What do we believe?
We keep it pretty simple.
We fully affirm the historic creeds of the Christian church as excellent summaries of what the church has always believed from the very beginning. You can read them below.
These creeds summarize all that is necessary and essential to Christian faith. As summaries, however, the understanding of the creeds is always subject to the sovereignty of the Word of God as given to us in the Bible.
We fully affirm the historic creeds of the Christian church as excellent summaries of what the church has always believed from the very beginning. You can read them below.
These creeds summarize all that is necessary and essential to Christian faith. As summaries, however, the understanding of the creeds is always subject to the sovereignty of the Word of God as given to us in the Bible.
The Apostles' Creed
We believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
We 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. We believe in the Holy Spirit, The holy catholic Church, The communion of saints, The forgiveness of sins, The resurrection of the body, And the life everlasting. Amen. |
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. |
What else do we believe?
Well, that pretty much sums up the most important part of what we believe. You will find that as a church, our members hold a pretty broad cross section of beliefs on some of the less central christian doctrines. Even so, it's not that we don't think good doctrine is important. Not at all -- in fact, we are eager to seek out God's truth so that we can live in its light.
So, we are pretty clear that there are certain things that are not optional to Christian faith (like the doctrines outlined in those creeds above ). At the same time, we also allow that there are other doctrines where right-thinking and well-meaning believers in Jesus can disagree and still get along and worship together. Faith in Jesus, and in his saving work for us, is what we all have in common. It is Jesus who binds us together in spite of those things that would drive us apart.
If you want to know more, the American Baptist website offers a broader overview of Baptist belief in general.
So, we are pretty clear that there are certain things that are not optional to Christian faith (like the doctrines outlined in those creeds above ). At the same time, we also allow that there are other doctrines where right-thinking and well-meaning believers in Jesus can disagree and still get along and worship together. Faith in Jesus, and in his saving work for us, is what we all have in common. It is Jesus who binds us together in spite of those things that would drive us apart.
If you want to know more, the American Baptist website offers a broader overview of Baptist belief in general.