What We Believe

We are Christian

Along with all orthodox Christian traditions, we affirm the ancient Christian creeds which arose out of the earliest Ecumenical Councils, namely the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Chalcedonian Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. In short, these creeds affirm God’s Triune nature, mankind’s sinfulness and need of salvation, the full divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ, and God’s establishment of one, holy, catholic (universal) and apostolic (scriptural) Church as Christ’s living presence here on earth.

We are Protestant

This means that we “protest” against all forms and traditions which we believe stand opposed to God’s plan of salvation as found in the Bible. We thus identify with the church reform movement that arose in the 1500s and sided with God’s grace against the prevailing rituals and legalism of the day. We agree with the classic Protestant slogans which summarize what it means to trust God entirely for our salvation: Scripture Alone, Christ Alone, Faith Alone, Grace Alone, and God’s Glory Alone. In short, classical Protestantism tries to stand with God’s grace, so that believers may be certainly assured of their salvation despite their sin and ongoing struggles.

We are Reformed

We identify with that particular branch of the Protestant Church that attempts to “reform” all our theology and practice in light of God’s Word. We thus seek to shape each part of our church life by the Scriptures, including the way we worship and the way we are governed. At the same time, we uphold Christian freedom in areas of life that the Bible does not address clearly. At its best, the Reformed tradition is thus marked by a commitment to a sincere simplicity and a deep humility. The most systematic explanation of our beliefs is found in the Westminster Confession of Faith (1648), while the most pastoral expression is found in the Heidelberg Catechism (1563).

We are Gospel-Centered

We identify with the historic Christian commitments to the authority of the Bible, the necessity of individual conversion, and a desire to obey Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations through the Gospel. In this, we do not seek to be part of any particular sub-culture or political movement within American Christianity. Rather, we respect God’s work throughout the whole Church, regardless of doctrinal differences. For there is one body and one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

We are Cross-Cultural

As the Gospel has gone forth into all nations, so have the nations come to our church; and our Sunday mornings reflect this great reality, particularly when the local universities are in session. We actively embrace the Gospel's work to break down the wall of hostility between cultures and worship together as one family united in Christ alone. We rejoice in hope, longing for that great day when we shall join that great multitude in heaven that no one can number, redeemed sinners from every nation, tribe, people and language, all crying out together in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

What We Believe about the Word of God

  • We believe in one true sovereign God, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, existing in unity and in the tri-personality of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

  • We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, his virgin birth, his sinless life, his vicarious death, his burial and his resurrection, his ascension to heaven, and his present ministry as high priest and advocate for his people at the right hand of God.

  • We believe in the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit, who indwells every believer, the effective agent both in regeneration and in that holy living which is the necessary evidence of true faith.

  • We believe in the divine inspiration and complete trustworthiness of the entire Bible as the Word of God and its supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.

  • We believe in the radical depravity of man through Adam's fall and his absolute helplessness to please God apart from the new birth.

  • We believe in the unique and historical death of the Lord Jesus Christ for our sins, a voluntary substitutionary sacrifice, and the justification of the believer by the appropriation of this redemption through faith alone.

  • We believe that God the Father in his sovereignty, and before the foundation of the world, gave to God the Son those whom he had chosen in Christ, for whom Christ died, and to whom he guarantees eternal security.

  • We believe in the one holy, universal church, which is the body of Christ, and to which all true believers belong. The children of believers are to be baptized and added to the rolls of the church, even as we call upon them to personally believe the promise of the Gospel that has been bestowed upon them.

  • We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ and the bodily resurrection of the redeemed to be with God eternally, and the bodily resurrection of the unredeemed to judgment and eternal punishment.

A fuller expression of our beliefs can be found in the Westminster Confession of Faith.