Essentialism

We are a gospel-centered, Spirit-empowered, distinctly Anglican church.

We are rooted in the historically orthodox beliefs contained in the Apostles Creed and Nicene Creed, derived from the Scriptures, which are inspired by God.

Our theology is centred on the essentials of the Christian faith, such as:

  • The Trinity God is one God in three persons: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit (see the Athanasian Creed). The Trinity is a beautiful mystery of the faith, revealed plainly in Scripture.
  • Inspiration and authority We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God written and to contain all things necessary for salvation. The Bible is to be translated, read, preached, taught and obeyed in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the church’s historic and consensual reading.
  • The necessity of the cross God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Jesus Christ died for us. The cross was the divinely appointed way for our sins to be forgiven, God’s justice to be satisfied, and for humanity to be justified and reconciled to God. As a result of Christ’s atoning death, we are saved by grace alone, and adopted as children of God. Grace is a gift we cannot earn but only freely receive through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.
  • Empowering presence We affirm and rejoice that the Holy Spirit is alive and active today in the exact same ways we discover in Scripture. The Christian life is impossible apart from the Spirit’s ongoing and active work in our lives.
  • Mission and church As God the Father sent his Son, and as the Father and the Son sent the Spirit into the world, so the church (the body of Christ, temple of the Spirit, and people of God) as a worshipping community gathers to be nourished through Word and Sacrament and is sent out into the world to bear witness to the gospel and embody the ways of God’s kingdom.

However, there are other aspects of our faith where we can disagree and where dialogue may even lead us more fully into truth. In other words, some theological concepts are written in blood, some in ink and others in pencil. Our hope is to find unity in historical orthodoxy and to encourage dialogue on negotiable aspects of our faith, so that we can grow in truth and love. Because how we believe is just as important as what we believe.

We love our Anglican Heritage

St. Peter’s Fireside is part of the world-wide Anglican Communion. It is the largest Protestant communion of churches in the world, with almost 80 million members in 165 countries. Our province is the Anglican Church in North America, and our diocese is the Anglican Network in Canada.

We get that Anglicanism may evoke different thoughts and feelings for different people—ranging from no knowledge of it at all to disdain. We have written three articles to help paint a picture of what Anglicanism means to us: Why Anglicanism?, Misconceptions of Anglicanism and Dangers of Anglicanism.

Our leadership teams affirm the 39 Articles and Jerusalem Declaration as statements of faith.

If you have any questions about our beliefs, we welcome the conversation! Please email info@stpetersfireside.org

St. Peter's Fireside