What We Believe

Inasmuch as we are the inheritors of the faith entrusted once and for all to the saints (Jude 1:3), we live out our Christian existence before a great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us (Heb 12:1), and are but a small part of the global body of Christ made up of many tribes, tongues, and nations (Rev 7:9), we humbly seek to both acknowledge and to be meaningfully shaped by the liturgical, catechetical, mystical, doctrinal, ascetical, apologetic, and missional resources of the church global and catholic, Eastern, Western, and Majority World, as we have been graced to receive the riches of this inheritance passed on to us in the present day.  In addition, we seek also to bear faithful witness to Christ and His Kingdom in the modern contexts in which and to which God has called us to minister (Acts 17:26), for His glory, for our sanctification, and for the good and the salvation of the world.  This requires not only awareness of our rich inheritance, but also a sensitivity to the Spirit's leading in the present as we seek to intelligibly communicate and to contextualize the riches of the gospel in and for the diverse contexts in which we now live and move and have our being - that God's Kingdom would come, and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  

Though the life, ministry, and mysteries of the church must be incarnated and can never be reduced to words on a page, and though we must always be ready to sacrifice stylistic preferences from a particular time and place for the sake of missional effectiveness in another, for the sake of a simplistic description, the type of communion we aim to be and are being shaped to be might be described as follows:  We are Evangelical, Protestant and catholic, liturgical and charismatic, monastic and missional, Augustinian and Anabaptist, pietist, activist, and revivalist.  We aim to take as many cues as possible from and to be deeply instructed by our persecuted brothers and sisters in the Majority world, as they teach us how to pray (Acts 1:14; 1 Thess 5:17), how to joyfully wage spiritual warfare (Eph 6:10-20; 2 Cor 10:4), and how to sacrifice, suffer, and even to die for the name of Christ and for the sake of His gospel (Rom 8:17; Phil 3:7-13; Rev 6:11; Mt 16:24-27).   We aim to practice a pure and sincere devotion to Christ (2 Cor 11:3), abiding in Him and practicing His presence always (Jn 15); as well as a simple allegiance to the Bible as God's Word, His complete revelation to us, divinely authoritative truth, the only rule for faith and practice (2 Tim 3:16; Ps 19).  We aim to practice the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, as He speaks, leads, empowers, performs signs and wonders, heals, convicts, and sanctifies (Jn 14:15-31, 16:1-15; Acts 4:23-31).  We aim to practice a communal rule of life together, devoting ourselves to the Apostle's teaching, to the breaking of bread and to prayer as we gather together in one another's homes daily, practice radical hospitality, meet one another's needs according to the ability of each, and break bread with glad and sincere hearts, filled with gratitude, awe, and wonder, as well as with the fear of the LORD which is the beginning of wisdom (Acts 2:42-47, 4:32-37).  We aim to live out our identity as ambassadors of Christ, ministers of reconciliation, missionaries both to our neighborhoods and to the nations (2 Cor 5:14-21; Jn 20:21; Mt 28:16-20; Acts 1:8), boldly calling all people to repent and to believe the gospel in view of the judgment to come (Mt 3:1-12; Rom 2:1-11), practicing deeds of mercy and compassion (Mt 25:31-46), preaching and embodying the gospel of the Kingdom and inviting all into God's family and to the table of our LORD (Mt 22:9), through Jesus Christ alone, from the least to the greatest without distinction.  We aim to exercise dominion, fulfilling the cultural mandate and filling the earth with the image and glory of the LORD (Gen 1:26-28, 9:1-7), establishing the Kingdom of God across every cultural domain in every land, among every tribe tongue and nation, while at the same time being alert and watchful for the LORD's immanent return (Lk 12:35-48), desiring to be found faithfully discharging the duties we have been given (Mk 13:32-37), holy and blameless at the day of His coming (Eph 1:4, 5:27; Col 1:22-23; 2 Pt 3:14).

From a doctrinal/theological standpoint, while we must acknowledge our indebtedness to many of the saints, fathers, and doctors of the church, and to our rich liturgical, doctrinal, and confessional heritage (East and West, pre- and post-Reformation), at the most general level we stand upon the Holy Scriptures as our only rule of faith and practice as interpreted by the illumination of the Holy Spirit and in concert with the church through the ages, guided by the four ecumenical creeds (see below), holding to the church catholic's historic positions on gender, sexuality, and marriage, and with a great appreciation for the numerous streams of Reformation Protestant confession in particular (Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Anabaptist) -- in that sense we are reformed and yet always reforming.  As a church affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, we adhere to all of the doctrinal, positional, and practical positions, processes, and procedures of the denomination, inasmuch as we find them consistent with the Word of God (see links below).  We have also been influenced by a number of modern ecclesial movements and missional pracitioners - We Are Church, KC Underground, Saturate, New Generations, Christ Church Moscow, ID and CREC, Frontier Alliance International, the Davenant Institute, and the Theopolis Institute among others.  However, at the end of the day it is our prayer that "what we believe" would be much less about what we say and much more about the culture we create and embody; that we would love not with words and speech [alone] but in action and in truth (1 Jn 3:18; Jas 1:26-27, 2:14-26; Mt 5:14-16, 6:10; 7:19-23). 

The Apostle's Creed

We believe in God, the Father almighty,

      creator of heaven and earth.

We believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

   who was conceived by the Holy Spirit

   and born of the virgin Mary.

   He suffered under Pontius Pilate,

   was crucified, died, and was buried;

   he descended to hell.

   The third day he rose again from the dead.

   He ascended to heaven

   and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.

   From there 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 the life everlasting. Amen.

The Nicene Creed

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

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And We believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spake by the Prophets. And We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Definition of Chalcedon

We then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable [rational] soul and body; consubstantial [coessential] with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures; inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets from the beginning [have declared] concerning him, and the Lord Jesus Christ himself has taught us; and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.

The Athanasian Creed

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.

And the catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one: the glory equal, the majesty coeternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Ghost uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet they are not three Eternals, but one Eternal. As there are not three Uncreated nor three Incomprehensibles, but one Uncreated and one Incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Ghost almighty. And yet they are not three Almighties, but one Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not three Lords, but one Lord. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be God and Lord, So are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say, There be three Gods, or three Lords.

The Father is made of none: neither created nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son: neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is before or after another; none is greater or less than another; But the whole three Persons are coeternal together, and coequal: so that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshiped. He, therefore, that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.

Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe faithfully the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right faith is, that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man of the substance of His mother, born in the world; Perfect God and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood; Who, although He be God and Man, yet He is not two, but one Christ: One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking the manhood into God; One altogether; not by confusion of Substance, but by unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ; Who suffered for our salvation; descended into hell; rose again the third day from the dead; He ascended into heaven; He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty; from whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead; at whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give an account of their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil, into everlasting fire.

This is the catholic faith; which except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.