What Is an Anglican Church?
Anglican Christianity is a Protestant tradition with deep roots in the historic Church. It holds together the authority of Scripture, the ancient Christian creeds, liturgical worship, common prayer, and the sacraments instituted by Jesus.
At St. Andrew's, being Anglican is not primarily about preserving a style or recreating the past. It is a way of following Jesus through Scripture, prayer, worship, Holy Communion, and life together.
Anglicans receive the Old and New Testaments as God's written Word and the authoritative standard for Christian belief and life. Scripture is read aloud, prayed in the liturgy, proclaimed in the sermon, sung in worship, and received at the Lord's Table.
Scripture
Historic Faith
Anglicans confess the faith summarized in the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed. These ancient statements unite Christians across centuries and cultures around the central truths of the gospel.
Liturgy is the ordered worship shared by the people of God. Our service follows the 2019 Book of Common Prayer and gives the congregation a common pattern of Scripture, prayer, confession, assurance, praise, and Communion. The congregation speaks, sings, listens, prays, stands, sits, and sometimes kneels together.
Liturgy
Word and Sacrament
We gather around both the Word and the Table. We hear God's Word read and preached, and we receive the bread and cup of Holy Communion every Sunday.
Wider Church
St. Andrew's is part of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic within the Anglican Church in North America. We are connected to other Anglican churches and receive pastoral oversight through our bishop and diocese.