Core Values

As a church, we rejoice in the common bond we share with “all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours” (1 Corinthians 1:2). We delight in the glorious reality that we stand together in the gospel with every Christian throughout the world and throughout the ages. It is the good news of Jesus Christ that is at the center of our faith and our identity as individual Christians and as a local church.

Yet we recognize not every local church is exactly the same in form and expression. In addition to affirming the biblical gospel and the essential doctrines of the Christian faith, we as a church have chosen to unite around additional core values and distinctives that are particularly dear to us as a congregation. Though the list below is not exhaustive, it captures many of the values and ideals that make us who we are as a local church.

1. Biblically-Ordered, Congregational Worship

We believe the church is called to worship the triune God (Father, Son, and Spirit) in the specific ways He has revealed in His Word. God alone has the right to determine how He should be worshiped. Therefore, His people ought to worship Him according to His Word alone. The heart of the church’s worship is found in its weekly gatherings as a congregation on the Lord’s Day. The focus of such gatherings is to be upon the glory of God and the edification of His people. In keeping with the express prescriptions of God’s Word, and the practice of His saints throughout the ages, we purpose to worship God together by engaging in the public reading of Scripture, corporate prayer, the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, the preaching of the Word, and participation in the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. In congregational worship, God’s people should eagerly seek the presence, power, and blessing of the Holy Spirit. They should come into worship with expectant hearts, seeking the experience of genuine fellowship with the living God.

Key Texts: Matthew 28:19; John 4:23-24; Acts 2:42-47; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; 12:12-14; 14:26; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:1-4;  4:13; 2 Timothy 4:1-2; Hebrews 10:24-25; 1 Peter 4:11

2. Expositional Preaching

We believe the public preaching of the Word of God is at the heart of the church’s life and mission. God brings spiritual life through His Word and awakens and nurtures faith in the hearts of men and women through the faithful preaching of it. As the Apostle Paul says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). True biblical preaching is the authoritative proclamation of the Word of God to the souls of men and women with the aim of bringing them into fellowship with God in Christ. Expositional preaching seeks to expound the meaning and message of the text of Scripture and apply it to the lives of the people for their regeneration and edification. It is designed to bring the whole counsel of God to the hearts and consciences of men and women in order to exalt God, bring sinners to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, and build up the people of God in holiness, Christ-likeness, and Christian service.

Key Texts: Nehemiah 8:1-8; Psalm 19:7-11; 119; Isaiah 55:10-11; John 17:17; Romans 10:17; Ephesians 4:11-12; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-4:2; Hebrews 4:12-13; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 2:2; 4:11

3. Confessionally Reformed and Baptist

We believe that the Bible and the Bible alone is the only infallible rule for faith and life. We also embrace the historic practice of affirming the truth of God’s Word through the use of creeds and confessions. Good creeds and confessions are essentially faithful, instructive, summary statements of scriptural truth for the articulation, preservation, and transmission of the faith from generation to generation. Though useful, they are not infallible, and must always be subject to the ultimate authority of Scripture. 

As a church, we are united together by our shared affirmation of a number of creeds and confessions that define our beliefs. Our faith can best be described as historic (orthodox), Reformed, and Baptist.

Historic (orthodox): We believe the core of our faith is summarized in the major creeds of the early church. These brief, concise statements of faith clearly articulate the most foundational Christians truths we hold dear. We embrace the historic, orthodox understanding of Christian doctrine affirmed in the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and the Chalcedon Confession.

Reformed: Having embraced these historic creeds, we also identify ourselves with the Reformed tradition. We broadly affirm the articulation of Reformed doctrine as found in many of the Reformed confessions of the 16th and 17th centuries such as the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Canons of Dort, and the Westminster Confession of Faith (while maintaining Baptist distinctives). We affirm what have been termed the “Five Solas” of the Reformation: the absolute authority of Scripture alone which teaches salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone. We also embrace what have been called the “Doctrines of Grace” which emphasize the depravity of mankind, the absolute sovereignty of God in man’s salvation, and His effectual grace to regenerate, redeem, and preserve those who trust in Christ. Furthermore, as Reformed Christians, we believe that the glory and majesty of God are at the center of all things. Therefore our worship as a church is designed to be God-centered and is regulated by God’s Word alone. 

Baptist: We are also committed as a church to Baptist distinctives, meaning we believe that the only proper candidates for baptism are those who possess personal saving faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, the membership of the church is to be made up only of those who are truly regenerate. As Baptists, we also believe that each local congregation is meant to be self-governed through the leadership of faithful elders as recognized by the congregation. Though we believe each local congregation is to be self-governed, we also believe in the importance of associating with other like-minded churches for the purposes of fellowship, counsel, mutual support, and cooperation.

Our primary confession of faith which all members of the church are required to affirm is the Abstract of Principles (1858). All church officers (elders and deacons) must also affirm the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689.

