Who are we ?

What we believe:

Together with Christians everywhere, we believe in the Holy Trinity - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit: three Persons in One Godhead. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Incarnate Son of God, conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. We believe that He was Crucified for our sake, that He died and was buried. We believe that He rose again on the third day, that He Ascended into Heaven and that through Him the Holy Spirit was made available to believers. We believe that we are made right with God by His Atoning sacrifice and that salvation is through the Grace of God, by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.

We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God. We accept the three historic creeds of Christendom - the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed - as summaries of Christian doctrine. 

As a church in the Anglican tradition, we hold to the expressions of faith found in the Book of Common Prayer and the 39 Articles of religion.

We are Evangelical:

What does "Evangelical" mean? It comes from the New Testament Greek word euangelion - Gospel, or (literally) Good News. So, to be Evangelical is to be of the Gospel, to proclaim the Gospel in word and deed, to live according to  the Gospel, and to worship according to the Gospel. The FCE worships according to the liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer, which, being compiled by the English Reformers, is Gospel-based and teaches nothing that is not warranted by Scripture. The Book of Common Prayer order for Holy Communion has been called the only attempt to embody in Liturgical form the great Reformation doctrines of grace and of Justification by faith in Jesus Christ.

We are Liturgical:

A liturgy is a set form of service. This kind of worship goes right back to Old Testament  times; it is very ancient and honourable. The Psalms of David, for example, are a form of liturgical worship that were used in the Jerusalem Temple. Jesus gave His disciples a simple form of liturgy when He taught them the Lord's Prayer, and again when He instituted the Lord's Supper on the night He was betrayed.

Liturgical worship guarantees that all things are done 'decently and in order', as the Apostle Paul indicated they should be. It also guarantees that worship is not monopolized by the Minister, but that all Christians have their part to play in the offering of praise and thanksgiving to God.

We are Episcipal:

An Episcopal Church is one wherein oversight (Greek: episcope) is exercised by Bishops. A clergyman is  elected from among the Presbyters (the old Saxon word preost - 'priest' - means Presbyter, or Elder) of the Church and consecrated to the office of Bishop. In an Episcopal Church the functions of oversight, and of administering Confirmation and Ordination are vested in the Bishop alone. Currently the FCE has two Diocesan Bishops (Northern and Southern) and two Assistant Bishops. At Convocation each year, one Bishop is elected to serve as Primus. Often the same Bishop is elected Primus for several years in succession.