  • The Sacraments

    In the sacraments, God meets us with grace through outward and visible signs. The Episcopal Church affirms the two great sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Eucharist and at least five sacramental rites, namely confirmation, ordination, holy matrimony, reconciliation of a penitent, and unction.

  • The Church

    The Church is the Body of Christ, gathered for worship, formation, and mission. The Church is not an optional part of Christian life, but is instead the Body of Christ, the community called and set apart by God to proclaim the Good News and live how God created us to live. While God can and does act anywhere God chooses, the Church, through the sacraments and the proclamation of the Word, offers us a place where we can be assured that we can meet Christ.

  • Salvation by Grace through Faith

    God has given us ways to receive forgiveness and become more like Jesus such as being baptized, receiving communion regularly, being a part of a Christian community (church), and praying and reading the Bible. Having our sins forgiven, coming back to right relationship with God, growing into who God created us to be, and being freed from death are completely the result of God's love freely given (grace) and we do not earn these things through our own power.

  • The Baptismal Covenant

    The Baptismal Covenant is not a set of conditions to be met before we can receive God's grace, but rather expresses the life we are called to live in response to God's grace. This provides the outline of what the Christian life is supposed to be as understood by the Episcopal Church. It includes prayer, worship, fellowship, repentance and confession, sharing the Gospel, serving our neighbors, and working for justice in the world.

  • Resurrection & Eternal Life

    We believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. The Christian hope is not simply for our souls to go to heaven, but for the entirety of our being to be restored to life and wholeness just as happened to Jesus when we has raised from the dead. Our hope is to live out our resurrection lives in the Kingdom of God or New Creation, that time and place where God has completely overcome evil and death and live and act according to God's good will.

The Son of God did not come to make good people better but to give life to the dead.

Fleming Rutledge

Honest questions welcome

We understand that not everyone who comes here is ready to accept all these claims—and that's OK. Church is not a place for people who already have everything together or figured out. We want to walk with you as you explore these ideas. We are more interested in helping you get to know God's love through Jesus Christ than getting you to accept a checklist of ideas.

Our faith stands on Holy Scripture, the traditions of the Church, and the reason and experience of the Church's members. The Church holds and teaches the faith that we have received from the earliest centuries. Practically, this means the faith outlined in the Apostles' and Nicene creeds.

But we also know that life with God is a journey, and we all have our questions and our seasons of doubt. Confident that the faith of the Church as a whole can never be shaken, we respect individual conscience and make generous space for people's doubts and questions. No one is unwelcome because they are unsure what they believe, nor will you be pressured to assent to anything you cannot honestly affirm.

This is what God's kingdom is like: a bunch of outcasts and oddballs gathered at a table … because they said yes. And there's always room for more.

Rachel Held Evans