What We Believe
Center
Ridge Presbyterians have much in common with our neighboring
churches in the Glendale-Kenly area. We celebrate the Fatherhood
of God, the Lordship of
Christ and life in the Spirit. We love Jesus Christ, and want to
do our
part in changing the world in His name. We read and believe
the
Bible, and we accept it as the inspired word of
God, our only authoritative guide for living. We
believe that Christ is THE hope of the world, and the answer to all of
life's great questions. Like the apostle Paul, "we preach Christ,
and Him crucified
The
Presbyterian Church (USA) (of which we are a local expression) is a
“confessing
church,” which means that we say what we
believe. In fact, Part I of our
Constitution
is our Book of Confessions. In this
book are included all of the great confessions of faith of orthodox
Christianity,
as well as some that have special importance for the Reformed
tradition and Presbyterians. We use The Apostles' Creed, from the Book Of Confessions, in
worship each Sunday.
It’s not
possible in this short space to go into great detail, but here are a
few important
Presbyterian "distinctives":
1) Government- As opposed to
many churches,
which may have a form of congregational
government, local (particular) Presbyterian churches are governed by
elders, meeting
together in a group known as the Session.
In fact, we take our
name, "Presbyterian" from this system of government- the biblical
Greek word presbyteros
means
"elder". John Calvin believed
that it was important to preserve the unity of the church, and he
didn't
believe that a congregational system of government served that
end. Calvin was a lawyer, and he combined his theology and legal
expertise to develop the Presbyterian form of government. We have
congregational
"business" meetings on only three occasions: 1) To call a pastor, 2)
to elect elders and 3) to buy or sell real estate.
Larger
Presbyterian churches may also have deacons (elected to do the work of
benevolence and service), but at Center Ridge our elders perform both
functions.
2) The Sovereignty of God- We believe that God is
sovereign;
that he is constantly working out His purpose in creation, and that He
will not
be thwarted. Men and women may rebel and resist Him, but His
grace is
irresistible and His love will always overcome. Therefore,
salvation is something God
does, not something we do for ourselves ("You have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you"). We are totally dependent upon God for our
salvation, as well as for every other need of life.
3) Baptism-
Presbyterians have a high view of baptism. Where some Christian
groups see
baptism as merely symbolic, Presbyterians view baptism as a sacrament (a sign, revealing God's
word). We
believe
that, when a person is baptized, the Holy Spirit is present in
the
act. Presbyterians say that "baptism is the
sign and seal of incorporation into Christ."
When
an adult makes a profession of faith in Christ and desires to join the
church,
that person may request baptism by sprinkling or by immersion.
Our usual mode of baptism is sprinkling.
Because of
our strong belief in God as sovereign,
we baptize children. Infant
baptism places the emphasis upon what God
does in saving us, rather than upon something we
do. In infant baptism, God does for
children what they are not yet able to do for themselves.
Parents who desire to have their little ones baptized can
initiate the
process by talking with the minister or a member of Session.
Children who have been baptized are taught and encouraged to join the
church and reaffirm their baptism, usually upon reaching their early
teen years.