WHAT WE BELIEVE

What is known as the Christian Church throughout the whole world was established by Jesus Himself.  Speaking to Peter, one of His disciples, Jesus said:  "...on this rock I will build My Church..." (See Matthew 16:18 NKJV)  What this means is that Jesus is the Founder and Cornerstone of His Church.  The Church exists because of Jesus.  Therefore, we gather together to worship and glorify Jesus, His and our heavenly Father (God), and we do so with the help, leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  All true doctrine (what we believe) is derived from the Bible.  St. Paul, in his second letter to a pastor named Timothy, reminds the Church:  "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man (messenger) of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."  (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESVUK)  Therefore, the entire Bible, consisting of both the Old and New Testaments, is the supreme authority in all matters of faith, doctrine, and morality.  All clergy of our Diocese, as part of the ordination process, declare their belief that the "Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God and to contain all things necessary to salvation" (2019 Book of Common Prayer, page 473) and promise to conform, with God's help, their life and ministry to God's Word.

We, at Cornerstone Anglican Church, along with all other Diocesan churches, also affirm the historic creeds of the Christian Church: The Apostles’ Creed, The Nicene Creed and The Creed Of St. Athanasius.  We receive, along with other biblically based documents, the 1662 Book Of Common Prayer (Church Of England) including its Ordinal, the 2013 catechism of the Anglican Church in North America known as "To Be A Christian", and the the 2019 Book Of Common Prayer (Anglican Church in North America) as important standards of doctrine, worship, mission as well as spiritual disciplines to be fulfilled.

Some of our core beliefs, shared by Christians throughout the world and summarized in The Jerusalem Declaration document (2008), include:  (1) the supreme authority of the Bible in all matters of faith and morality; (2) the Trinity: one God in Three Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit); (3) the full humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ Who is the only Saviour and Lord; (4) people’s salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ made possible through Christ’s death and resurrection; (5) the presence and power of the Holy Spirit for all who believe in Jesus Christ; (6) the return of Jesus at what is known as His second coming; (7) God’s gift of eternal life for all those redeemed by Jesus.