St. John's Episcopal Church 200 N. Main St. Mt. Prospect, IL 60056 Telephone 1 847 392 1700 * Fax 1 847 392 0496 The Reverend Scott Barron, Rector

What Do We Believe?

Q: What do Episcopalians believe?

A: This is very difficult to summarize in just a few paragraphs, but here goes. First, we Episcopalians believe in God the Holy Trinity, as stated in the two historic creeds (a creed is a summary statement of faith). We accept these creeds as sufficient statements of the Christian faith as it has been received by this Church. The Apostles’ Creed is traditionally associated with Baptism, while the Nicene Creed is used at the Eucharist. Both creeds describe God as Trinity, or “Three in One” – Father (Creator), Son (Redeemer), and Holy Spirit (Sanctifier).

We believe that the Bible is God’s Word, particularly in the sense that God still speaks to us through scripture today. It is in scripture that we read the story of salvation, that is, the story of God’s determination to save his chosen people from sin and death. The promise of salvation was given first to Abraham and his family; affirmed in the Exodus of the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt; and fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s only and incarnate Son (incarnate means made flesh).

The first four books of the New Testament (or Christian scriptures) are called gospels (gospel means good news). These books – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – are where we find the story of Jesus. Matthew and Luke record Jesus’ birth at Bethlehem. Mark and John begin his story with the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan. All four gospels tell of his mighty works of preaching, teaching and healing, and especially of his last week in Jerusalem. It is Jesus’ final week in the Holy City that is the core of the gospel message. Here we learn of Jesus’ last supper with his friends, his institution of the Holy Eucharist (or Holy Communion), his arrest and trial, his execution on a cross, his burial, and finally his resurrection on the first Easter Day. Jesus is both our personal Savior and Savior of the whole world.

We Episcopalians believe that the Christian Church is (to use the Apostle Paul’s wonderful image) the Body of Christ, with Jesus as head and all of us as “members”, i.e., arms, legs, etc. This Body of Christ embraces not only us, but also Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Orthodox, and Christians of every description throughout the world. The Church is traditionally described as One (unified), Holy (sacred, or set apart), Catholic (universal), and Apostolic (an apostle is one who is sent; apostolic means sent to proclaim the good news). As members of the Body, we are called to be Jesus’ companions and co-workers. Like him we are called not to be served, but to serve. This “servant ministry” is a core element of Christian living.

For more on what we believe, see the Catechism, also called An Outline of the Faith, in The Book of Common Prayer, pp. 845-62.
We are a small Church…

The Episcopal Church has long been a study in contrasts. For example, on a Sunday morning during the early years of the 20th century, wealthy Detroit Episcopalians would glide up to the church door in their chauffeur-driven limousines, there to be greeted by ushers in formal dress and white gloves. On that same Sunday morning, up north in the lumber camps, Episcopal missionaries – many of them women, and tough as nails! – would be leading prayer services for the lumberjacks, some of whom had been out much too late the night before.

Such contrasts persist even today. For some, the Episcopal Church is a magnificent gothic church in New York City, where a choir of men and boys sings music you would expect to hear in an English cathedral. For others, it’s a Sunday morning service in a church on the Navaho Reservations of Arizona, New Mexico or Utah. For others, it’s a Sunday afternoon service in a university chapel, with music provided by a jazz quartet. It’s impossible to generalize about Episcopalians. We live in large urban areas, suburbs and small towns; we come from all ethnic groups; some have PhDs, while others never graduated from high school; some of us are quite wealthy, while others struggle from day to day; some of us are theologically conservative, while others are theologically liberal, and many are right in the middle. We are a real cross-section of America.

The Episcopal Church USA is a relatively small denomination of about 2.5 million souls. Compared to the Catholic and Baptist churches, we’re small. But over the years we’ve made our mark:

Remember Paul Revere’s midnight ride? It was from the tower of Boston’s Old North (Episcopal) Church that the lanterns signaled “One if by land, two if by sea”.

Remember the Declaration of Independence? Fifteen signers were parishioners at Christ (Episcopal) Church in Philadelphia.

Remember George Washington? When the U.S. government made its capital at New York City, the
President worshiped at St. Paul’s (Episcopal) Church, where the large chair he used remains on display today.

?Remember 9/11? St. Paul’s – the same church where our first President worshiped – was located directly across the street from the World Trade Center. It escaped destruction to become the primary delivery point for ministry with workers at Ground Zero.

Remember the State Funerals for Presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.? Reagan and Ford are among the dozen Presidents whose funerals have been celebrated at the Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, which is an Episcopal house of prayer for the entire nation.

In many ways, St. John ’s is the Episcopal Church in miniature. That’s one of the reasons we think our parish has a lot to offer!
And we’re lots of fun, too!

First-time visitors may think that we Episcopalians are very subdued when we gather for worship. Compared with members of some evangelical or charismatic churches, we are! Perhaps that explains why there are so few “Episcopal jokes” in circulation!

However, much as we try to keep it a secret, we Episcopalians are actually a rather lively, fun-loving group. For us, faith is a grand adventure in knowing and loving God. For us, life in the Church should provide not only deep spiritual enrichment and a challenge to live faithfully, but also genuine joy. Sometimes it even gives us a few good laughs.