OUR BELIEFS

Our Beliefs

We are a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA), a denomination with a rich history of faith and works.  We believe God calls us to live out our faith in community, which means we support each other, and at times we wrestle with each other, for there is a broad range of beliefs about God and what it means to follow Jesus Christ within our denomination.  One of the strengths of the PCUSA is that we allow everyone the freedom to study and explore their faith, for we believe God speaks to all people, and not just the pastor.  So when you come to worship or listen to a sermon, you will not hear the pastor say “you must believe this.”  Rather we invite you to listen, to question where you need, to wrestle with uncomfortable ideas, and to work out your beliefs together in community.

We are a connectional church, which means we believe God calls us into community – not just of a single church, but a community of churches as well.  None of us has to figure out faith alone.  None of us has to face challenges alone.  We are there for each other in the local church, and we support the rest of our congregations as well, for we are all one in Christ, and we are all called to work together for good.  We have a Book of Order that guides our communal life, and a Book of Confessions, containing statements of faith written over the span of 2000 years that guide us as we consider our beliefs about God, about the world, and about our role in it.

At First Presbyterian Church, we welcome people wherever they are on their faith journey, and whatever their beliefs.

These are some beliefs that are central to who we are:

  1. We are unapologetically a Christian Church.  Jesus Christ is the head of the church, he is at the center of our life and faith, and it is his teachings and example that guide our living.
  1. We hold scripture to be authoritative for our lives. The ancient words of faith matter to us, and they guide us as we seek to live faithfully.  We study the historical context of the stories, we seek to understand what it meant at the time it was written.  We recognize that many of the issues we struggle with today as a society look different than issues in the days the various scriptures were written, so we take seriously the challenge of wrestling with that those ancient words mean in today’s context so we can apply the teachings of scripture to our lives today in ways that are not rigid but life-giving.
  1. Sin is real. Sin, said the 16th century reformer John Calvin, is pride.  It is placing our trust in ourselves, and not God.  It is wanting to be in charge of our own lives, instead of recognizing that we belong to God and to each other.  Sin can also be defined as that which separates us from God.  We recognize that we all sin, and therefore the grace, forgiveness, and mercy of God is a gift we treasure, and a gift we seek to share with others.
  1. We believe salvation is both a gift and a responsibility, and we have different ideas of what that means.  For some people, salvation means a time when this world as we know it will end and God’s perfect world will be established for all eternity.  For others, salvation is about creating that world in partnership with God right now.  You will find both understandings present in this church.  No matter how you understand it, we believe salvation is both a gift from a loving God who claims us as God’s own for all time and beyond, and a responsibility to work out in our daily lives.
  1. We believe God loves us unconditionally. The sacrament of Baptism celebrates that, and in baptism, we respond to the grace of God who loves us no matter what and who claims us as God’s own, even before we are able to understand who God is.  We practice both infant and believer (adult) baptism.  Infant baptism emphases God’s choice for us.  When child is baptized, their parents take responsibility for the child’s faith until that child is old enough to claim that faith for his/her/their own.  Adult baptism emphasizes our acceptance of God’s choice and commitment to discipleship.
  1. We believe the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper (communion) is central to our life together.  Jesus tells us that he is the vine and we are the branches.  It is through our connection with him that we live and move and have our being.  In communion we share to Christ’s life, and we are empowered to go out in his name. What exactly happens during communion?  There are different opinions on that, depending on what faith tradition you look at..  In the Presbyterian Church, we believe that Christ is truly present in the bread and cup of communion, however we do not believe that it is his physical body and blood.  It is, however, his essence, his strength, his love and his call that is experienced when we eat the bread and drink the cup together.  We also believe that God is not limited by time or space, so whether you are participating through our livestream, or are sitting in the sanctuary, God is at work when we gather together for communion, and can use whatever we have handy to use for the bread and the cup.
  1. We believe that God calls all people.  We embrace a fully inclusive, open and accepting, and welcoming church, believing that ALL people are all called by God to service in and through the church, including to leadership positions, regardless of any label one may embrace, including those of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. We are a member of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians. The Covenant Network of Presbyterians is a broad-based, national group working for a church that is simultaneously faithful, just, and whole. The Covenant Network seeks to support the mission and unity of the Presbyterian Church (USA); articulate and act on the church’s historic, progressive vision; work for a fully inclusive church; and find ways to live out the graciously hospitable gospel by living together with all our fellow members in the PC(USA).
