Core Beliefs

As a CHRISTIAN Church…

We believe that the only Savior of sinners is the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal divine Son of God, who became man, was crucified for our sins, was raised for our eternal life, and will come again to judge the world at the end of the age.

We believe that the Bible is the fully inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God, divinely authored and thus supremely authoritative in everything it teaches.

We believe that God grants forgiveness of sins, a new heart, and everlasting life with him to every person who believes in Jesus as he is revealed in the Bible and, consequently, who endeavors to forsake his sins and live in obedience to God.

As part of the CATHOLIC (a.k.a. ONE, WHOLE, UNITED) Church…

We believe in the historic doctrine of God, especially regarding the Trinity and the two distinct natures of Christ, articulated by the councils and creeds of the early Church.

We affirm our spiritual unity with all believers throughout the world and throughout history who hold to the essential truths of the Christian faith, despite differences of biblical interpretation on secondary matters.

As a PROTESTANT Church…

We hold as an essential gospel truth the biblical doctrine of justification: that we are forgiven of our sins and accepted as righteous before God entirely as a gift (not deserved at all), received simply through faith (not earned at all), on the sole basis of Christ's own righteousness credited to our account (not ours at all).

We maintain that the Bible is the complete and all-sufficient revelation of God for all generations, and that no extrabiblical doctrine or church tradition has God-given authority to bind our consciences in doctrine or practice.

As an EVANGELICAL Church…

We continue to believe that all the historical claims of the Bible are completely factual and accurate as originally intended; and whoever would reduce the truth claims of Scripture to mere myths and parables has departed from the faith of the Apostles.

We continue to believe that the only way of salvation from sin and hell given by God is to believe in the name of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Bible; no other faith or religion can save.

As a REFORMED Church…

We subscribe to an historic Protestant confession of faith—specifically, the Westminster Confession of Faith, together with its Larger and Shorter Catechisms—as containing a faithful interpretation and summary of the teaching of Scripture, and therefore as a shared rule of faith and practice for our denomination.

We believe that the Church of the New Testament is the spiritual continuation and fulfillment of the Old Testament people of Israel, with God’s covenant of grace through Christ being different in form but the same in substance between both eras of redemption history. (This view is often called Covenant Theology.)

We believe that everything whatsoever that comes to pass in the course of our lives and in all of history has been unchangeably foreordained by God, such that all things ultimately serve his own glory, as the Creator, Provider, Ruler, and Judge of all his creatures.

We believe that God has graciously chosen from before the foundation of the world all those who would be saved, and that everyone whom Christ died to redeem will be supernaturally enabled and persuaded by the Holy Spirit to embrace him with saving faith.

As a PRESBYTERIAN Church…

We appoint qualified men to serve in the biblical offices of Elder (including Pastors) and Deacon, through whom the risen Christ exercises authoritative spiritual government and care for the members of the church.

We practice our connection and mutual accountability with other PCA churches through our regional court (Pee Dee Presbytery) and the plenary court (General Assembly) of PCA Elders.

We exercise biblical discipline of church members found to be in unrepentant sin, in accordance with the rules and protections of the PCA Book of Church Order.

Views FAQ

  • Being the New Testament equivalent of circumcision—that is, a sign both of salvation through faith and of membership in the covenant community—baptism is to be administered to believers as well as to their children. Baptism is best administered by the sprinkling or pouring of water upon a person, reflecting the sprinkling of blood in Old Testament worship and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church following the resurrection of Christ.

  • Contrary to Roman Catholic superstition, we deny any miraculous transformation of the bread and wine into the physical body and blood of Christ in the Supper. However, contrary to many of our fellow Protestants, we also deny that the Supper is a mere memorial without any special presence of Christ. Instead, we affirm that when believers rightly receive the Supper, they enjoy a true communion with Christ, feeding on him spiritually through faith. Unlike with baptism, the children of believers are not to receive the Lord’s Supper until they have made their own profession of faith and been confirmed by the elders.

  • The miraculous sign-gifts (prophecy, tongues, and healing) were given to aid and corroborate  the church’s gospel proclamation during the apostolic generation, before all the New Testament Scriptures had been written. Since their special, foundation-laying purpose is now fulfilled, the Holy Spirit no longer bestows these particular gifts.

  • The Westminster Standards do not specify or require a particular view of the millennium in Revelation 20; our pastor holds an “amillennial” view. According to the New Testament, we live in the “last days”—that is to say, the next great unfolding of redemption history will be the set of events which mark the end of the age. Jesus will return, visibly and bodily, to bring about the resurrection and the final judgment. We are to live as being prepared for his return at any time.

  • Marriage is the unique, exclusive, lifelong, bodily and whole-life union of one man and one woman, which mirrors the union of Christ and his Church. Marriage and child-rearing are the ordinary calling of God upon those who have the opportunity and ability to undertake them; but some are called to singleness for various reasons. Any and all sexual activity and passion outside of marriage is sin: adultery, promiscuity, pornography use, homosexuality, rape, lust, etc.

  • Men and women are equal in dignity, value, and moral stature before God. The offices of the church (pastor, elder, and deacon) are open to men only according to Scripture. Husbands hold a distinct authority and responsibility for the government of their households, and they are to be the spiritual leaders of their families.

  • While drunkenness is emphatically condemned in Scripture, the enjoyment of wine in moderation is commended. Unfermented grape juice does not occur naturally—the process by which grape juice is kept from becoming wine did not exist until the 19th century. There is no doubt that Christ gave his disciples wine when instituting the Lord’s Supper. However, for anyone who may have a physical infirmity or an issue of conscience with respect to wine, we also offer grape juice at the Supper.

  • Music for worship ought to be lovely, reverent, and written to be singable by groups of ordinary people without the need of elaborate accompaniment. Emotions in worship should come as the product of our meditation upon biblical truths, not as a product of artificial musical stimulation.

  • The Church is both authorized and obligated by Christ to declare to all men (including civil magistrates) whatsoever the Bible teaches, whether or not the surrounding society considers a given teaching to be “political” or “partisan.” Further, it is good and desirable that a given nation or community should order its civic life according to the Bible’s standards of justice; and Christians ought to serve the good of their neighbors through thoughtful engagement in political processes as they have opportunity. Nevertheless, we are committed in our preaching and teaching to studying whole books of the Bible and the timeless doctrines of Scripture, rather than merely “preaching the headlines.”

  • We are the kind of PCA church that often gets called things like “conservative,” “traditional,” or “confessional.” But the best way to find out is to come see for yourself!