About Us

OUR ESSENTIALS

1. The Bible
We believe the Bible is the written word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit and without error in the original manuscripts. The Bible is the revelation of God’s truth and is infallible and authoritative in all matters of faith and practice.

2. God
We believe in the Holy Trinity. There is one God, who exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

3. Creation and providence
We believe that God created the world we live in and through providence sustains, governs, and directs all things according to His sovereign will.

4. Humanity and sin
We believe that we are all are sinners and totally unable to save ourselves from God’s displeasure, except by His mercy. Before the fall mankind had a freedom to choose what was good and pleasing to God, but now is unable to choose any spiritual good.

5. Covenant theology
We believe that God is gracious and faithful to His people not simply as individuals but as families in successive generations according to His Covenant promises. Covenant theology views all of Scripture as an unfolding covenant relationship between God and His people in which God’s dealings with humanity is based on consistency throughout by grace.

6. Order of salvation
We believe that God alone sovereignly chooses those He will save, calling them to himself by His Spirit, pardoning them and accepting them as righteous because of Jesus. He adopts them into His family. They forsake their sins in repentance and produce characteristics of a redeemed life. God completes this work He began and they persevere to the end. There is great mystery in these workings of God, which requires much humility from us.

7. The church
We believe that as the living God renews all things, he has been gathering a people, called the church, from every nation, ethnicity, class, and culture. He instructs His church to become actively invested in the world’s people and problems in productive ways by bringing his truth and values to bear on all of life. Jesus has power and authority to right what is wrong with the world and he chooses the church as his primary instrument for making disciples of all nations. Thus, the church's mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ through the means of grace that God has provided; ordinarily, God's Word, the sacraments, and prayer.

8. The sacraments
We believe Jesus appointed two holy sacraments as signs and seals of the covenant of grace. Baptism is for those who express faith and obedience to Christ and their children. The Lord’s supper was given as a sign of spiritual nourishment and a pledge of communion to Christ and His body.

9. Death and end times
We believe that after death our bodies return to the dust but our souls live on forever, the righteous to heaven and the wicked to hell. On God’s appointed day there will be a bodily resurrection and Jesus will return, bodily and visibly, to judge all mankind and to receive His people to Himself.

10. The gospel
We believe God has provided only one way of salvation, through the sacrifice of Jesus that is to be offered to all people, by His people. He invites and commands everyone everywhere to accept His gracious invitation.

These Essentials are described with greater detail in the Westminster Confession of Faith, our confessional statement and standard of doctrine, as found in Scripture.