.png)
Mission & Values
OUR BELIEFS
The following doctrines express the core beliefs of Holy Trinity Anglican Zelienople. Rooted in Holy Scripture and confessed in the historic creeds of the Church, these truths shape our teaching, our worship, and our common life.
God
There is one eternal God existing in three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God is the creator and sustainer of all that exists, visible and invisible, and is worthy of all glory and praise. God is holy – perfect in love and power, goodness and faithfulness, mercy and justice, knowledge, wisdom, and truth. He is unchangeable and unchanging in his character and promises.
Revelation
God has revealed himself to us through Jesus Christ, the visible image of the invisible God. He has also revealed to us his Word: the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. These contain all things necessary for salvation and are the final authority for the Church and the individual Christian’s faith and life. God also reveals himself through his creation.
Humanity
Human beings, male and female, are created in the image of God to live in loving relationship with him and with one another. All human life is marked by dignity and purpose, imbued in us by God himself. He gave us responsibilities to steward all of his creation and to represent his authority in the world he designed.
Sin & Brokenness
When humanity chose not to obey God, sin entered into the perfect creation and his image in us became distorted. This fall led to brokenness in our relationships with God, one another, and the rest of creation. We cannot heal ourselves apart from God’s grace and are now in need of his redemption and restoration.
Salvation
Jesus Christ, fully God and fully human, came to reconcile us with God. He lived a sinless life, willingly died to pay the righteous penalty for our sins, and rose again in victory over death. Salvation is God’s gift of grace, received by faith alone in Christ alone, restoring us to fellowship with God and new, eternal life in him. We can do nothing on our own to earn this gift.
The Church
The Church is the Body of Christ made manifest here on earth. We, the people of the Church, are called to worship God and to glorify him, to proclaim the good news about Jesus, to make disciples, and to bear faithful witness to God’s kingdom in the world.
The Resurrection and the Hope to Come
Jesus Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead. We look forward to his return, the resurrection of all who have died, and the restoration of all things to their intended state. This is our hope – secured by the finished work of Jesus.
OUR WORSHIP
Worship Centered on God
Worship is our response to who God is and what he has done for us in the work of Jesus. We gather not primarily to express ourselves, but to offer God the praise, thanksgiving, and obedience that are his due. In worship – prayer, praise, reading and preaching the Word, and participating in the sacraments – God forms us by drawing us again into his story of grace, truth, and redemption.
Liturgical and Participatory
Our worship is liturgical, following the historic pattern of Christian worship preserved in the Book of Common Prayer. Liturgy simply means “the work of the people.” Together, we pray, sing, confess, listen, and receive – offering our whole selves to God in body, mind, and spirit. This shared pattern of worship joins us to the historic and global Church and forms us week by week in faithfulness and joy.
We worship using ancient prayers and practices that have shaped Christians for generations. Following the Church’s calendar, we walk through seasons of repentance and rejoicing, fasting and feasting, allowing the rhythms of Christ’s life to shape our own.
Word & Sacrament
Our worship is shaped by the gospel and centered on Jesus. We gather around the reading and preaching of God’s Word and the celebration of the Sacraments, especially Baptism and Communion. In Word and Sacrament, God speaks to us, feeds us, reminds us that we are forgiven, and renews us by the work of the Holy Spirit.
Baptism & Communion
Anglicans understand the sacraments to be “visible signs of an invisible grace.” They are not mere symbols, but are means by which God works in us, strengthening and confirming our faith. Jesus himself is the chief actor in the sacraments, graciously meeting his people as he has promised.
Baptism is the sacrament of new birth, by which we are united to Christ, incorporated into his Body, and marked as members of God’s family. It is ordinarily celebrated within the context of the Church’s gathered worship, as a sign of God’s grace at work among his people.
Holy Communion, also called the Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper, is celebrated weekly. In this sacrament, we truly and really encounter Jesus as he nourishes us with his grace. The Lord’s Table is not our table and is therefore open to all baptized Christians who are following the Lord. Those who are not yet baptized are warmly welcome to come forward to receive a prayer and blessing.
Formed & Sent
Our worship does not end when the service concludes. Having been gathered and renewed by God, we are sent out into the world to love our neighbors, pursue holiness, and bear faithful witness to Jesus in our daily lives. Worship ought to form us into a people who live for the glory of God and the good of the world.
OUR NEWSLETTER
Subscribe to stay up-to-date on everything happening with HTZelienople.