As a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America, we subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Larger Catechism, and the Westminster Shorter Catechism as our statement of faith.
The Westminster Confession and Catechisms were originally crafted by more than one hundred pastors and scholars representing England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales gathered at London’s Westminster Abbey over the course of seven years in the 1640s. Their mission was to craft a document that summarized the teaching of Scripture on the vital doctrines of the faith and provide a source of unity and instruction for like-minded churches, and we believe it remains so to this day.
The following is a summary of what we believe the Bible teaches:
- God is holy, pure, and perfect, yet he also passionately pursues broken people to love them with a love they have not earned. He is the one true Good Father.
- The Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice.
- There is one God, eternal and self-existing in three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) who are to be loved, honored, and adored equally.
- All of humankind participated in Adam’s fall from his original sinless state and is thus lost in sin and totally helpless.
- All of humankind is still made in the image of God, so we are noble, beautiful, and good, while at the same time we are broken in every aspect of our beings.
- Since the Fall, God has been actively at work redeeming his creation. In the incarnation, life, and death of his son, Jesus Christ, God has declared, secured, and continued the restoration of all things in his kingdom.
- The Sovereign God, for no other reason than his own unfathomable love and mercy, awakens, regenerates, and saves lost sinners from every nation. He does this through the quickening power of the Holy Spirit on account of the atoning death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ.
- Justification (being made right with God) is by faith. Through this faith, the undeserving sinner is clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Read those two sentences again because this is as beautiful as it is hard to believe.
- The goal of God’s salvation is that we would be adopted as his children, set free, and empowered to live a life of repentance, obedience, and reliance on the Holy Spirit, who works to transform us and restore the image of God in us.
- Baptism is a sign of God’s covenant and is properly administered to children of believers in their infancy as well as to those who come to trust in Christ as adults.
- Jesus Christ will return to earth, visibly and bodily, at a time when he is not expected, in order to restore all things and bring fulfillment.
- The gospel of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ is to be shared with all people and all nations.
