What We Believe

The Big Picture


We are a church created by and committed to the Bible! But that can mean many things in this day and age. We think what a church believes is true will ultimately drive everything it does. That makes defining those beliefs critical. So we summarize our commitment to the teaching of Scripture as clearly as we can by being a confessional church. ‘Confessional’ means that we are not making things up as we go… We have personally embraced a clearly articulated theology drawn from Scripture and applicable for Christian living that has stood the test of generations of scrutiny. 


That means our church leaders confess, or pledge agreement in good faith to the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms as accurately summarizing the teaching of the Bible. The Confession is not Scripture, but we think it's an accurate summary of its critical teaching. It does not have the same authority as the Bible, but since it is a biblical summary, it holds serious authority for Presbyterians.


This is terribly confusing for many evangelical Christians who are likely to say, “I believe in no creed but Christ.” But what about Christ do you exactly believe? The "no creed but Christ" slogan means well, but it is short-sighted. The church has always needed to state definitively what it believes about Christ, and so we have always used creeds and confessions.


The Westminster "Standards" as they are collectively known, were written in the 1640's over a period of several years by pastors, theologians, and Bible scholars who worked to come up with a clear and reliable summary of the Christian faith. The Standards have been modified in minor ways over the past 350+ years as new light from Scripture has been given, but have largely stood the test of time and scrutiny by generations of Christians as being a solid summary of the essentials of Christian doctrine and practice.


For more on the Westminster Confession and Catechisms.... You can find a copy of the Westminster Confession of Faith on the PCA's website by clicking here. "Presbyterian" also means we are not autonomous in our thinking- that we answer to only ourselves. Instead, we have accountability and partnership with other Bible-believing churches through our denomination - the Presbyterian Church in America - at both a regional (Presbytery) and a national (General Assembly) level.

Our Beliefs In Brief

Here is a quick summary of twelve core beliefs contained in our Confession and Catechisms:

  1. Man's primary purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. (Genesis 1:27; 1 Corinthians 10:31)
  2. The only authority for knowing, glorifying and enjoying God is the Bible, consisting only of the Old and New Testaments, which is the inspired and inerrant Word of God. (Psalms 19:7-8; 2 Timothy 3:16) 
  3. There is only one God, eternally existing in three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, who are equally loved, honored, worshipped and obeyed. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19)
  4. All people since the Fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve, are born sinners, separated from God, naturally objects of His wrath, and unable to save themselves. (Psalms 51:5; Romans 3:9-23)
  5. God mercifully did not leave mankind in this condition. Instead, out of His infinite love and grace, God the Father, before time began, chose a people that He predestined to save from their sins and to give eternal life by the Covenant of Grace through Christ. This choice was made out of His mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith, or good works, or perseverance in any of the elect, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes for their selection. (Genesis 15, 17:1-7; Romans 3:20-21, 4:1-25, 8:3, 9:11, 13,16,18; Galatians 3:15-23; Ephesians 1:4-7, 2:8-10)
  6. Jesus Christ, who is the eternal and perfect Son of God and who became a complete human being at His virgin birth, is the only Savior of these people. The benefits of the salvation accomplished by Christ are infinite in value, but focused in purpose and effect entirely upon those chosen by the Father. (Luke 1:27, 31, 35; John 1:1-4, 14, 6:63-65, 10:26, 14:6, 17:9; Acts 4:12; Romans 8:28-30; 1 Timothy 2:5)
  7. The Holy Spirit gives their hearts the ability to spiritually and savingly understand the things of God. He does this by taking away their heart of stone, and giving to them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and, by His almighty power, giving them new desires and longings for that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ: yet so, as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace. (Ezekiel 36:26; John 6:37, 44-45, 15:26; Romans 8:30; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; Titus 3:5)
  8. God's people are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. God's people, having been saved by grace through this faith, continue by the grace of God to exhibit holiness, good works and service to the glory of God as evidence of the reality of that saving faith in Christ. (Philippians 2:12-13, Ephesians 2:8-10)
  9. The Holy Spirit empowers a Christian to neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but to persevere in faith in Christ until the end of life, where at death, their soul is made perfect and passes immediately into the presence of God. (John 10:28-29; Romans 8:30; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:6-7)
  10. Baptism is properly administered to those who trust in Jesus Christ, and to their children, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38-39, Acts 16)
  11. Jesus Christ will return to earth, visibly and bodily, to judge both the living and the dead. (2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
  12. The Church's mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ by proclaiming the Good News of eternal life in Jesus Christ, which must be proclaimed to the entire world before Jesus Christ returns to establish His eternal Kingdom in the New Heavens and the New Earth. (Matthew 24:14, 28:18-20; Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8)