What We Believe

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Our Community Mission

We are a community of faith that believes in God through the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and through the continuing presence of the Holy Spirit. We uphold this faith as Christians in the Episcopal Church as part of the Anglican tradition. Our core values as a congregation include encountering God in scripture, tradition and prayer; embracing the risks of ministry and leadership; seeking and serving Christ in all people; celebrating the transforming power of the Holy Spirit; and working for a just and inclusive world.

As a member of the broader Episcopal Church, we “believe in a loving, liberating, and life-giving God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As constituent members of the Anglican Communion in the United States, we are descendants of and partners with the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Church, and are part of the third largest group of Christians in the world.

We believe in following the teachings of Jesus Christ, whose life, death, and resurrection saved the world.” (What We Believe, The Episcopal Church)

LGBT Inclusion

With the General Convention of the Episcopal Church we affirm and welcome the full participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender non-conforming children of God in the life, leadership, and sacraments of the church.

From The Episcopal Church, “LGBTQ in the Church”

In 1976, the General Convention of The Episcopal Church declared that ‘homosexual persons are children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church’ (1976-A069). Since then, faithful Episcopalians have been working toward a greater understanding and radical inclusion of all of God’s children.

In 2003, the first openly gay bishop was consecrated; in 2009, General Convention resolved that God’s call is open to all; in 2012, a provisional rite of blessing for same-gender relationships was authorized, and discrimination against transgender persons in the ordination process was officially prohibited; and in 2015, the canons of the church were changed to make the rite of marriage available to all people, regardless of gender.

From, “What We Believe,” published by The Episcopal Church

We have a legacy of inclusion, aspiring to tell and exemplify God’s love for every human being; women and men serve as bishops, priests, and deacons in our church. Laypeople and clergy cooperate as leaders at all levels of our church. Leadership is a gift from God, and can be expressed by all people in our church, regardless of sexual identity or orientation.

Immigrant Rights

Recognizing Christ’s call to hospitality, the Biblical command to welcome the stranger among us, and the demands of our baptismal vow to respect the dignity of every human being, we have declared St. Ann’s a Solidarity Congregation; and we commit to undertake the following:

  • A public expression of our support for immigrants and refugees.

  • Consistent use of liturgy and prayer to reflect on and theologically support immigrant and refugee communities during our worship.

  • Recruit members to participate in the Nashville Sanctuary Network’s rapid response training.

  • Support other Nashville Sanctuary congregations and communities by participating in supply drives, fundraising for legal fees, and helping families recover from the loss of a breadwinner to deportation or detention.