Beliefs

At Christ Covenant we believe that the Bible alone is inspired by God, and therefore our highest authority in faith and life. This means that every area of our lives and ministry ought to be shaped by God’s Word. We want to pray the Bible, preach the Bible, sing the Bible, and study the Bible in the worship and practice of our church.

Christians are gospel people. We believe that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). The Bible teaches that all mankind is dead in sin and therefore lack communion with God and are under his wrath and curse. However, out of God’s free grace, he has chosen to save his people from their sin and bring them into communion with himself. He did this by sending his own Son to die as a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and reconcile us to God. Those who put their faith in Christ are pardoned of all their sins and accepted as righteous in the sight of God, only by the righteousness of Christ given to them. It is this gospel message that we seek to bring to our families, communities, and the world.

The ancient ecumenical creeds have long been confessed in the church as summaries of what the Bible teaches in regard to doctrines such as the Trinity and the incarnation of Christ. We recognize we are not novel in our fundamental doctrines, but hold to the same faith that has been handed down throughout the ages. Therefore, at Christ Covenant we confess together the historic faith as presented in the Apostle’s Creed, Nicene Creed, and Definition of Chalcedon.

During the time of the Reformation, Biblical doctrines such as the complete sovereignty of God over all things and salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone were recovered and expressed in various confessions and catechisms. Here at Christ Covenant we subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith, with accompanying Larger and Shorter Catechisms, as our doctrinal statement. We believe these to be faithful summaries of what Scripture teaches on various topics.

Christ Covenant has a presbyterian form of government. This means that the church is led by elders (the Greek word for elder is Presbuteros, which is where we get the word presbyterian). We see this pattern of church government early on and recovered at the time of the reformation. Elders are called to oversee the church, govern the church, and to teach the church. Each church is governed by a “session” which is comprised of the elders. Each local church is governed by a “presbytery” which is comprised of a regional body of churches. Finally, each presbytery is governed by the national body of churches called the General Assembly. For more on the Presbyterian government see PCA’s Book of Church Order.