What We Believe
Our Foundation
We believe that the Bible, both the Old Testament and the New Testament, are God’s Word for us.
We also have a rich history of creeds, confessions, catechisms, and other documents which have and continue to guide our faith. One of the most concise and foundational is the Apostles’ Creed.
Our Values
-
We respond to God’s initiative by gathering together each Sunday morning to worship through contemporary and traditional music, prayers, the Scriptures, teaching and preaching. We are then sent into the community and world to live as God’s people.
In addition to worshiping on Sundays, we have special services on holidays as well as weddings and funerals that focus on God’s faithfulness to us in all of life.
Many of our services are live-streamed.
-
We desire to grow spiritually as individuals and as a congregation. Throughout the week we provide opportunities for people of all ages and stages of life to be nurtured and formed as followers of Jesus Christ. This includes gaining understanding of the Scriptures and living out what is learned.
Spiritual growth is a life-long process through which we work to become more like Jesus Christ. We grow by serving others, volunteering, participating in classes, studying the Bible, Sunday School, youth group, and spending time in prayer.
-
We desire to invest in relationships with others in this congregation for mutual support as well as to simply enjoy being with each other. In addition , it is our hope, through friendships in the community to invite others to be a part of what God is doing here.
Each week after worship, members and friends gather for coffee, donuts, and conversation. Throughout the year, we will build relationships with others through meals, cookouts, games, and other creative gatherings.
We seek to build relationship in the community by opening our building for community events like Blood Drives, the town Christmas Tree Lighting, and providing GriefShare for anyone in the larger community dealing with loss.
-
We desire to make the love of Jesus Christ known both in the community and around the world. We do this by supporting our partners in service as well as by giving of our time to serve others in this congregation, the community, and beyond.
As God’s people, we serve others in various ways. Volunteers serve actively with our local partners in service.
A full 12% of our offerings go to WPC partners in service - locally, nationally, and globally. In addition, from time to time we give gifts for relief efforts across the globe. Our Partners in Service
Our Sacraments
A sacrament is an outward sign, given by Jesus Christ, that points to the reality of God’s grace in our lives. We celebrate two sacraments: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Baptism is a sign of entrance into God’s grace. We baptize infants, children, youth, and adults.
The Lord’s Supper is a sign of God’s grace shown to us in Jesus Christ using the common elements of bread and grape juice. The bread is Jesus’ body given for us. The juice is Jesus’ blood shed for us that we might be forgiven and have new life. All of our communion elements are gluten free.
Anyone who confesses faith in Jesus Christ is welcome to participate in the Lord’s Supper.
On the first Sunday of each month we celebrate the Lord’s Supper and affirm our faith using the words of the Apostles’ Creed.
The Apostles’ Creed
We believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
We believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
Our Denomination
We are a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) which has approximately 2.1 million members in more than 10,000 congregations throughout the nation. We trace our history to the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century with the work of John Calvin whose writings crystalized much of the work of those who came before him.
The major beliefs include the sovereignty of God, the authority of Scripture, justification by grace through faith, and the priesthood of all believers. As a community of believers, the church is called to represent the good news of Jesus Christ in the world, by loving God and loving others.
