WHAT WE BELIEVE
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is a parish within the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.
This means that St. Paul’s is part of the
Episcopal Church and the worldwide
Anglican Communion, whose members
trace their spiritual lineage to the Church of England. Anglicans, as members of the Communion are generally called, typically
pursue God’s love and truth through Scripture, tradition, and reason. The Anglican ethos values patience and acceptance, and generous participation in the cultural life of the world.
We profess two principle creeds in the Episcopal Church: the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. The Apostles’ Creed is the ancient creed of Baptism. The Nicene Creed summarizes the
beliefs of Christians.
St. Paul’s has been worshiping God in Christ in
North Andover, Massachusetts since 1882. We value our heritage,
yet we embrace our future as we rejoice in our present. We are an Open and Affirming church who seek faithfully to offer the worship of God and service to others in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We have members of all ages. We rejoice in the wisdom of our older members, the leadership of those in the middle of life, the energy of our youth, and the laughter of our children. St. Paul’s members are mostly from North Andover, but many are from Bradford, Andover, Lawrence, Tewksbury, Haverhill, Methuen, Boxford, Westford, Groveland, Georgetown, Middleton, Billerica, Wilmington, as well as southern New Hampshire.
We are university professors, engineers, teachers, administrative assistants, at-home Moms, sales people, construction workers, attorneys, doctors, retired, students, unemployed, business owners, waitresses, accountants, and more. We fall all along the political and economic spectrum. Some of our folks have lived in North Andover for generations, some only for a year. Some of us are life-long Episcopalians, but many of us are from other faith traditions who have found a home here at
St. Paul’s. We don’t all agree on everything, but we do love each other and find God more fully when we are together than when we are apart.
Almighty God, help us to live into our mission to be a joyful faith-based community of hope and worship proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. We invite all to join us in spiritual nurturing and growth through ministry and service, helping create God’s Reign on Earth. Amen.