Our Beliefs

We believe that belief is important! In particular, belief in what God has revealed in the Scriptures. We stand firmly on the following convictions, and welcome discussion with anyone who disagrees with any of them, for the basis for ultimate unity and understanding each other is not found in ignoring our differences but engaging them in love, with grace and patience, even as God has done for us.

From our denominations website,the Presbyterian Church in America, with additional commentary in italics:

We believe the Bible is the written word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit and without error in the original manuscripts. The Bible is the revelation of God’s truth and is infallible and authoritative in all matters of faith and practice. We stand confidently where the Bible speaks clearly, and we seek a posture of humility where the Bible indicates room for disagreement or need for further discernment.

We believe in the Holy Trinity. There is one God, who exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is love and always has been, because God has eternally dwelt in communion; this is the living pattern of our own love in the family of God, as we are united in our various gender, social, and ethnic differences into one community of faith.

We believe that all are sinners and totally unable to save themselves from God’s displeasure, except by His mercy. We believe that this is one of the clearest doctrines that we can be dogmatic about: we are often wrong in our thoughts, words, and deeds, and there is no difference among us all--we all fall short of God's glorious standard for a life that flourishes before Him.

We believe that salvation is by God alone as He sovereignly chooses those He will save. We believe His choice is based on His grace, not on any human individual merit, or foreseen faith. What can we say but humbly worship and serve each other with grace and no whiff of superiority or self-applause?

We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who through His perfect life and sacrificial death atoned for the sins of all who will trust in Him, alone, for salvation. God personally came into the world as both the greatest man and the lowest of slaves, to seek and save and serve us; this message has the aroma of pure grace all over it, so different from every other human effort, impulse, and religion.

We believe that God is gracious and faithful to His people not simply as individuals but as families in successive generations according to His Covenant promises.

We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells God’s people and gives them the strength and wisdom to trust Christ and follow Him.

We believe that Jesus will return, bodily and visibly, to judge all mankind and to receive His people to Himself.

We believe that all aspects of our lives are to be lived to the glory of God under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.