Depending on who you ask, ‘Anglican’ can mean a number of things. Here at St. Peter’s we see ourselves as classically Anglican. The term ‘Anglican’ refers to a tradition that arose out of the English reformation in the 16th Century, which embraced the Reformed faith and yet also retained a connection with many of the ancient customs and spirituality of the ancient church. As Christians we find a sure bedrock for our faith in Christ as revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. We also hold to the ancient creeds of the church, especially the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed. Any search for Anglican identity beyond these must begin with the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, and the expression of Anglican faith found in the Church of England’s 1662 Book of Common Prayer.
C.S. Lewis called us to ‘Mere Christianity’, meaning we form our identity around the foundational truths of Christianity as revealed in God’s Word and proclaimed in the church’s earliest witness. Since Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, we aspire in our own time to share the living experience and power of Christ known by the first Christians. As J.I. Packer notes we are catholic, by which we mean we hold the fulness of the historic faith; and we are evangelical, meaning we are Bible-based, Cross-centered, commitment-oriented, and mission-focused. We are also liturgical, meaning we have a well-defined order for our services, and we have retained the ancient orders of bishop, priest, and deacon.
And finally, we are grateful to be members of a Communion Partner Diocese (The Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida), which upholds traditional teaching and morals and strives to maintain our communion with the vast majority of Anglicans world-wide. The Anglican Communion is the third-largest communion of Christians in the world, most of whom are in the Global South.