About us
If you are new to the Episcopal Church,
the Eucharist (Communion) is the central focus of our
worship at Holy Innocents. We strive to be a church home
for people of diverse opinions, different ideas and a
variety of viewpoints. The unity we experience with
Christ and with one another when gathered around the Lord's
Table helps us live in a world so full of disunity,
confusion, and frequent bitterness.
If you are interested in becoming a member of Holy
Innocents, please speak with any of the clergy. Please do
not hesitate to contact the priest-in-charge or deacon if
you have special needs such as baptism, confirmation, or
marriage, or if you wish to consult a priest.
About The Holy Innocents
Holy Innocents are the
children slain by King Herod. Matthew 2, recounts that
Herod, angered because he had been deluded by the wise men,
ordered the massacre of all male children of two years or
under in Bethlehem.
As a collective Patron Saint, the Holy Innocents provide
protection against the injustices inflicted on children.
About the Episcopal Church
The name "Episcopal"
comes from the Greek word "episkopos," which means "bishop"
or "overseer." The leaders of our church are called
"bishops," and we are called "Episcopalians."
What do we believe?
Episcopalians maintain three
sources as critical to understanding God and the world:
- The Bible
We believe that God and God's people speak to us through
the Bible and that it contains the wisdom needed for a
good life. And most important of all, the Bible proclaims
to us the Good News of Jesus Christ. Scripture is sacred
and authoritative, but not infallible. We balance what we
learn from scripture with traditions and reason.
- Our Traditions
This includes the prayer and theological reflection by a
multiplicity of voices throughout Church history. We
believe that God has continued speaking through the
generations and the traditions that have been established
through the life of the Church have authority in our
lives.
- Reason
While reason is commonly understood today to be an aloof,
non-emotional consideration of clear ‘facts,’ since the
time of 16th Century theologian Richard Hooker, Anglicans
have used the term in a more holistic way, entailing both
the operations of the mind and the heart. Anglican reason
must include a combination of logic, and the subjective,
basic sense of ‘rightness’ which each of us posses.
Reason, which includes our own personal experience of God
and God’s work in the world, is the third-leg of what is
known as the Anglican Three-Legged Stool, a metaphor that
is used to describe how Anglicans take into consideration
of Scripture, Tradition, and Reason, each one informing
the other two, to discern truth, make decisions, and find
authority.