Thursday, May 15, 2008 You Are Here: Statements of Belief  | 

Vision and Mission Statement:

Our vision is to be a place and offer times "where faith comes to life."
(John 10:10)


Our mission is "to build and equip a community of Christian disciples to witness to the lost
(Matthew 28:16-20)
to serve the needy
(Luke 10:25-37)
to love all people
(John 15:17)".

"What we believe"

We confess and acknowledge one God alone,
to whom alone we must cling,
whom alone we must serve and worship,
and in whom alone we put our trust.

We confess and acknowledge that we belong,
body and soul,
in life and in death,
not to ourselves
but to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

We confess and acknowledge that the Holy Spirit
creates in us true faith out of sheer grace
and calls us into the world
to witness to Christ as Lord and Savior,
to serve as God's reconciling community and
to love all people.

With believers in every time and place we rejoice
that nothing in life or in death can separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Notes

  1. The words all come from documents of the PC(USA) constitution, part 1, the Book of Confessions. These range from the Scots Confession of 1560, through the Heidelberg Catechism of 1562, the Confession of 1967 and the Brief Statement of Faith of 1991.
  2. The statement has been couched in the first person plural to stress the importance of the believing community in both the nurture and discipleship of the individual.
  3. The phrase "confess and acknowledge" from the Scots Confession has been used instead of the simpler single word "believe" to stress the two-fold obligation upon us; confessing within the community of faith and acknowledging out in the unbelieving world.
  4. The opening section seeks to focus on the sovereign, majestic transcendence of God while at the same time showing how close such a God truly is. Each verb describes a different aspect of God and of our relationship to him.
  5. The second section seeks to describe the significance of Jesus in terms of what he did rather than what he was. He is our Savior because he saved us!
  6. The third section follows this pattern in describing the action of the Spirit. At the same time major Reformed themes are intimated; election, justification, sanctification, mission and discipleship.
  7. The concluding section is a rejoicing affirmation.
  8. The statement was adopted by the Session on June 2, 1997 for use throughout the congregation's ministries and programs.
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