WHAT WE BELIEVE
WE ARE A PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA) CONGREGATION
In the Presbyterian Church (USA) of which we are a part:
• Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior
• The Bible is the unique and authoritative witness to the love of God that is fully revealed in Christ.
• The faith of the Church guides our reading of scripture through our Book of Confessions.
• What we believe.
WE BELIEVE GOD IS LOVE
We see the fingerprint of God across all creation and in the image of every human being. Our experience of God demonstrates an ever pursuing desire to bless and strengthen creation and humankind. We call this “Covenant Love” that is demonstrated throughout a story told in the Bible and experienced in communities of faithful believers across the ages.
WE BELIEVE JESUS IS LORD AND SAVIOR
We believe God most fully demonstrated love in the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. We acknowledge the suffering and sorrow of the world when we consider the cross that carried Jesus through death. We believe he conquered every sorrow we call sin and raised us from death to life through the power of his resurrection. We believe that eternal life begins in this present moment because of God’s accomplishment in Jesus Christ. He is Lord because his Way, Truth, and Life guide all of life and he is Savior because we confess our sin and sorrow in need of salvation.
WE BELIEVE JESUS SPEAKS THROUGH THE BIBLE
We pray that God will bring meaning to our reading of the Bible. We believe it is unique in its ability to bear witness to God’s love. It is without parallel in all the wisdom of the world. The Bible is therefore the authoritative witness to God that guides our daily lives and the direction for our common life. By the work of the Holy Spirit through prayer and discernment, the Bible holds the Word of God that speaks to us and becomes the lens by which we view and inspire life.
WE BELIEVE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY INSPIRES
We believe that a congregation is part of a wider communion of believers who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. God calls us to be more than the sum of all our parts. By the power of the Holy Spirit we are given the high challenge of demonstrating the living body of Christ for the world today. We work for Christian unity and we grow in love with one another. We believe that a church is called to inspire by word and deed through its common life and the life of its members.
Matthew 25
Our church has accepted the PC(USA)’s invitation to become a Matthew 25 church. This invitation asks us to follow Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 25:31–46 by becoming active disciples and making a difference in our community and the world.
The Matthew 25 initiative asks us “to act boldly and compassionately to see our neighbors through Jesus’ eyes and serve those who are marginalized or in need — people who are hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, imprisoned, strangers, poor or oppressed in other ways and in need of welcoming”. A motion was passed that we would become a Matthew 25 church.
As part of our Matthew 25 commitment, Session pledged that our congregation would work to embrace all three areas of focus:
· Building congregational vitality by challenging people and congregations to deepen their faith and get actively and joyfully engaged with their community and the world.
· Dismantling structural racism by advocating and acting to break down the systems, practices and thinking that underlie discrimination, bias, prejudice and oppression of people of color.
· Eradicating systemic poverty by working to change laws, policies, plans and structures in our society that perpetuate economic exploitation of people who are poor.
We pray that you will enthusiastically embrace the call to make a difference in our community and in our congregation.