Our Beliefs
Faith, Freedom and Fellowship:
The Congregational Way
The Congregational Way is following Christ by faith. Led by the Holy Spirit, we seek to grow through studying the Bible, openness to God’s leading, and prayer, as well as caring for one another.
We administrate our own church affairs through democratic governance within the congregation by elected Boards and committees, with no outside interference or oversight by a national organization.
The freedom of the Congregational Way is not freedom from responsibility, but freedom to follow Christ as the Spirit calls us. We are bound by love, not law, to other members of our local church and to other churches. We understand that each church is ultimately accountable to God.
The heart of any church is fellowship — a bonding of spirit between one another and a unity of spirit between each member and the Lord. Each church is gathered as a covenant community: promising to encourage and strengthen one another in faith.
Foundational Beliefs
The Holy Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired Word of God. The final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible, and God-breathed.
(2Tim. 3:16,17; 2 Pet. 1:20,21; Matt. 5:18; John 16:12,13)
God
We believe in the triune God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – Co eternal in being co-identical in nature, co-equal in power, and glory and having the same attributes and perfections.
(Deut.6:4; 2 Cor. 13:14)
Repentance
We believe that we are called to repentance, turning away from sin and turning to God, that we may receive forgiveness and a remission of sin.
(Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15; Luke 3:3; Acts 2:38; Hebrews 6:1)
The Person and Work of Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful men.
(John 1:1,2,14; Luke 1:35)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for all mankind as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice to accomplish the redemption and justification of all who trust in Him, and is assured by his literal and physical resurrection from the dead.
(Romans 3:24, 25; 1 Pet. 2:24; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet 1:3-5)
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry of representative, intercessor, and advocate.
(Acts 9:11; Heb. 9:25, 7:25; Rom. 8:34; 1 John 1:2)
The Total Depravity of Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that in Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God, and that man is totally depraved and of himself utterly unable to remedy his lost condition.
(Gen 1:26, 27; Rom. 3:22, 23; Eph. 2:1-3, 12)
Salvation
We believe that salvation is a gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on the cross at Calvary for the forgiveness of sins.
(Eph 2:5-10; John 1:12; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19)
The Great Commission
We believe it is the responsibility of every believer in Jesus Christ to grow in the knowledge and wisdom of the Lord by fulfilling the Great Commission of “Making disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all things that Jesus has commanded us.”
(Matthew 28:19-20)
The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and that He is the supernatural agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption.
(John 16:8-11; 2 Cor. 1:6; 1Cor. 12:12-14; Rom. 8:9; Eph. 1:13, 14)
We believe He is the Divine Teacher who guides believers into all truth, and that it is the privilege of all saved to be filled with the Spirit.
(John 16:13; 1 John 2:20, 27; Eph. 5:18)