The Church

The Church
We believe the New Testament church (Gk – ekklesia ~ “the assembly” or “the called-out ones”) is made up of believers in Jesus, bought by the blood of Christ and called out of the world (Acts 20:28). We believe the church is the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27), a living organism with the Lord Jesus Christ Himself as the Head (Eph. 5:23). The church is called: the bride of Christ (Rev. 21:9), the family of God (1 Pet. 4:17), the elect (2 Tim. 2:10), the company of the redeemed (Gal. 3:14), and the people of God (1 Pet. 2:10). Though fragmented by denominations, true believers in Jesus Christ are united by “one Spirit into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:4-6). We believe that the local church is autonomous and retains authority for its own affairs. We believe in the priesthood of all believers (1 Pet. 2:9), every believer has equal access to God through faith in Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:5). We believe the church body is to encourage one another through fellowship (Heb. 10:25), help the poor (Gal. 2:10), build one another up through discipleship and the teaching of God’s Word (Eph. 4:11-13), assemble regularly in worship, hold each other accountable in the biblical faith (1 Cor. 16:13;1 Pet. 5:8,9), and to engage in local (Acts 1:8) and world evangelism (Mark 16:15; Matt. 28:18-20). We believe that a plurality of elders is the Biblical model for the spiritual leadership in the local church.  The role of the deacons is to assist the elders in leadership as the “ministers of mercy” who administer to the physical needs of the local church body. If led by the Lord, the deacons will also assist in meeting needs requested by individuals in our local community. We believe Jesus commanded His church to practice the two ordinances of believer’s baptism and the Lord’s Supper.