Ten Distinctives

  1. We are a trinitarian Christian church and affirm the ancient ecumenical creeds.¹

  2. We are rooted in the historic Protestant and Reformed traditions.²

  3. The Bible is the inspired Word of God and therefore has supreme authority in all matters of faith and life.³

  4. We proclaim the gospel of grace. God grants full pardon and eternal life to all sinners who believe upon Jesus Christ as their Savior and substitute, not in return for anything good we do, but simply according to his grace, by the working of the Holy Spirit.⁴

  5. We regard all believers as disciples.⁵

  6. We are covenantal, meaning that we believe God also incorporates the children of professing members among his visible church through the sacrament of baptism. However, we are responsible to call our little ones to living faith and discipleship (Deut 6:7; Eph 6:4).⁶

  7. Every believer participates in Christ’s mission and kingdom.⁷

  8. We elect and ordain qualified Ministers of the Word and Sacraments to serve as our primary teachers.

  9. Our church is governed pastorally by an elected board of nine local elders, and assisted by seven deacons, who meet the biblical requirements for church office.

  10. Our congregation belongs to a federation of roughly 120 like-minded churches from whom we seek regular advice and cooperation. We also cooperate with broader coalitions and para-church ministries.

Our church officers take public vows to uphold the three ancient Ecumenical Creeds as well as the Three Forms of Unity, which are our most thorough statements concerning biblical doctrine..

Footnotes to Go Further

  1. The three ancient ecumenical creeds are the Apostles Creed, Nicene Creed, and Athanasian Creeds. They are summaries of biblical doctrine. Read them online.

  2. Being “Protestant” means that we affirm the apostolic faith but reject unbiblical corruptions that came later, such as the pope’s claim to be the earthly head of the church, to have power to pardon sins for payment or good works (i.e., indulgences), and five additional sacraments not instituted by Christ. The “Reformed” branch of Protestantism stems from a 16th century movement to “return” or “restore” (Latin, reformata) the church to the pattern which God provides in Scripture. Complete statements of faith can be found here.

  3. We exalt the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as our supreme authority over all matters of faith and godliness. We hold the Bible to be inspired, inerrant, and sufficiently clear on essentials, such that ordinary people may know God’s will concerning salvation and life, if by faith they make use of the ordinary means for knowing it, namely, prayerful attendance at preaching and regular study of the Word.

  4. Reformed also signifies our beliefs about salvation. We believe God pardons and reconciles sinners to himself “by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.” Salvation is not a meritorious reward for one’s good works, nor is it finally conditioned on the goodness of one’s heart, mind, or will to believe. It is “the free gift of God” from start to finish since, “he who began a good work in you will complete it to the end.” (Rom 6:23; Eph 2:8-10; Phil 1:6). Yet we hold that all genuine believers, since they have the Holy Spirit, consequently evidence living faith by lifelong pursuit of holiness and loving service to God, his church, and our neighbors.

  5. Christ calls his church not only to be hearers but doers of God's Word. We aim for all members to become true followers of Jesus’ teachings. Our leaders strive to exemplify this by their own growth in holiness and loving service, and encourage it in the congregation.

  6. Adults from outside the church formally join by mutual vows of Christian faith, service, and accountability. Children of believers, however, are not treated simply as observers, but as beloved disciples and fellow worshippers who are being nurtured in the faith. This is consistent with how God deals with the children of believers in all ages, granting them outwards signs and seals of his promises which they are to receive by faith. Later they are exhorted to profess of their faith. Here’s a sermon on why we baptize our children.

  7. As living members of Christ’s Body, every believer of the church has a meaningful role to play in his mission to “make disciples of all nations” (Eph 4:12-16, Mt 28:20) This also means we are oriented to his “heavenly kingdom.” That is, we seek to translate Christian convictions into every sphere of life while maintaining our distinctiveness from the world (1 Tim 6:13-16; Romans 12:22). We are “light to the nations” and “salt of the earth” (Mt 5:13-16, I Pt 2:9,10). Believers devote themselves individually and corporately to bringing the gospel to the world (Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8). We encourage the Christian mission to proceeds in many ways, including:

    Through these and other means, our lives bear witness to God’s grace and Christ’s kingdom.

 

Official Documents

ECUMENICAL CREEDS

The Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed date from the early centuries of the Christian church. Creeds, also called “symbols of faith,” are concise and authorized statements of the essential tenets of the faith based exclusively on the Bible. The believing community employs these creeds for testimony, instruction, and worship—including setting forth normative expressions of Christian truth and serving as the standard for theological inquiry. Although many kinds of creeds exist, the ecumenical creeds have the broadest recognition within the Christian church. They are called “ecumenical” because they have been approved and accepted by a large portion of the churches of Christendom.

THREE FORMS OF UNITY

We affirm these widely adopted statements of doctrine to be in full agreement with God’s Word.

urcna synodical STATEMENTS

Articles of Church Order

Our federation binds themselves in like-practice and government, as stipulated in this document.