What We Believe

We hold the Bible to be the Word of God³, and therefore submit⁴ ourselves to the authority of the Word, properly interpreted and understood within historic orthodoxy.

We are an evangelical church, affirming the centrality of the gospel of Jesus⁵ to all of our faith and practice. All of us have sinned⁶, and have thereby brought death upon ourselves, and have distanced ourselves from God. On the cross, Jesus our Messiah took our sin upon himself⁷. In his death and resurrection, we are reconciled with God⁸. We receive God’s forgiveness and enter into eternal life through simple trust in Jesus⁹.

We are an elder-led¹⁰ church. A board of qualified¹¹ men and women serve together as elders to oversee, shepherd, and govern the church.

In the midst of the growth and changes our church body has experienced in recent years, the Elders have worked diligently behind the scenes to provide direction, support, and stability. The church Elders responsibility is twofold: to shepherd and to oversee the church.

Under our particular model of governance, the elders (including any senior or lead pastors) are charged with determining the “ends” (goals of the church), and the senior or lead pastors are charged with determining the “means” of the church (how the ends are accomplished). The elders are also responsible for placing any limitations they consider necessary on the means (such as the lead pastors can’t operate without a budget approved by the elders), as well as establishing the linkage processes between the elders and the lead pastors (how we hold the lead pastors accountable for achieving the ends, living within the values, etc). We are also responsible for shepherding the church.

The heart of a shepherd is to be intimately concerned with the safety and wellbeing of the church. Our Elders gather to pray for our church body and leadership during weekend services, special events, and for healing of those who are sick (James 5:14). During each weekend service, Elders visit our children’s wing to pray for the children and teachers. Part of the Elders shepherding role is to support our pastors & staff, including an annual review of our Lead Pastors. This comprehensive review evaluates not only what happened in the life of the church, but also our Lead Pastors’ own goals, competencies, and character as a leader.

God has called our faith community together for a purpose, and we are in a unique position to see God do amazing things. God asks us to meet with Him and to worship. He asks us to risk and to trust Him. He asks us to serve and extend the Kingdom of God.

We are missional to the core, setting aside 20% of our budget toward missions – from our neighborhoods to the ends of the earth. We see racial reconciliation¹² as an essential aspect of missions.

We believe the ministry of the Word and prayer¹³ to be foundational to all that we do, as did the early church.

We hold to a traditional view on marriage¹⁴, which is a covenant before God between a man and a woman.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Catholic¹⁵ Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.

Amen.