History & Beliefs
St. John’s is a member of the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin and the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).
Our history as Anglicans goes all the way back to the earliest days of Christianity. Much of our history was forged through the Reformation in Europe and especially in England. In the 16th century the Church of England broke away from Rome. The great continental reformers of the day, Martin Luther and John Calvin, together with English bishops, Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley and others, were deeply concerned about the state of the church. They desired to see the church reformed with a renewed focus on the centrality and authority of the Bible. Essential doctrines gained renewed clarity during that time, namely that we are saved by grace alone through faith in Jesus.
There are several essential elements of Anglicanism which visitors will experience in our corporate life:
The Bible is our guiding authority and contains all things necessary for salvation. Solid biblical teaching and preaching is central at St. John’s.
Our worship is also sacramental. So all baptized believers who come on Sundays are invited to join in the celebration of Holy Communion.
Anglicans are firmly planted in a rich soil of historic roots and a global fellowship of other Christians. Our liturgy from the Book of Common Prayer, unites us with believers in other congregations who pray the same prayers we do. We are also accountable to, and supported by the larger church through our bishop. The role of bishops is to provide pastoral and spiritual oversight and to ensure faithfulness to the scriptures.
We are grateful for our Anglican heritage, but also understand that we are part of a much larger family of faith that encompasses everyone who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died to save us from our sins.