the basics

Here is a brief account of Christian belief and practice, drawn from Scripture. For a more detailed account of the Anglican tradition we profess at All Souls, look at this page, which contains the Catechism.

what Jesus has done

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45)

And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. (Hebrews 10:11-12)

what must we do to be saved?

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-13)

And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:29-31)

life as a disciple

  • “What does the Lord require of you?”
  • See Jesus’s detailed teachings in the Sermon on the Mount
  • Be truthful, be kind, forgive one another
  • Rejoice in the Lord and enjoy the peace of God
  • “There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit”
  • “The greatest of these is love
  • “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us”

what the church does: equip the saints

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:11-16)