Our Faith
What do we Believe?
It is more to ask: "in whom do we put our trust?" Our faith is not an opinion, not one of many possible views. It is an affirmation of what ultimate reality is — dependable, trustable reality.
Apostolic Faith
Founded by St. Thomas the Apostle in AD 52, preserving the unbroken apostolic tradition.
Holy Scripture
Scripture as the inspired Word of God, central to prayer and all liturgical worship.
Holy Tradition
The living tradition of the Church — the Fathers, councils, sacraments, and worship.
The One True GodThe Holy Trinity
We do not put our trust either in the ancient character of our Church or in any dogmas or doctrines. Our trust is in the One True God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit, eternal, self-existent, indivisible, infinite, incomprehensible, glorious, holy, not created or owing his being to something else, all-sovereign, Creator of the whole universe.
The Triune God is beyond all conceptual comprehension not only by human beings, but by any created mind. The Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, share the same being — one, infinite, eternal, uncreated, self-existent, with three persons or centres of consciousness and response, always acting in concord and unison as one being.
The Son of GodJesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ the Son of God became a human being, and rules in the universe. All power in heaven and on earth is given to Jesus Christ the God-Man. Death and Evil have been overcome, but they are still allowed to function, serving Christ's purposes.
Jesus Christ is now fully God as he always was, of the same being as God the Father. He is also fully a human being, sharing our fallen human nature, but without incurring sin. His humanness and his Godness are inseparably and indivisibly united without change or mixture.
The Life-GiverThe Holy Spirit
For us the Holy Spirit is Life-giver, Sanctifier and Perfecter. The central category in our understanding of salvation is the life-giving Spirit. It is He who effects forgiveness of sins, removes barriers between human beings as well as between them and God, gives life, makes people more holy and God-like.
While we do speak about these operations of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, who are not three Gods but one God, we know next to nothing about His being as Triune God. It is important for us to confess the incomprehensibility of God. He is not to be discussed or explained, but to be worshipped and adored and acknowledged as Lord of all.
EcclesiologyThe Church
We believe in the Church. The Church is the great consequence of the Son of God becoming flesh. It is this community that not only bears witness to Christ, but also is the abode of Christ, Christ dwelling in the Church, which is His body.
The local Church is not a mere part of this one great heaven-and-earth community; it is the full manifestation of the One Church, especially when the community is gathered together with the Bishop for the hearing of the Word of God and for the Eucharistic participation in the one eternal sacrifice of Christ.
The SaintsIntercession & The Theotokos
We are never allowed to forget even in a small local church the presence of this great cloud of witnesses who share with us the life of the One Church. Of the great Saints in the Church, the first and unique place goes to the Blessed Virgin Mary, for she was the first to hear the Gospel of the Incarnation.
TheosisSalvation
Salvation for us means more than escaping hell and going to heaven. It means separation from evil and growth in the good. It means eternal life with true holiness and righteousness. It means also being united with Christ in his divine-human nature, in his sonship and rule over the universe.
The MysteriesThe Sacraments of the Church
The participation in Christ's body and His being and nature becomes possible through the "mysteries of the Church" (roze-d-idtho in Syriac). These mysteries — mainly Baptism, Chrismation, and Eucharist — are acts by which the eternal reality of our oneness with Christ becomes experienced.
Forgiveness of sins for the baptized.
Deliverance from sin and sickness.
Permanent union reflecting Christ and His Church.
Laying on of hands for the gifts of the Holy Spirit — Bishops, Priests, and Deacons.
The Word of GodScripture, Icons & Tradition
We hold the Bible in very high regard. The Gospel is the Word of Life, the proclamation of life and salvation to the world. Icons are important for us — they mediate to the worshipping community the presence of the Saints and of the saving events of our Lord's incarnate life.
Worship & HopeOur Life in Christ
Our worship as a community is the centre of our life. Our hope is focused on Christ's coming again — in which evil would be separated from good, death from life, so that the good can triumph eternally.
It is our task to bear witness to this final reality, while living it out here and now, as much as we can, beset as we are by sin and frailty.
Thy Kingdom Come Lord. And when Thou comest in Thy Kingdom, remember us poor sinners also.