Who We Are
Every local Christian church has its distinctives - the practices or beliefs that make it different from other churches. Sometimes this is confusing to people. They ask, "Why are there so many different churches or denominations?" They may think of this as division, yet in most cases it is more accurately called diversity.
Every denomination and every local church is unique. And we believe that when you step back and look at the Church as a whole, you get a fuller, clearer picture of the depth and breadth of what the Bible calls 'the Body of Christ'.
We are even optimistic enough to believe that with all this diversity in belief and practice, most Christian churches still agree on 90-95% of Christian teaching, and the other 5-10% we do not agree on falls into this category of "distinctives".
At Faith Church, we strive to focus on those 90-95% of things that most followers of Jesus Christ agree on. However, we are proud to be a part of a large cluster of churches called The Wesleyan Church. At our core, we are still simply a Christian church (made up of people from many different churched or unchurched backgrounds). However, for those who may want to know, we'd like to answer the question:
"What in the world is a Wesleyan?"
Well...
Like Baptists, we believe in calling people to turn from their sins and encouraging new believers to give witness to their new life in Jesus Christ through public baptism.
Like Presbyterians, we believe in the power of preaching the Word of God to bring about changes in people's lives.
Like Lutherans, we believe in salvation through Jesus Christ, on the authority of Scripture, by faith alone and in salvation as a gift of God's grace alone.
Like Catholics, we believe in the seriousness of sin and in the need of a Savior.
Like Pentecostals or Charismatics, we believe in the life-empowering moving of the Spirit of God in the church and the personal power and purity that He alone gives believers who desire to live a life truly dedicated to Christ.
Like pietistic groups, such as Quakers or Mennonites, we believe in living a careful life that testifies to the watching world that we belong to the family of God.
Like the Methodists, we grew out of John Wesley's revival movement in the 1700's and 1800's and identify with Wesley's emphasis on honoring God through holiness.
At the core, we are a warm and friendly group of people who try, with God's help, to live the kind of life that brings honor to Him. We look to the Bible as our primary source for direction in our worship and our lifestyles.
We laugh, rejoice and grieve together, grow together and walk in faith together. We aim to be a family for all who follow Jesus or desire to know more about Him. We want you to know there is always room for you at Faith Church.
As part of The Wesleyan Church (a Bible-believing network of outreach-minded churches) we adhere to orthodox positions regarding the nature of God, Christ, the Trinity and Christ's birth, death, resurrection, ascension, and imminent return.
We are confident in the Bible as the written Word of God. We believe that personal faith in Jesus Christ is our only hope for salvation. We look to Jesus Christ and the Bible as our example for life. We believe that we need each other for effective spiritual growth, encouragement, and maturity in our daily Christian walk.
Here are some core beliefs:
We believe that the Bible is fully inspired by God - that it is accurate and that it is our trustworthy guide for faith and practice.
We believe in one God who has chosen to reveal himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We believe that people are made in the image of God, but because of our fall into sin we display the universal tendency toward rebellion, active or passive, against God.
We believe that because of our sin, man is separated from God.
We believe that Jesus Christ lived the perfect life that we could not live...and then accepted the punishment that we deserve...death. By accepting punishment for our sins on our behalf, He offers us complete forgiveness by having paid our penalty for sin, for those who place their faith in Him. We believe that He is the only way to God.
We believe that the only way to accept this forgiveness is by confessing our sins to God, believing that He is sufficient to give us forgiveness, and then inviting Him to become the Leader and Master of our life.
We believe that Christians are called to holy living as a daily lifestyle, which is made possible through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life.
At Faith Church, we live to give ourselves away so others will know Jesus! It is our hope that we can come along side you in your journey and that together, our lives will be forever changed by our amazing God!