The Church and Its Ordinances

Water Baptism

We believe that water baptism was commanded by Jesus Christ Himself, and should be observed by all born again believers in Christ. Since salvation is by grace through faith in Christ, and is not of works, we do not believe that baptism provides salvation. However, baptism is a vitally important step of obedience and though it does not accomplish salvation it should accompany salvation as soon as possible.

Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16

The Lord’s Supper
(Communion)

The Lord's Supper is to be observed by all believers. It is symbolic only and is observed as a remembrance that Jesus suffered and died in His body and allowed His holy blood to be spilled that we might receive the remission of our sins.

Luke 22:19-20

The Church

We believe the true Church is comprised of all those who by faith have been redeemed unto God the Father by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and having been redeemed, are born again through the indwelling Holy Spirit. We believe the Church to be symbolically the body and bride of Christ and that Jesus is the Lord, Head and Husband of the Church.

John 3:3, John 3:16  

Leadership Structure

We believe that the local church must govern its affairs according to the pattern revealed in scripture, found primarily in the book of Acts and the various epistles penned by the Apostles.

We recognize that both men and women are created in the image of God, and as such, are equals with respect to the love, grace and mercy of God. Both men and women are of equal value before God and both are heirs of the same gift of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  We do not distinguish between the intelligence, worth or dignity of men or women. We do, however, recognize that God has specially equipped each gender with unique roles of responsibility.

We believe that, according to scripture, the offices of Pastor, Elder and Deacon are to be held by men. Paul went into great detail describing positions of authority and the structure of the leadership in the church, as well as the qualifications for those positions