What We Believe
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.
Who is God?
God is love, and God is Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As we say in the Nicene Creed: there is one God, the maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. God has created us in his image, loved us without exception, saved us and empowered us to be part of God’s Kingdom on Earth. God is good, God is faithful, and God is active in the life of the world.
Who is Jesus?
Jesus of Nazareth, born of the virgin Mary, is the Son of God who became incarnate on Earth as both the fullness of God and the fullness of humanity. In his life, Jesus taught us how to live and love: teaching and healing. In his death, Jesus suffered with and for us to bring victory over sin and death. In his resurrection, Jesus overcame death and opened the door to the eternal life of love with God. Jesus shows us that God is near, and that God is love. The incarnation of God in Jesus teaches us as his followers to be present and deeply connected to the work of justice and mercy in the world.
What is the Bible?
The Bible contains our Holy Scriptures, made up of the Old and New Testaments. The Bible is inspired by God and contains stories, poetry, wisdom, letters and prophecy written by people throughout the ages who have experienced and encountererd God. By hearing and reading the scriptures, we learn more about who God is, who we are, and how we should live in the world as followers of Jesus. As we digest and learn the Bible, we learn the story of God’s love in the world.
Why do we need God?
As humans, we often seek our own will instead of the will of God. Both by what we do and what we leave undone, we often in selfishness perpetuate brokenness, injustice, and hatred in the world. We live in a world full of broken relationships with ourselves, our fellow humans and creation. This brokenness and sin keep us from freedom and fullness of relationship with God. We need God to save us from our sin and restore to right relationship with God, ourselves, our neighbors and all creation. By God’s grace, the work of Jesus, and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we are saved into a new life of freedom and love.
In the Anglican tradition, we think of the sacraments as outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual graces.
The Sacraments
Holy Baptism
Baptism is one of the two sacraments taught by Jesus, along with the Eucharist. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus commanded us to make disciples by baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In Baptism, the outward sign is water. It confers the inward and spiritual grace of union with Christ in his death and resurrection into new life, forgiveness of sins, and adoption into God’s family, the Church. We rely on God’s grace as we strive to live into our baptismal vows of resisting evil, proclaiming the good news, seeking and serving Christ in all people, and striving for justice and peace in the world. While we strongly prefer that baptisms take place during a Sunday service, the clergy at Trinity are delighted to work with you if another time is necessary, or if a private baptism would be better for your child.
Holy Communion
The Eucharist, or Holy Communion, was instituted by Jesus on the night before his death. The outward and visible sign of the Eucharist is bread and wine, and the inward and spiritual grace is the Body and Blood of Christ. In the Eucharist, the Church's sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, the one perfect sacrifice of Christ is made present. When we receive the Eucharist, Jesus unites us to his one offering of himself on the Cross. As we receive it, we receive the strengthening of our union with Christ and one another and the foretaste of the heavenly banquet which is our nourishment in eternal life.
The Sacramental Rites
While these five rites are not commanded by Jesus in the Bible in the same way as Baptism and the Eucharist are, the Church recognizes their sacramental nature.
Confirmation
In Confirmation, we make a mature commitment to Christ, and a commitment to live out our baptismal vows in the communion of the Episcopal Church (and Anglican Churches around the world). If you were baptized as an infant, confirmation offers you the opportunity to take on the vows that your parents made for them, for themselves. Confirmation is also a way that those who were baptized in other churches commit to the Anglican way of being Christian. Confirmation teaches us how to make our faith our own. The rite of Confirmation includes the affirmation of baptismal vows and the laying on of hands by a bishop. Adults who were confirmed in the Roman Catholic Church or Orthodox churches are received into the Anglican Communion rather than confirmed.
Marriage
Marriage is the union of two individuals in loving and faithful covenantal relationship before God. The wedding itself is the beginning of marriage. Marriage is intended by God for mutual joy, help and comfort both in prosperity and adversity. In marriage, vows are made that the marriage will be unconditional, mutual, exclusive, faithful, and lifelong. In the Episcopal Church, marriage isn’t only a private arrangement between two individuals, though. It involves God and the couple’s community, and is a beautiful reflection of the love and union between Christ and the Church.
Ordination
Ordination is the process of setting aside someone for ministry through prayer and the laying on of hands by a bishop. The orders of the church are Lay People, Deacons, Priests, and Bishops. While all members of the church are necessary to act in union as the body of Christ, we ordain some members to specific tasks in line with the early church. Deacons are ordained to serve the church and especially the poor and oppressed. They bring the concerns of the world, and especially of those who suffer, to the church. Priests are ordained as elders with authority of sacramental ministry, to absolve, bless, and consecrate. Bishops are ordained as overseers of larger areas of the church, like the Diocese, leading the church in unity and mission. At Trinity, God has blessed us with a close partnership with Princeton Theological Seminary, and we have consistently sponsored gifted ordinands for ministry to the Church. We are also a Field Education site for the Seminary. If you wonder if God might be calling you to ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church, contact Canon Kara Slade at sladek@trinityprinceton.org.
Reconciliation of a Penitent
Reconciliation of a Penitent is the sacramental processes of seeking and receiving forgiveness. No one is required to participate in this sacrament to receive forgiveness, but confession and forgiveness offers us the opportunity to explicitly name before God the things that burden our conscience. Whereas our communal confession of sin can remain vague, confession allows us to have a specific sacred conversation between oneself, a priest, and God. For more information, contact any of our clergy.
Unction
Unction is the sacrament of healing. Jesus himself healed, anointed and placed hands on the sick, teaching us to do the same. This service of anointing, healing prayer and communion can be done when one is sick or dying to seek both internal and external healing as well as the peace of Christ during these difficult times of life. Unction shows us the Christ is present in our sickness and in our death. If you or a loved one is in the hospital, or ill in any way, we want to know about it. Please contact any one of the clergy so that we can arrange a visit or other pastoral care.
Adapted from Walk in Love by Scott Gunn and Melody Wilson Shobe and the Catechism of the Book of Common Prayer.