Key texts: Jeremiah 31:31-34; John 17:17; Acts 17:11; Ephesians 1-2; Romans 1-9; 2 Timothy 1:13; 3:16-17; Jude 3

4. Biblically-Qualified Elders

We believe elders are the God-ordained leaders of the local church. The men who would serve as elders must be called of God, qualified according to the Bible, and recognized by the church. Their primary responsibilities are to teach and to rule. They execute these responsibilities by leading the flock, feeding them on the Word of God, providing pastoral care for their souls, and protecting them from error. Elders must be able to govern the congregation with love, wisdom, and sound judgment in order that the church body may flourish. They ought to be competent in the Scriptures and should possess the spiritual giftedness to convey the truth of God’s Word in ways that are genuinely edifying to God’s people. Some among the elders should be set apart for the work of public preaching and teaching in a more devoted way in recognition of the sovereign gifting of Christ. All the elders are called to be models of good works, sound speech, and dignified behavior. They should always endeavor to imitate Christ, the Chief Shepherd, who laid down His life for the sheep and undertakes at all times to intercede for the salvation of their souls.

Each elder must be affirmed by the congregation in order to serve in office. Ordinarily, the local church is to be led and governed by a plurality of elders.

Key Texts: Acts 6:4; 14:23; 20:28-31; Ephesians 4:11-12; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; 4:11-16; 5:17; 2 Timothy 2:14-15, 24-25; Titus 1:5-9; 2:7; Hebrews 13:7, 17; 1 Peter 5:1-4

5. Meaningful Membership

We believe local church membership is both a privilege and an imperative enjoined on all Christians. God does not intend for His people to follow Him in isolation from other disciples, but in the context of local communities of believers called churches where they are to live out their Christian lives alongside one another. Thus, each individual Christian is to be united to a local body of believers in mutually loving and accountable relationships under that church’s authority and discipline. 

Relationships within the church are to be regulated by certain personal commitments made between the members of the church as outlined in numerous texts in the New Testament (e.g. the roughly sixty “one another” passages). Christlike love is to be the hallmark of these relationships, enabling the members to serve one another, bear one another's' burdens, forgive one another, exercise forbearance with one another, and work for unity alongside one another in the body. Simply put, the life of Christian discipleship is meant to be lived out in the context of meaningful, committed relationships in the local church. Thus, Christians ought to devote themselves to the life, ministry, and mission of the local church, investing their time and resources to serve the church’s health and progress.

Further, we believe that it is incumbent upon local churches to be clear about precisely who are the members of their bodies, and to faithfully watch over and shepherd the members of their own churches. We also believe that Christ calls His churches to exercise discipline over individual members who persist in unrepentant sin by first going to them privately seeking their repentance and restoration, and, if these efforts fail, to remove such members from their fellowship through formal excommunication.

Key Texts: Matthew 18:15-20; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 5; 12:12-28; Ephesians 4:1-16; Hebrews 10:24-25

6. Christian Growth Through Discipleship

We believe the church is called by the Lord Jesus to make disciples. A disciple is a lifelong follower of Jesus who, having turned from sin and trusted in Him, submits to His teachings, walks in growing obedience to His commands, and lives in abiding fellowship with Him. Part of the church’s mission is to help believers grow as followers of Jesus. Therefore, each local church should aim to help their members grow in the grace of God by teaching them to put off sin and to put on Christ-likeness. The church helps Christians grow by bringing them to the means of grace, namely the worship of God, the ministry of the Word, prayer, the fellowship of the saints, the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and other such means that promote the growth of God’s people. In a word, the church is meant to be a kind of “greenhouse” for Christian growth. The aim of the church’s discipleship ministry is to bring each individual Christian to maturity in Christ, that they might better please and glorify God.

Key Texts: Matthew 5-7; 28:18-20; John 15:1-11; Ephesians 4:1-16, Colossians 1:28; 3:1-17; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8; Titus 2:1-5; 11-14

7. Missions, Evangelism, and Mercy Ministry

We believe Christ calls His people to go into the world to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ in order that men and women might be saved from their sins through Him. Therefore, we believe the church’s members should be encouraged in personal evangelism as they have opportunity in their various spheres of life. We also believe the church as a corporate body is called to the work of evangelism through public services and ministries, and the support of evangelistic efforts both in the local community and around the world. Thus, the church should seek to support and resource the work of church planting and missions in order that men and women might be reached with the gospel. We recognize this work cannot be done in isolation from other churches, but must involve association and cooperation with other like-minded local churches. Therefore, we endeavor to partner with other churches for the spread of the gospel.

We further believe one of our greatest mission fields is our own children, and therefore we make it our aim to preach the gospel to our children in order that they too might be saved from their sins and become faithful followers of Christ. We do this by bringing the gospel to our children both in the home and in the context of our gatherings as a church, and seeking to raise them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

We also believe that God calls His people to ministries of mercy that are meant both to meet the practical needs of people and to commend the gospel of grace to their souls. Jesus gave Himself to redeem a people who are “zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14), and we would, by God’s help, seek to give ourselves to such works in order that we might honor God, help needy people, and commend the character and grace of God to a broken world.

Key Texts: Matthew 5:13-16; 28:18-20; Mark 10:13-16; Luke 10:25-37; Romans 10:14-17; 15:17-21; 2 Corinthians 8:1-7; Galatians 6:10; Ephesians 6:4; Philippians 2:14-15; 4:14-20; 1 Thessalonians 1:8; Titus 2:14; 3:8, 14; James 1:27; 3 John 5-8