Parish of St. John’s Anglican Church, Halifax
What should you expect of us?
We strive to fashion our life as a community so to offer:
- literate preaching that invites you to think;
- a church that will walk with you in your questioning rather than tell you the answers it thinks you need to hear;
- a liberal view of scripture; in other words, the acknowledgement that people and traditions shaped the Bible and the truth of scripture is conveyed by knowing both the content and context of the Bible;
- a congregation and church community that cares about you and your family;
- opportunities to be involved in many aspects of parish life including worship, administration, community activities, and outreach;
- a church that invites diversity and does not judge you by what you are or who you love;
- consistent and contemporary liturgy that is grounded in centuries of tradition but open to modern expression and using modern English language texts; liturgy that has a particular focus towards music, and liturgy that through its form and consistent nature allows for personal freedom to enter into deeper communal prayer;
- the heritage of a Christian denomination that extends through centuries of history; and
- Christian education and formation opportunities for all stages of faith journeys for those of early childhood to life-long learners.
The Anglican Church was seeded with the earliest Christian evangelization of the isles of Great Britain. It emerged as the church we know and love through the Protestant Reformation of continental Europe in the 1500s and the political upheavals that were sweeping across Europe during that turbulent century.
The Anglican Church shares many of the Roman Catholic aspects of ministry in the Church having three orders of ordained clergy: Bishops, Priests, and Deacons; along with many of the Protestant ideals including a reliance on scripture, tradition, and reason as balanced sources of authority.
Orthodoxy and belief are framed around the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, the historical creeds from the fourth and fifth centuries, the continuing heritage of bishops from the early church, and the sacraments of Baptism (Christian initiation) and Eucharist (Holy Communion).
For further information and history of the Anglican Communion, please visit its official website.
The Anglican Church of Canada is administered through thirty-one diocesan, territorial, and extra-diocesan ministries spread across the country. A Diocesan Bishop oversees the ministries of each diocese, which is comprised of many parishes whose daily life is supported through the work of the diocese and the efforts and financial support of individuals from the varying parishes.
The Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island is comprised of approximately 145 congregations in 90 parishes with approximately 200 church buildings in the civil provinces of the same names. Ordained priests and deacons serve each parish, sometimes individually and sometimes in collegial and cooperative models, to enable the provision of community worship, service and witness, advocacy, pastoral care, and teaching.
The senior or administrative priest in each parish often holds the title of Rector, which is an old English term describing the cleric with ecclesiastical authority and responsibility for a particular geographical area or congregation(s).
For further information and history of the Anglican Church of Canada or the Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, please visit their official websites.