Statement of Faith

I believe in God, maker of Heaven and Earth. I believe in a creator God that is constantly making creation new. I believe that God has chosen to reveal God’s self in three persons that we understand as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I believe that through the mystery of the Trinity, that these three distinct persons exist in unity as one true, eternal, sovereign God.

I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, existing in unity with the Father and Holy Spirit, coming from the Father to seal humanity in covenant relationship with God. I believe that Jesus‘ involvement in the human condition is God’s involvement in the human condition. His compassion, his demand for justice, truth, and faithfulness to the will of God are all God’s commands to humanity.

I believe that salvation comes from God through the person of Jesus Christ.

I believe that the Holy Spirit is in and among God’s people, and in the world, working to bring about the will and work of God, both in humans as individuals and in humanity as God’s called community.

I believe that the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament are necessary, sufficient, and reliable as witnesses to Jesus Christ, the living Word. I believe that the Holy Scriptures are inspired by God, and reveal God’s work in creation and God’s will for humanity.

I believe that the sacraments are symbolic of God’s commitment to humanity. I believe that eating the bread and drinking the wine in the sacrament of communion God confirms the promises that God makes to humanity. I believe that by washing in water, through the sacrament of baptism, that we are sealed by God into covenant community through God’s grace.

I believe that as part of God’s creation, humanity is created and is being created to be in covenant relationship with God. I believe that our collective sin resulted in the breach of our covenant relationship with God. It is God’s sacrificial gift of love to us through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ that is the restoration of the relationship between God and man. The cross is our call to restore our human relationships as God has restored the divine relationship to humanity through the crucifixion.

I believe the nature of the church is to be a community of faith that seeks to faithfully be in covenant relationship with God. This is expressed by coming together to worship and do the work we are called to do by God as expressed by the person of Jesus Christ, as expressed through God’s word, and as received through the inspiration from the Holy Spirit.

I believe that as a community and as individuals, we are in an ongoing work of creation with the divine; that the story is not finished. We do not have the final say. I believe that God alone is the author of the story. I believe that apart from God we can do nothing to bring in the Kingdom of God, but that in covenant with God the Father, through Jesus Christ, and with the Holy Spirit – we live in hope.