Welcome to the Episcopal Church!
"God loves you!" We, the Episcopal Church, welcome and invite you to share in this proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ and to become a member of our Christian community.  The Episcopal Church strives to live by the message of Christ, in which there are no outcasts and all are welcome.  Walking a middle way between Roman Catholicism and Protestant traditions, we are a sacramental and worship-oriented church that promotes thoughtful debate about what God is calling us to do and be, as followers of Christ.
The Episcopal Church has a unique place in the spectrum of Christian experience. Our worship is rooted in scripture, with vibrant expression of prayer, music, sacrament, and word. Episcopalians have long stood for service to the wider community, and we express our faith in outreach and social concern; we attempt to "walk the talk" of Jesus' teachings.  We are known for asking good questions, rather than necessarily providing pat answers for complex issues.  And we are known for our inclusiveness, recognizing that Christ's banquet is large enough to include every person.
Some words which describe Episcopalian values:

• Open-minded, and willing to live with ambiguity, knowing that truth is discerned by many paths.
• Searching, questioning, and using reason to explore new insights and possibilities.
• Intuitive, affirming the metaphorical, paradoxical, and symbolic.
• Aesthetic, understanding that truth, goodness, and beauty are inter-related.
• Moderate, holding the "middle ground" between extremes.
• Naturalistic, delighting in the rhythms of life grounded in Creation.
• Historical, valuing tradition and experience in understanding the present.
• Political, appreciating civic virtues and affirmation of free, peaceful, and public debate and discourse, and the role of the church in influencing social, political, and economic life.

Our Beliefs
We believe in a loving God – Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer – who created the universe, who through Jesus Christ redeems us from sin and death, and who sustains us through love and grace.
We promise to follow Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. We believe the mission of our church is the restoration of all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.
The cornerstones of our faith are scripture, tradition, reason, and experience.
Scripture
Scripture is the word of God contained in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. The Old Testament recounts the story of God's love for the world from Creation until the time of Jesus.  The New Testament contains Jesus' teachings, the accounts of his life as told by his followers, and the beginning of the early Christian church. Scripture is the ground of our faith and is read in public worship services and daily devotions. We are not biblical "literalists."  That is, we study scripture in the context of history, and seek to interpret God's word in scripture for our own day.  We have a willingness to live with diverse and changing interpretations of scripture, rather than attributing scripture with infallible certainty and binding prescriptions for all time and circumstance.
Tradition
Tradition is the embodiment of our experience as Christians throughout the centuries, shaped by the Bible, historic creeds, sacraments, and the ministry carried out by Christ's disciples.  Tradition is expressed with many voices, including worship styles, languages, cultures, architecture, and music. Our tradition encourages this diversity. We seek to value each person's life and story, and invite each person to share in our Christian community.
Reason
We believe that our God-given ability to think critically and take responsibility for our actions is a vital part of our Christian faith. Reason, as a complement to scripture and tradition, leads us to seek answers to our own questions. Human reason is set in the context of our relationship with God, and God's call to us to live full and healthy lives.
Experience
We experience God's love and our spiritual journey in the context of community – both within the church and in the world-at-large. Our daily living experience also shapes our questions, and nurtures our quest for a closer relationship with God and Jesus Christ.
What to Expect When You Visit
Worship in the Episcopal Church

Sunday is traditionally when Episcopalians gather for worship. The principal weekly worship service is the Holy Eucharist, also known as: the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, or Mass. In most Episcopal churches, worship is accompanied by the singing of hymns, and in some churches, much of the service is sung.
Worship Styles

Episcopalians worship in many different styles, ranging from very formal, ancient, and multi-sensory rites with lots of singing, music, fancy clothes (called vestments), and incense, to informal services with contemporary music. Yet all worship in the Episcopal Church is based in the Book of Common Prayer, which gives worship a familiar feel, no matter where you go.
Liturgy and Ritual

Worship in the Episcopal Church is said to be “liturgical,” meaning that the congregation follows service forms and prays from texts that don’t change greatly from week to week during a season of the year. This sameness from week to week gives worship a rhythm that becomes comforting and familiar to the worshipers.
For the first-time visitor, liturgy may be exhilarating… or confusing.  Services may involve standing, sitting, kneeling, sung or spoken responses, and other participatory elements that may provide a challenge for the first-time visitor. However, liturgical worship can be compared with a dance: once you learn the steps, you come to appreciate the rhythm, and it becomes satisfying to dance, again and again, as the music changes.
The Holy Eucharist

In spite of the diversity of worship styles in the Episcopal Church, Holy Eucharist is the central focus of our services.
The Liturgy of the Word

We begin by praising God through song and prayer, and then listen to as many as four readings from the Bible. Usually one from the Old Testament, a Psalm, something from the Epistles, and (always) a reading from the Gospels. The psalm is usually sung or recited by the congregation.
Next, a sermon interpreting the readings appointed for the day is preached.
The congregation then recites the Nicene Creed, written in the Fourth Century and the Church’s statement of what we believe ever since.
Next, the congregation prays together—for the Church, the World, and those in need. We pray for the sick, thank God for all the good things in our lives, and finally, we pray for the dead. The presider (e.g. priest, bishop, lay minister) concludes with a prayer that gathers the petitions into a communal offering of intercession.
In certain seasons of the Church year, the congregation formally confesses their sins before God and one another. This is a corporate statement of what we have done and what we have left undone, followed by a pronouncement of absolution.  In pronouncing absolution, the presider assures the congregation that God is always ready to forgive our sins.
The congregation then greets one another with a sign of “peace.”
The Liturgy of the Table

Next, the priest stands at the table, which has been set with a cup of wine and a plate of bread or wafers, raises his or her hands, and greets the congregation again, saying “The Lord be With You.”  Now begins the Eucharistic Prayer, in which the presider tells the story of our faith, from the beginning of Creation, through the choosing of Israel to be God’s people, through our continual turning away from God, and God’s calling us to return. Finally, the presider tells the story of the coming of Jesus Christ, and about the night before his death, on which he instituted the Eucharistic meal (communion) as a continual remembrance of him.
The presider blesses the bread and wine, and the congregation recites the Lord’s Prayer. Finally, the presider breaks the bread and offers it to the congregation, as the “gifts of God for the People of God.”
The congregation then shares the consecrated bread and the wine. Sometimes the people all come forward to receive the bread and wine; sometimes they pass the elements around in other ways.
All Are Welcome

All baptized Christians—no matter age or denomination—are welcome to “receive communion.”  Episcopalians invite all baptized people to receive, not because we take the Eucharist lightly, but because we take our baptism so seriously. 
Visitors who are not baptized Christians or do not wish to receive communion are welcome to come forward during the Communion to receive a blessing from the preside by crossing their arms over their chest.
At the end of the Eucharist, the congregation prays once more in thanksgiving, and then is dismissed to continue the life of service to God and to the World.
Information above comes from the web sites of The Episcopal Church and St. Thomas Episcopal Church (Medina, WA).