What We Believe

We Are Christians

First and foremost, we are Christians. We therefore join with all true believers in confessing the fundamental truths of our historic and ancient faith. The early Christian creeds focused on the truth of who Jesus is and what He came to accomplish on the earth. They are faithfully summarized in the following early creeds of the universal church:

• The “Apostles Creed” (as early as 150-180 AD)
• The Nicene Creed (325 / 381 AD)
• The Athanasian Creed (300s AD)
• The Chalcedonian Creed (451 AD)

With all true Christians, we reject any change to the Gospel message which would dismiss, distort, or deny the revealed truth of Scripture concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ.

We Are Reformed and Evangelical

Second, but importantly, we are Protestant in our desire to see the purity and renewal of the universal Church. We affirm and honor many key principles of the Reformation movement that took place in Europe in the 16th century under gifted teachers such as Martin Luther, Jean Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, John Knox, and many others.

We believe that the “Five Solas” are critically important to understand the message of the Gospel. These help us safeguard the purity and power of the Gospel message amidst confusion that resulted from centuries of human tradition and church corruption:

• Sola Gratia – We must be saved by God’s grace alone. Salvation is not earned, but rather is a free gift to the undeserving.
• Sola Fide – Salvation comes to us through faith alone, and not through works performed in order to earn favor and forgiveness with God.
• Solus Christus – Salvation is found in Christ alone, and cannot be found in any other mediator including the saints, the Virgin Mary, or any other prophet, guru, or savior.
• Sola Scriptura – The Gospel message is preserved in Scripture alone, which is the only sure source of the apostolic faith that was “delivered once for all” to God’s people in the Bible. Human traditions and religious practices which are not grounded in Scripture do not have authority in matters of Christian faith and practice.
• Soli Deo Gloria – This Gospel message of God’s grace alone, received through faith alone, in Christ alone and testified within Scripture alone is God’s chosen plan to establish ultimate and unending glory to God alone in the history of creation and redemption.

We Are Baptistic and Free

Finally, we are a Baptistic and Free Church. During and after the time of the Reformation, various groups of Christian believers came together in order to apply its principles further. These Christian pastors and leaders also sought to establish churches that were free from the state’s power and influence.

Once free from hierarchical control, they hoped to regulate their worship and teaching according to Scripture alone in line with Reformation principles. Unfortunately, many were persecuted severely and even killed for this simple desire. But over time, the powerful principles of the free church spread throughout the world.

Whether English separatists and so-called Puritans in the Church of England, anabaptists in Europe, or others, there are certain enduring principles these forebears in the faith have left us that we believe help us live more closely in line with the practice and belief of the apostolic church of the New Testament:

• The supreme authority of the Bible over and above any human creed
• Believer’s baptism as a symbol of personal repentance and faith, to be administered by immersion
• Church membership being only for those with clear testimony of faith (i.e. “regenerate church membership”)
• The priesthood of all believers and a strong commitment to equality through congregationalism
• Religious freedom and the separation of church and state
• Independent churches that freely associate in like-minded unions
• Cooperative giving for world missions and relief efforts