What we Believe
(aOur beliefs and worship are articulated most clearly in the vows we take at our baptism and reaffirm when we are confirmed (if we were too little to make this promise at our baptism)
The Baptismal Covenant
At St. Paul's, we embrace the multitude of Christian perspectives by which we were formed.
Here are the four commitments we make as expressions of our love for the Trinitarian God we find most perfectly articulated in the person of Jesus of Nazareth and most perfectly expanded in the person of the Holy Spirit.
Love for the South, Love for the Self, Love for the Street, Love for the Soul
Love for the South means:
The Baptismal Covenant
At St. Paul's, we embrace the multitude of Christian perspectives by which we were formed.
Here are the four commitments we make as expressions of our love for the Trinitarian God we find most perfectly articulated in the person of Jesus of Nazareth and most perfectly expanded in the person of the Holy Spirit.
Love for the South, Love for the Self, Love for the Street, Love for the Soul
Love for the South means:
- Loving neighbors in South City, St Louis County, Jefferson County
- Recognizing the history of racism and class division that exists in our area
- Personally inviting those in our neighborhoods to come to St. Paul's
- Creating safe community where people can be real and vulnerable with risk of alienation or judgment
- Creating spaces for learning and spiritual growth
- Creating worship that embodies hope and transformation through preaching the good news about the God we know in the person of Jesus.
- Consistent provision of food and resources to our little free pantry and library by the bus stop in front of the church building
- Commitment to serve meals, provide shelter, and embrace those who are in need
- Constant openness to what God might be calling us to do to advocate for justice in our community
- Installing Solar Power to reduce our use of fossil fuels (installation coming June 2021)
- Innovating to reduce our use of resources
- Investing in novel ways to leverage our lawn and open spaces to support wildlife and insect culture (ie. removing the grass and replacing with herbs is on our radar for spring 2021)
The Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, (who is elected to lead all of the Episcopal Churches USA) has engaged us to participate in the Jesus Movement.
What is the Jesus Movement?
We’re following Jesus into loving, liberating and life-giving relationship with God, with each other and with the earth.
How do we join?
First, we follow Jesus. We are simply the Episcopal branch of Christianity (we call it the Jesus Movement) seeking every day to love Jesus with our whole heart, mind and soul, and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40). Just like Jesus.
What’s our work?
We’re working on simple practices for each priority area – if it’s a Movement, then we should all be able to grasp the ideas and get on board. Then we’re mapping a strategy that inspires and equips all of us to join God and make a difference.
The Jesus Movement takes you places. For the Episcopal Church, it calls us to focus on three specific Jesus Movement Priorities:
Evangelism:
Listen for Jesus' movement in our lives and in the world. Give thanks. Proclaim and celebrate it! Invite the Spirit to do the rest.
Reconciliation:
Embody the loving, liberating, life-giving way of Jesus with each other
Creation Care:
Encounter and honor the face of God in creation
What is the Jesus Movement?
We’re following Jesus into loving, liberating and life-giving relationship with God, with each other and with the earth.
How do we join?
First, we follow Jesus. We are simply the Episcopal branch of Christianity (we call it the Jesus Movement) seeking every day to love Jesus with our whole heart, mind and soul, and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40). Just like Jesus.
What’s our work?
We’re working on simple practices for each priority area – if it’s a Movement, then we should all be able to grasp the ideas and get on board. Then we’re mapping a strategy that inspires and equips all of us to join God and make a difference.
The Jesus Movement takes you places. For the Episcopal Church, it calls us to focus on three specific Jesus Movement Priorities:
Evangelism:
Listen for Jesus' movement in our lives and in the world. Give thanks. Proclaim and celebrate it! Invite the Spirit to do the rest.
- Inspire Episcopalians to embrace evangelism
- Gather Episcopal evangelists
- Equip all to be evangelists
- Send all as evangelists
Reconciliation:
Embody the loving, liberating, life-giving way of Jesus with each other
- Tell the truth about church and race
- Rewrite the narrative
- Form Episcopalians as reconcilers
- Repair & Restore institutions & society
Creation Care:
Encounter and honor the face of God in creation
- Develop creation care resources
- Grow local eco-ministries
- Pursue eco-justice at church-wide and local levels
- Convene conversations around climate and faith