What We Believe

It is always challenging to make official statements of belief—not because we do not believe in very much, but simply because our God is so much bigger than our feeble attempts to describe Him.

Probably a better type of statement would be: In Whom We Believe. To be a follower of Jesus is to be simply that: a follower of a person, Jesus of Nazareth. We believe being a Christian (literally, "Christ-follower") is to be one who seeks to know God as revealed in the person of Jesus.

However, there are always a few people who want a little bit more of a handle on our specific beliefs. The easiest way to explain where we stand is to state that we are in agreement with historic, orthodox Christian beliefs. One formulation of this is the Nicene Creed.

The Nicene Creed was created by a large group of Jesus followers long before there were such divisions that we call "denominations." The writers of this statement were from many different cultures all over the world, yet they were all thoroughly faithful, committed followers of God in Jesus Christ. The final form of this Creed was adopted some 1500 years ago. Though we obviously believe much more than this, the Nicene Creed has served as a statement of essential Christian faith for centuries. It is probably the simplest way to articulate what we believe is essential.

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth, of things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the begotten of God the Father, the Only-begotten, that is of the essence of the Father.

God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten and not made; of the very same nature of the Father, by Whom all things came into being, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.

Who for us humanity and for our salvation came down from heaven, was incarnate, was made human, was born perfectly of the holy virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit.

By whom He took body, soul, and mind, and everything that is in man, truly and not in semblance.

He suffered, was crucified, was buried, rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven with the same body, [and] sat at the right hand of the Father.

He is to come with the same body and with the glory of the Father, to judge the living and the dead; of His kingdom there is no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, in the uncreated and the perfect;

Who spoke through the Law, prophets, and Gospels;

Who came down upon the Jordan, preached through the apostles, and lived in the saints.

We believe also in only One, Universal, Apostolic, and [Holy] Church;

in one baptism in repentance, for the remission, and forgiveness of sins;

and in the resurrection of the dead, in the everlasting judgement of souls and bodies, and the Kingdom of Heaven and in the everlasting life.