What We Believe
We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God and the final authority for faith and practice. Our beliefs are shaped by the historic Christian faith as recovered in the Protestant Reformation and summarized in the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689. We seek to hold and teach the whole counsel of God with clarity, humility, and faithfulness, trusting Scripture to govern what we believe, how we worship, and how the church is ordered.
Our Confession of Faith
We hold to the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689 as a faithful and historic summary of biblical doctrine. This confession provides a clear framework for understanding the teaching of Scripture concerning God, salvation, the church, and the Christian life, and it serves as our doctrinal standard in matters of faith and practice.
Doctrines of Grace
Total Depravity
Total Depravity teaches that as a result of Adam’s fall, every part of human nature is corrupted by sin. This does not mean that people are as sinful as they could possibly be, but that sin affects the whole person—mind, will, and affections—so that apart from God’s grace no one seeks Him or is able to come to Christ on their own. Left to themselves, sinners are spiritually dead and unable to respond to the gospel savingly unless God first works in their hearts.
(Romans 3:10–12, Ephesians 2:1–3, Romans 8:7–8, John 6:44, 1 Corinthians 2:14)
Unconditional Election
Unconditional Election teaches that God chose, before the foundation of the world, to save a people in Christ according to His own sovereign will and grace, not on the basis of foreseen faith, works, or merit. God’s choice is grounded entirely in His mercy and purpose, ensuring that salvation rests not on human decision but on God’s gracious initiative. This doctrine magnifies God’s freedom in grace and gives believers confidence that their salvation is secure in His eternal purpose.
(Ephesians 1:4–5, Ephesians 1:11, Romans 9:11–13, Romans 9:15–16, 2 Timothy 1:9)
Particular Redemption
Particular Redemption teaches that Christ’s death was a definite and effective atonement for those whom the Father gave to Him. In His life, death, and resurrection, Christ actually accomplished salvation, securing forgiveness, righteousness, and reconciliation for His people. Rather than merely making salvation possible, Christ’s atoning work fully achieved redemption for all whom He came to save.
(John 10:11, John 10:14–15, Matthew 1:21, Ephesians 5:25, John 17:2, John 6:39)
Effectual Calling
Effectual Calling teaches that in God’s appointed time, the Holy Spirit inwardly calls those whom God has chosen, bringing them from spiritual death to life. Through the preaching of the gospel, the Spirit works powerfully and graciously in the hearts of sinners, enabling them to repent and believe in Christ willingly and freely. This call does not coerce the will, but renews it, so that sinners come to Christ because their hearts have been changed.
(John 6:37, John 6:44, Romans 8:30, Ezekiel 36:26–27, 2 Thessalonians 2:13–14)
Perseverance of the Saints
Perseverance of the Saints teaches that those whom God has saved will be kept by His power and grace to the end. All who are truly regenerated and united to Christ will continue in faith and repentance, not because of their own strength, but because God is faithful to preserve them. This doctrine provides assurance to believers, grounding their confidence not in themselves, but in God’s unchanging purpose and sustaining grace.
(John 10:27–29, John 6:39, Philippians 1:6, Romans 8:38–39, 1 Peter 1:5, Jude 24)
Distinctives
The Regulative Principle of Worship
We believe that God alone determines how He is to be worshiped. According to the Regulative Principle of Worship, only those elements that God has commanded in Scripture are to be included in corporate worship. For this reason, our public worship is simple and ordered, centered on the reading and preaching of Scripture, prayer, congregational singing, and the administration of the ordinances. We seek to worship God in a way that is reverent, joyful, and governed by His Word rather than human preference or innovation.
(Deuteronomy 12:32, Leviticus 10:1–3, Matthew 15:9, John 4:23–24, 1 Corinthians 14:40)
The Ordinary Means of Grace
We believe that God ordinarily works to strengthen and preserve His people through the means He has appointed: the preaching of the Word, prayer, and the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These are not empty rituals, but God’s chosen instruments, through which He really and truly confers grace, nourishing faith and building up the church.
(Acts 2:42, Romans 10:17, Matthew 28:19–20, Acts 20:32, 1 Peter 2:2)
Baptism
We believe that baptism is an ordinance of Christ, commanded by Him and practiced by the apostles, to be administered to those who have made a credible profession of faith in Christ. Baptism is a sign of union with Christ in His death and resurrection and a public identification with Him and His church. We practice believer’s baptism by immersion as the biblical mode, and we understand baptism to be an act of obedience flowing from salvation, not a means of regeneration.
(Matthew 28:19–20, Acts 2:38–41, Acts 8:36–38, Romans 6:3–4, Colossians 2:12)
The Lord’s Supper
We believe that the Lord’s Supper is an ordinance instituted by Christ to be observed by His church until He returns. In the Supper, believers partake of the bread and the cup as visible signs of Christ’s body and blood, given for His people. While we reject any notion of a physical presence of Christ in the elements, we affirm that Christ is spiritually present and that the Supper is a means of grace through which believers are nourished in faith, encouraged in repentance, and strengthened in their communion with Christ and with one another.
(Matthew 26:26–28, Luke 22:19–20, 1 Corinthians 10:16–17, 1 Corinthians 11:23–26)
A Believer’s Church
We believe that local churches are to be composed of baptized believers who have made a credible profession of faith in Christ. Church membership involves commitment to Christ and to one another, expressed through mutual accountability, discipleship, and submission to biblical church order.
(Acts 2:41–42, Acts 2:47, Matthew 18:15–17, 1 Corinthians 5:12–13, Hebrews 13:17)
Elder-Led Congregationalism
We believe that Christ governs His church through qualified elders who are called to shepherd, teach, and oversee the congregation and the direction of the church’s ministries according to Scripture. Elders are responsible for the spiritual care and leadership of the church, exercising authority that is pastoral rather than authoritarian. At the same time, we affirm the responsibility of the congregation to participate in matters such as membership, church discipline, and the recognition of leadership, seeking together to submit to Christ’s rule as revealed in His Word.
(Acts 14:23, Acts 20:28, 1 Peter 5:1–3, Titus 1:5–9, Hebrews 13:17, Matthew 18:15–17)