All are welcome to find a spiritual home in the Episcopal Church.
By all, we mean ALL, no exceptions.
We believe in “radical welcome.”
Church of the Nativity is a parish of the Diocese of North Carolina, one which welcomes all who worship Jesus Christ. As a body, Church of the Nativity is fully loyal to and supportive of the Episcopal Church which is comprised of 108 dioceses and three mission areas in 22 countries or territories, and three regions. The Episcopal Church is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and traces its heritage to the beginnings of Christianity. The Church has members in the United States, as well as in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Haiti, Honduras, Micronesia, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Venezuela, and the Virgin Islands. We are denominational descendants of—and partners with—the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Church. Our liturgy retains ancient structure and traditions, and is celebrated in many languages.
The mission of the church, as stated in the Book of Common Prayer’s catechism, is “to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.”
In step with that mission, The Episcopal Church follows Jesus into loving, liberating, and life-giving relationships with God, with each other, and with the earth. We are the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement.
The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church is the chief pastor of the 2.4 million members of the Church; he or she is elected by all Bishops for a term of nine years. In 2015, The Most. Rev. Michael B. Curry was elected the 27th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. He is the first African-American to be a Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. He had served for the previous 13 years as our beloved Bishop of North Carolina. (He was, and still is, a frequent visitor to Church of the Nativity, often in an unofficial capacity, coming to Sunday services just like the rest of us.) The Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe, bishop of the Episcopal Dioceses of Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western New York, was elected and confirmed the 28th presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church on June 26, 2024 for a nine-year term beginning November 1, 2024.
In a given area, parishes and missions make up a diocese, headed by a bishop. All clergy and lay delegates from all congregations meet annually in convention to conduct the business of the diocese. The convention elects the bishop to serve until death or retirement. The current bishops of the Diocese of North Carolina are The Right Reverend Samuel Rodman and The Right Reverend Anne Elliott Hodges-Copple. For more information about our Diocese, go to the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina website.
Bishops are elected by clergy and lay delegates at a diocese convention and must be approved by all bishops of the Episcopal Church before being installed. Each self-supporting congregation (parish) elects its lay governing board (vestry) for temporal affairs which, in turn, hires the parish rector, the spiritual leader. Congregations that are not self-supporting (missions) are directed by the bishop of the area.
The Episcopal Church website glossary defines the sources of authority as a balance between scripture, tradition, and reason. These three are characterized as a “three-legged stool” which will topple if any one overbalances the other. It also notes “The Anglican balancing of the sources of authority…has been associated with the Anglican affinity for seeking the mean between extremes and living the via media. It has also been associated with the Anglican willingness to tolerate and comprehend opposing viewpoints instead of imposing tests of orthodoxy or resorting to heresy trials.”
Go to Episcopal Church website for a fuller explanation.
Below are a number of useful links for exploring our Episcopal Church.
Our Episcopal Church
- Church of the Nativity: https://nativityonline.org/
- The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina: http://www.episdionc.org/
- Province IV of the Episcopal Church: http://www.provinceiv.org/
- The Episcopal Church: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/
- The office of the Presiding Bishop: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/blog/michaelcurry
Episcopal Resources
- The Daily Office: http://dailyoffice.org/
- The Episcopal Church Lectionary: http://www.lectionarypage.net/
- The Online Book of Common Prayer (1979 version): http://www.bcponline.org/
- The Episcopal Bookstore: https://www.churchpublishing.org/
- Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) Vital Practices: http://www.ecfvp.org/
- The Vestry Resource Guide from ECF:
http://www.episcopalfoundation.org/programs/ecf-publications/vestry-resource-guide
Episcopal Church Organization
- The House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church: http://houseofdeputies.org/
- The General Convention: http://www.generalconvention.org/
Episcopal Services
- The Episcopal News Service (ENS): http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/
- Episcopal Relief and Development: http://www.episcopalrelief.org/
The Anglican Communion
- The Anglican Communion: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/
- Anglicans Online – list of resources: http://www.anglicansonline.org/resources/index.html