Welcome
to Saint Anne’s

We are delighted to have you with us. We hope you will find us a welcoming and nurturing community.

It is Christ Jesus who welcomes us all and invites us all to share in worship and prayer. Whether you are new to the Christian faith, seeking a church home, or just visiting, we hope you will gather with us on Sunday and join in the celebration.

We would like to get to know you, and would love to welcome you personally! We gather in-person and online. We are located at 3098 Saint Anne’s Lane in north Atlanta.

We worship together on Sunday mornings at 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.  When you come for worship, please fill out a Welcome Card (found in the pews) and put it in the offering plate, or give it to one of our ushers or greeters so that we can properly welcome you.

If you have further questions, please contact the church office at 404-237-5589 and someone will be happy to assist you.

The
Episcopal
Church
Welcomes
Everyone

As Episcopalians, we believe in and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, whose life, death, and resurrection brings life to the world. We believe that God loves you for who you are, and we strive to share the love of God in all that we do.

The Episcopal Church has a website that provides a much “deeper dive” on what it means to be an Episcopalian. We’ve added a link to that page here. Below we’ve added some highlights of topics you might be curious about.

If you would like to continue learning about the Episcopal tradition in person, we offer adult confirmation classes. Please contact the church to express your interest and to get more information.

  • Scripture is the foundation of our faith. The Bible, understood through tradition and reason, contains all things necessary for salvation. We include multiple readings from the Bible at every service. Additionally, approximately 70% of the Book of Common Prayer comes directly from the Bible.

  • The Book of Common Prayer (1979) is the prayer book that Episcopal Churches in the United States share. It contains liturgies for daily and Sunday worship, such as morning and evening prayer and Holy Communion, as well as the services for Baptism, Marriage, and Burial. The prayer book is widely loved for its beautiful language, and it is a key resource for Episcopal doctrine and teachings. Our parishioners find that a familiar, consistent style of worship is grounding and allows for deep connection with God through all phases and stages of life. You will always be able to find a BCP in the pews of Saint Anne’s.

  • Episcopalians recognize sacraments as “outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace” (Book of Common Prayer, p. 857). Holy Baptism and the Eucharist are the two great sacraments given by Christ to the church. Confirmation (the adult affirmation of our baptismal vows), Reconciliation of a Penitent (private confession), Matrimony (Christian marriage), Orders (ordination to the diaconate, priesthood, or episcopacy), and Unction (anointing those who are sick or dying with holy oil) are also sacramental rites in the Episcopal Church.

  • Our church observes the traditional Christian calendar. The season of Advent, which is the start of the Christian year, begins on the Sunday closest to November 30. Christmas in our tradition lasts twelve days, after which we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany (January 6). Lent, the forty days of preparation for Easter, follows the season after the Epiphany, and begins on Ash Wednesday. Easter season lasts fifty days, concluding on the feast day of Pentecost. The rest of the year, aside from a few special feast days, is the season of Pentecost, sometimes referred to as ordinary time. The entire cycle begins again with Advent.

  • The Creeds are statements of our basic beliefs about God. When we recite the two foundational statements of faith—the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed—we affirm our faith in the one God who created us, redeems us, and sanctifies us, alongside Christians throughout the ages.

    Both creeds are included at right.

Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.


Nicene Creed

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:

By the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
 
We believe in the Holy Spirit, The Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With he Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness
of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

WHO IS SAINT ANNE?

Saint Anne, our Matron

In 1955, a group of nine women met with Bishop Claiborne asking to start a mission in Northwest Buckhead. Bishop Claiborne acknowledged the need for a new parish, and then asked the women if they had the support of their husbands. I wonder what was said about his question once they left his office, I’m told they were a faithful but independent group of women. There is something poetic in the selection of a woman, Anne, as the namesake and matron of the new parish.

Unlike many biblical characters and saints, we know nothing for certain about Anne. She is the mother of Mary and grandmother of Jesus. And while there is no mention of her in the New Testament, we know that Mary had a mother and a father. A few references about Anne appear in early Christian writings that did not make it into the New Testament: The Gospel of the Nativity of Mary, the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, and the Protoevangelium of James. These stories are largely legendary, but the details resonate with stories from our Jewish forebears.

Anne and her husband, Joachim, are based on archetypal characters in the Hebrew Scriptures. The narrative of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis explains that when God desired to create a people for his own, he chooses a man ninety-nine years old whose wife is seventy-five and barren. God promises to make this old couple the parents of a multitude through whom the whole world will be blessed. The story of Hannah in Samuel, childless and forlorn, but who trusts in God to provide a child for her is also reflected in the story of Anne.

Anne’s inability to conceive makes her and Joachim despondent. Anne prays for the gift of a child and God sends an angel offering this comforting message, “Anne, the Lord has looked on your tears, you shall conceive, and the fruit of your womb shall be blessed by all the world.”

Anne gives birth to Mary. We know much about this daughter who has her own encounter with an angel. She will say “yes” to God and will become the mother of Jesus, the Theotokos or God-bearer. Through Mary’s willingness to offer herself in service to God Jesus is born, and through him, grace comes to the world. The promise made centuries earlier to Abraham is made a reality in the life of Jesus.

For hundreds of years the Feast of Saint Anne was commemorated on July 26 with Saint Joachim having a separate date in the calendar. In 1969 the Roman Catholic calendar joined the two saints, changing the title of the feast to, The Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This was the same title used by the Episcopal Church in the first edition of Lesser Feasts and Fasts, a companion to the Book of Common Prayer that list all the saints we remember week by week.

Saint Anne is the matron of mothers, women in labor, and minors. She is symbolized in icons and paintings with Mary sitting in her lap and Mary is often shown holding the infant Jesus – grandmother, mother, and son.

The Rev. Buddy Crawford
Rector