"The Church of England... hath built her faith wholly upon the Rock of Holy Scripture."
The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion (1571) are the historic statement of faith of the Anglican Church. Written amid the English Reformation, they anchor Anglicanism as reformed and catholic at once — Protestant in doctrine, yet keeping the ancient creeds, sacraments and episcopal order of the historic Church.
What the Articles Teach
- The authority of Scripture — the Bible contains all things necessary to salvation (Art. VI); the Church may not ordain anything contrary to it (Art. XX).
- The creeds — the Nicene, Athanasian and Apostles’ creeds are to be received and believed, for they may be proved by Scripture (Art. VIII).
- Salvation by grace — we are justified by faith only, accounted righteous before God for the merit of Christ (Art. XI); good works are the fruit of faith (Art. XII).
- The sacraments — two ordained by Christ: Baptism and the Supper of the Lord (Art. XXV).
- The Church — “a congregation of faithful men, in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the sacraments be duly ministered” (Art. XIX).
The Middle Way
This balance — Scripture supreme, creedal faith, sacramental worship, reformed doctrine — is what is meant by the Anglican via media: not a compromise between churches, but a confident claim to hold together what belongs together. At St. Peter’s you will find that balance lived out each Sunday: evangelical preaching, liturgical worship, and the Church gathered around the Lord’s table.