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VI. The church is the family of the gospel

 

A. The church

1. We believe that Christ is not only redeeming and sanctifying individuals, but churches as well.

2. We believe that the church is not peripheral but central to what the Lord is doing on the earth. Using the living stones of individual believers, He is building His Church, making something greater than the sum of its parts.

3. We believe it is the duty of every believer to be a member of a local church if it is within his/her power. We believe church membership is taught in the Bible. Just as each body part is a member of the body, so each Christian should be a member of a local body of believers. (See our Bible study on church membership.)

B. Church leaders

1. We believe that the Bible gives us guidance about the proper form of church government and that a structure of elders (both teaching and ruling) and deacons, and connectedness to other churches is the Biblical church model.

2. We believe that God has called local congregations to elect Biblically-qualified leaders to serve in the church. (E.g. Acts 6; 1 Tim.3:1-13; Titus 1:6-9)

3. We believe that elders are called by Scripture to teach God’s people, to model godly living, to watch over the flock like a shepherd, to act as judges when necessary, and to pray for the people. (Acts 6:3; 1 Tim. 5:17, 18; 1 Pet. 5:1-5; Titus 1:5-9)

4. We believe that church leaders, like all of those in authority, must struggle against the temptation to abuse their authority, and must constantly strive to be servant leaders, relying on their good example as the primary instrument of ministry (1 Pet. 5:3), making use of authority only as necessary and only for the good of God’s people (1 Thes. 2:6 ff), reflecting the heart of Christ for His sheep, and treating them with tenderness and sincerity in His love.

5. We believe that church leaders, like everyone else, must be accountable and subject: to each other, to the presbytery (the local network of churches), and to the denominational body.

6. Though Christ invests authority in the leaders of the church, we believe it is crucial for those leaders to remember that the adults of the congregation are not children and must not be treated as such, and that the members have much wisdom and important insights which must be heard and considered in the decisions and actions of the leadership.

C. Relationships with other churches and believers

1. We grieve over the fractured state of the modern church and believe it is a Christian duty to work and pray for unity and purity. To this end, we work to cooperate with sister churches as much as we can. We do not view other Christ-loving, Bible-believing churches as our enemies or our competitors, but try to view them as sister churches, co-laboring with us in the kingdom of Christ.

2. We are a part of a denomination, not by accident but by conviction. We grieve over the shattered state of the church because we believe our Lord created the church to be one. And yet in light of the present, unfortunate, fragmented state of the church, we believe it is better for a church to align with a body of other churches for encouragement and accountability rather than remain alone. By so doing, we do not intend to cut ourselves off from other evangelical churches which are not a part of our denomination. We are eager to fellowship and work with them as much as possible. And we believe that all churches should be praying and working toward unity in the body of Christ. We believe the “us/them” attitude is unhealthy and unbiblical.[L3]

3. Though we warmly and enthusiastically embrace the truths of reformed theology, we also recognize that there are other true Christians - equally sincere and committed to the truth of Christ - who disagree with some of our convictions. We want to warmly accept them as our brothers and sisters in Christ and welcome them as members into our church. We want them to use their spiritual gifts and even exercise whatever forms of leadership in the church are appropriate and possible without undermining the doctrinal beliefs of the PCA or the unity of the congregation.

D. Body life and the gifts of the Spirit

1. We believe in the need for regular Christian gathering - in large groups and small - for mutual encouragement, prayer support, instruction, inspiration, accountability and exhortation, stirring one another up to love and good works. (Acts 2:42-47)

2. We believe in the importance of Biblical accountability and, when necessary, church discipline. (Matt. 18:15-17; 1 Cor. 5:1-2; 1 Tim. 5:19). However, accountability and church discipline must always be done without judgmentalism, self-righteousness or superiority.

3. We believe in the importance of Christian hospitality, where believers open their homes and hearts to one another for fellowship in love.

4. We believe that men and women are co-heirs of the glorious riches of Christ. We believe that women have needed gifts in the body of Christ, along with much wisdom and insight important to the church and its leaders.

5. The gifts of the Spirit are the gifts given by the Spirit to the believer by which he is enabled to minister the gospel of grace to the brethren. We believe that every member of the body of Christ is gifted by the Holy Spirit to serve the body by means of at least one spiritual gift. We believe that it is sinful and scandalous for the church to say to any Christian, “we have no need of you.” All the parts of the body are needed.

6. We believe that diversity is healthy in a church. God has made His people different from one another for a reason, just as the parts of the body are different from one another. We believe that the human impulse to focus on befriending those who are like us, therefore, is often an unhealthy impulse and leads to the reinforcing of our blindnesses and prejudices. We believe that Christian relationships across age, ethnic, or personality barriers can be among the most enriching relationships we can have.

7. We believe that we owe special love to those who are weak, sick, elderly, grieving, handicapped, or otherwise have special needs. We want to welcome and not spurn those whom Christ brings to us in need, and teach our children to do so as well.

8. We believe that one of the most important callings of pastor/teachers in the church is the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry (Eph. 4:12-13). The church has a vital role in helping the members discover, develop and employ their gifts in the church and in the world.

9. We recognize that it is not easy to work together and get along in Christ’s church, and believe that Christians must bear with one another’s weakness, being slow to anger, quick to forgive and longsuffering with others as God is with us. We must strive to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

10. We believe strongly in Biblical peacemaking and conflict resolution. We believe it dishonors Christ when believers tolerate alienation from one another.

11. We believe that God’s people have a duty to care for each other even in material things, as the church in Acts did. (1 John 3:17,18) We believe that God has ordained the office of deacons in order to oversee this process in the church.

12. We believe that older women have a special role in teaching and mentoring the younger women in the church (Titus 2:3-5). This is also true for older men and younger men.