Our Distinctives

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We Are Reformed

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For nearly a thousand years the Church was just one organization; but then corruption and doctrinal differences caused her to split into the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Church. Then over the centuries, the Roman Catholic Church grew even more corrupt until, in the 1517 AD, Martin Luther, followed by others, branched off in protest. One branch of these Protestant churches was led by John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli and became known as the Reformed Churches. Today there are many denominations that are Reformed, including our own, the Presbyterian Church in America. 

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There are two main beliefs that categorically identify us as Reformed:

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Sovereignty of God in Salvation 

Eternal salvation is by God’s grace alone, through faith, and not by our own good works. In other words, there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation; it is a free gift of God. However, we do have responsibility to turn to Christ, to trust Him, to follow Him, and to persevere. Nevertheless, the ability of anyone to accomplish these things comes from the power of the Holy Spirit alone.

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Covenant Theology 

God has always had one plan for the redemption of mankind. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden God already knew how He was going to reconcile them to Himself – through the coming of Jesus Christ, who would live a sinless life as a God-man, would suffer death for the sins of the elect, and would rise again from the dead. This has always been the plan since before the foundation of the world. Everything in the Old Testament points toward the coming of Jesus the Messiah, and everything in the New Testament points back to the life, death, and resurrection of this Jesus. There is only one people of God, made up of both Old Testament and New Testament believers. 

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We Are Covenantal

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Scripture shows us that the gospel is for all of mankind. Our Covenant Theology leads us to see the connections between the way God related to the people of Israel – before the coming of Jesus – and the people of the Church today. Most notably this reveals itself in how we accept infants into the Covenant Family of God.

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Before Christ, the sign and seal of the Covenant required the shedding of blood through circumcision. Every male child in Israel was circumcised. When Jesus shed his blood on the cross, there was no longer any need for people to be circumcised. The new sign and seal of the Covenant became baptism by water. Never in Scripture are we told that infants are no longer to be included in the sign and seal of the Covenant. Indeed, we see in the Bible that “whole households” were baptized – certainly these households included children and infants, to whom were also given the promises of God. 

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We believe that children are to be baptized into the Covenant Family of God, and that there are benefits in doing so; though we do not believe that this act saves the child at that point in time, nor does it guarantee a child will grow up to be a believer on Jesus Christ.

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We Are Presbyterian

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All churches have some kind of governmental structure. As members of the PCA, we have a Presbyterian system of church governance.

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We Are The Priesthood Of All Believers

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We desire to truly equip the saints of the Lord for the work of His ministry in word, deed, and prayer.

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We Are All Adam's Race

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Culture is a way of life; it is made up of our background, experiences, upbringing, religion, financial status, and communal traditions. We are all different and distinct – and to the extent that God has created us differently, this is a beautiful thing. Furthermore, all of mankind, both male and female, are all Adam's race – made in God’s own image and designed to reflect His glory. And because of this commonality in our created humanity, we are therefore free in Christ to enjoy our earthly differences and distinctions as they are offered up to God for His holy use and good pleasure.