Our Beliefs

We belong to the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), and subscribe to the Westminster Standards, historical documents that faithfully summarize the teachings of the Bible.  You can see that fuller confession of faith here, but some of our beliefs are briefly explained below. 

There is one living and true God who eternally exists in 3 Persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (who is also known as the Trinity). He made and sustains everything that we see and everything we can't see. ​He is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. He is worthy of all praise forever. 

The 66 books of the Old and New Testament are the inspired Word of God. They are flawless, and the final authority for what we are to believe and how we are to live. The Bible is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it commands, trusted in all that it promises, and cherished in all that it reveals.

God created human beings, male and female, in His own image to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever, by faith, obedience, and worship. Sadly all human beings are completely depraved by the fall (the sinful choice of Adam Eve to deny God and choose their own path). As a result of their sin, condemnation, corruption, and death has come to the entire human race. 

Jesus Christ is the 2nd Person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God. He became flesh when He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. He is both 100% God and 100% man, one Person with two distinct and inseparable natures. He lived a perfect human life without sin, then died on a cross, and was buried in a tomb. On the third day He was raised bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, where He sits at the right hand of God the Father, interceding for His people, ruling over the heavens and the earth, until His bodily return.

The Gospel is the good news that in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, He has upheld God’s justice, absorbed God’s wrath, removed our guilt, reconciled us to God, and raised us to new life. It is only by God’s grace, not our merits, that we are forgiven; it is only by Jesus’ blood, not our sweat and tears, that we have been cleansed; it is only by Jesus’ righteousness, not ours, that we are justified; it is through faith alone, not our works, that we are saved. Those who are born of the Holy Spirit receive Jesus Christ by faith and become children of God and heirs of eternal life. Salvation is found in Jesus, and nowhere else.

The Holy Spirit is the 3rd person of the Trinity, co-equal with the Father and Son in power, majesty, and glory, the unseen yet active personal presence of God in the world who glorifies Christ and applies salvation to his people. He convicts them of sin, gives them faith and new life, empowers their discipleship, imparts gifts to them for serving and witnessing, guides them into all truth, and seals them for the day of redemption, bearing witness with their spirits that they are children of God.  As the promised Helper and Comforter, He is always present in and with every believer. 

The church is not a building, but the universal body of believers of which Christ alone is the Head.  It consists of every person who has placed faith in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation, and so has been united to Him and to one another for eternity. The Church finds visible expression in local gatherings of believers where God's Word is preached, the sacraments are administered, and biblical discipline is practiced.  The church's mission is to make disciples of all nations, and glorify and enjoy God forever.

Jesus instituted two sacraments for the church: Baptism and the Lord's Supper/Communion.  They are (1) signs and seals of all that God promises to believers in Jesus, (2) ways we we publicly identify as believers in Jesus, and (3) means of God's grace to His people.  Baptism, the washing with water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is to be given to all who profess faith in Jesus, and to their children.  In the Lord's Supper, believers partake of the bread and the cup for our spiritual nourishment and growth in grace, and to proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.  

Jesus Christ will one day return –personally, bodily, and visibly – to judge the living and the dead, and to consummate God’s purpose for the world. On the Day of Judgment, those outside of Christ will enter a conscious and everlasting condemnation for their sins. But those in Christ will be openly acknowledged and acquitted, to reign with Him in the new heavens and new earth. They will be raised in glory, to sin and suffer no more, eternally in the presence of God, whom they will see face to face forever.  

Session Statements

Our church's leaders have produced the following documents to teach and clarify our stance on certain issues. 

  • Divorce & Remarriage

    Marriage is the sacred and covenantal union between one man and one woman, and God’s intention is for marriage to last a lifetime (Gen. 1–2). 


    When a divorce occurs, it is always a result of sin (whether from one spouse or another). However, divorce is not always sinful. Biblically, divorce is permitted, but not required, on the grounds of sexual immorality (porneia) or abandonment (Matt. 5:31–32; 19:1–9; 1 Cor. 7).  We believe sexual immorality (porneia) is best understood biblically as consisting of a range of actions with varying degrees of severity. We believe physical, sexual or other forms of abuse can be a form of abandonment. 


    Marriage reconciliation can be the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s work, but it may not always be wise, possible or biblically commanded. 


    When divorce is not biblically warranted, any subsequent remarriage (to someone other than the original spouse) results in biblical infidelity. In situations where divorce is biblically warranted, remarriage is possible. Christians who have been remarried following an unbiblical divorce should remain with their current spouse but follow the biblical admonition to repent and be forgiven of their past sins and make whatever amends are necessary.


    We acknowledge that the subject of divorce and remarriage is biblically challenging in its interpretation and requires prayerful discernment and often a team of wise counselors in its personal application. In all instances, it includes complexity and nuance that cannot be over-simplified into a blanket policy, but requires prudence, patience and pastoral sensibility.

  • Divorce & Abuse

    The elders affirm that all forms of abuse —including physical, emotional, verbal, economic, spiritual and sexual abuse — of one’s spouse or children are egregious evils because they are a desecration of the divine image of God in a person. We acknowledge they may be considered grounds for divorce as a breach of the marital covenant and/or desertion of the marriage, since stopping the abuse may require physical separation. 

  • Racism & Ethnicity

    We believe every human being is created in the image of God regardless of gender, socio- economic status, class, language, ethnicity, or nationality (Genesis 1:26–27). Therefore, every human being is created with equal dignity and value and deserves equal honor and respect. Although there are different ethnicities, there is only one race: the human race (Acts 17:26). Therefore, we reject and condemn any form of ethnically-based discrimination, partiality, superiority, and hatred. These are sins against both God and His image-bearers, whether it is expressed by individuals, groups, or systems. Conversely, God commands us to treat all people without partiality or favoritism, as His image-bearers (James 2:1; 8-9, Matthew 22:35-40).


    We believe every human being, except for Jesus Christ who is both God and man, has inherited from Adam both his sinful nature and his guilt, and therefore every human being, except for Jesus Christ, stands condemned before the Only True Living God. Sin is humanity's fundamental problem (Romans 5:12). Ethnically-based discrimination, partiality, superiority, and hatred are expressions of sin and are the result of living in a fallen and cursed world. This has sadly been committed in countless times and places in human history. Like all sin, it must be acknowledged, confessed, and repented of.


    We believe every human being from every tribe, tongue, and nation can be reconciled to God through faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:17- 22). Having been reconciled to God through the same Lord and Savior, all believers of every time, place, language, and ethnicity are reconciled to one another in Jesus. Having been reconciled to one another, believers are now one new humanity united across all worldly divisions for all eternity (Ephesians 2:11-22; Galatians 3:28). Ethnically-based discrimination, partiality, superiority, and hatred in the church are therefore a denial and contradiction of the Gospel of Jesus (Galatians 2:11-21). The redeemed and reconciled church is called to live out what we already are: a unified people made up of every tribe, tongue, and nation that will eternally live together in heaven, who are now to witness to God’s power, grace, peace, love, and glory here on earth (Romans 12:1-18; Revelation 5:9–10; John 17:20-23).


    Therefore, 


    (1) To those guilty of ethnically-based discrimination, partiality, superiority, and hatred in either thought, word, or action, we implore you to acknowledge, confess, and repent of these sins. The only way you can be forgiven by God, cleansed of your sin, and renewed to a life of love here on earth, is through faith in Jesus Christ; 


    (2) To those who have suffered from ethnically-based discrimination, partiality, superiority, and hatred, we grieve with you, and we stand with you. Jesus sees and understands your struggle and your tears, and He protects, comforts, and strengthens all of the brokenhearted who trust in Him.