What We Believe
We believe God is love. We believe God created us to love and be loved. We believe Jesus is God in a human life, the full revelation of God. We believe the Holy Spirit is God inspiring us to love and serve.
Incarnation is a parish of the Episcopal Church. Being Episcopalian isn't the only way to follow Jesus, but we think it's a good one. The Episcopal tradition sits at the intersection of Catholic and Protestant strands of Christianity. Like other Catholic churches, our life is centered around the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. Our worship follows a rich and ancient tradition, and we trace our heritage back through a line of bishops dating back to the earliest days of the church. Like other Protestant churches, we emphasize the priesthood of all believers, and our churches elect their own leaders and make decisions in a participatory way. We strive to be open to the fresh movements of the Holy Spirit.
We are called to live by the message of Christ, in which there are no outcasts and all are welcome. We enjoy people who are different from us. We seek to serve those who are poor and vulnerable, to care for creation, and to build a more just society. In the Episcopal Church people of all genders and sexual orientations are fully welcome in all aspects of the church's life.
Episcopalians find our identity not primarily in agreeing to a list of doctrinal statements, but in worshiping together. You can find Episcopalians of different temperaments, political views, and theological opinions side by side at the altar rail every Sunday. Our worship is structured by the Book of Common Prayer, which includes two of the most ancient statements of Christian faith: the Apostles' Creed (used at Baptism) and the Nicene Creed (used at the Eucharist). We hold these statements in common with many other Christian traditions.
We hope this page may answer some of your questions—or raise additional ones. Visit an Episcopal church, or two or three, to find out more. Along with Incarnation, check out our nearby friends at St. Stephen's, Sebastopol; St. Paul's, Healdsburg; St. Patrick's, Kenwood; and St. John's, Petaluma. We are part of the Russian River Deanery of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California. We are many congregations, many communities, and one body. Come and see!