  1. We believe we are called to service.  Faith isn’t just a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we are called to be disciples, going out into the world, sharing our faith in personal relationships, and acting on our faith in the public sphere.  In other words, we believe we are called to service for the sake of the whole world.  We are called to be a light. We are a member of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians. The Covenant Network of Presbyterians is a broad-based, national group working for a church that is simultaneously faithful, just, and whole. The Covenant Network seeks to support the mission and unity of the Presbyterian Church (USA); articulate and act on the church’s historic, progressive vision; work for a fully inclusive church; and find ways to live out the graciously hospitable gospel by living together with all our fellow members in the PC(USA).
  1. We are unapologetically a Christian Church.  Jesus Christ is the head of the church, he is at the center of our life and faith, and it is his teachings and example that guide our living.
  2. We hold scripture to be authoritative for our lives. The ancient words of faith matter to us, and they guide us as we seek to live faithfully.  We study the historical context of the stories, we seek to understand what it meant at the time it was written.  We recognize that many of the issues we struggle with today as a society look different than issues in the days the various scriptures were written, so we take seriously the challenge of wrestling with that those ancient words mean in today’s context so we can apply the teachings of scripture to our lives today in ways that are not rigid but life-giving.
  3. Sin is real. Sin, said the 16th century reformer John Calvin, is pride.  It is placing our trust in ourselves, and not God.  It is wanting to be in charge of our own lives, instead of recognizing that we belong to God and to each other.  Sin can also be defined as that which separates us from God.  We recognize that we all sin, and therefore the grace, forgiveness, and mercy of God is a gift we treasure, and a gift we seek to share with others.
  4. We believe salvation is both a gift and a responsibility, and we have different ideas of what that means.  For some people, salvation means a time when this world as we know it will end and God’s perfect world will be established for all eternity.  For others, salvation is about creating that world in partnership with God right now.  You will find both understandings present in this church.  No matter how you understand it, we believe salvation is both a gift from a loving God who claims us as God’s own for all time and beyond, and a responsibility to work out in our daily lives.
  5. We believe God loves us unconditionally. The sacrament of Baptism celebrates that, and in baptism, we respond to the grace of God who loves us no matter what and who claims us as God’s own, even before we are able to understand who God is.  We practice both infant and believer (adult) baptism.  Infant baptism emphases God’s choice for us.  When child is baptized, their parents take responsibility for the child’s faith until that child is old enough to claim that faith for his/her/their own.  Adult baptism emphasizes our acceptance of God’s choice and commitment to discipleship.
  6. We believe the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper (communion) is central to our life together.  Jesus tells us that he is the vine and we are the branches.  It is through our connection with him that we live and move and have our being.  In communion we share to Christ’s life, and we are empowered to go out in his name. What exactly happens during communion?  There are different opinions on that, depending on what faith tradition you look at..  In the Presbyterian Church, we believe that Christ is truly present in the bread and cup of communion, however we do not believe that it is his physical body and blood.  It is, however, his essence, his strength, his love and his call that is experienced when we eat the bread and drink the cup together.  We also believe that God is not limited by time or space, so whether you are participating through our livestream, or are sitting in the sanctuary, God is at work when we gather together for communion, and can use whatever we have handy to use for the bread and the cup.
  7. We believe that God calls all people.  We embrace a fully inclusive, open and accepting, and welcoming church, believing that ALL people are all called by God to service in and through the church, including to leadership positions, regardless of any label one may embrace, including those of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression.
    We are a member of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians. The Covenant Network of Presbyterians is a broad-based, national group working for a church that is simultaneously faithful, just, and whole. The Covenant Network seeks to support the mission and unity of the Presbyterian Church (USA); articulate and act on the church’s historic, progressive vision; work for a fully inclusive church; and find ways to live out the graciously hospitable gospel by living together with all our fellow members in the PC(USA).
  1. We believe we are called to service.  Faith isn’t just a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we are called to be disciples, going out into the world, sharing our faith in personal relationships, and acting on our faith in the public sphere.  In other words, we believe we are called to service for the sake of the whole world.  We are called to be a light.