statement of faith

What We Believe

For millennia, Christians around the world have united in affirming their common faith stated in 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.

Further Statements

For additional clarity about the faith we profess, we provide the following statements:

  • We believe the Bible to be inspired by God and thus the authoritative Word of God, without error in what it teaches.

  • We believe in one God, eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who we are to love with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

  • We believe in the true deity and full humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.

  • We believe that humanity was created in the image and likeness of God, but that through Adam’s sin all fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God, so that every faculty of our humanity is corrupted by sin.

  • We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to humanity by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that faith without works is dead.

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

  • We believe that those who have been saved by the grace of God enter the Kingdom of God and its blessings and obligations. As citizens of the Kingdom, we are to seek the good of all by loving our neighbors as ourselves.

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

  • We believe that Jesus will return, bodily and visibly, to put all things to rights and to receive His people to Himself.

  • We believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.

  • We believe that God created us male and female in His image, that gender identity may not be detached from the biological sex of the human body, and that marriage or matrimony is a covenantal, procreative union of one man and one woman.

  • We believe that all human life is created by God in His image and is therefore sacred. Human life is of inestimable worth, from conception through natural death. We celebrate the right to life for babies in the womb, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and those suffering unusual conditions. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life.

  • We believe in the unity of all believers through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The church is the visible manifestation of God’s Kingdom on earth, and all believers should faithfully participate in a local church.

But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.”

— Matthew 8: 8-10