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This congregation is completely non-denominational in nature. It subscribes to no human creeds or conventions, but is totally autonomous (self-ruling). The members of this church have unanimously decided to use the New Testament of Jesus Christ as their sole source of authority and doctrine.
We hope that you will decide to visit with us during our worship services or Bible classes. You will find them to be orderly and reverent and you will never be asked to identify yourself before the group or contribute financially.
We believe in using God's word as a pattern for our personal lives and the work of the church. That pattern is the only one approved of by God for us to follow. If we decide to guess that what we are doing in His Name will satisfy Him, then we are going beyond what He has allowed and we will be judged (2 John 9-11). Nadab and Abihu tried to guess that their strange fire would please God in the Old Testament and they were judged for it. Cain tried to guess that his different offering would please God and he was judged for it. We must follow God's plan for worship and practice and leading within the church. Or we too will be judged. God alone makes the law for the church. Man can not.
God has authorized the names which the church may wear. God recognizes his church in the New Testament as the church of God, the kingdom of God, the church of Christ, the body of Christ, and the house or household of God. Other names that were made up by later men to exalt the men who founded their church are absent from the Bible and unauthorized by God. The church is the bride of Christ and his bride should wear His name (2 Cor. 11:2)-not some man's.
God has authorized how the church is to govern itself. Christ is the only head of the body. There are no earthly presidents, etc. in His church. Each local church is led by its own elders and deacons. (Elder is a synonymous term with bishop or pastor.) The preacher is in subjection to the elders with authority from God to preach the Truth. No local church or its elders exercised any authority over another local church. All are autonomous.
There is no reason to follow a religious pattern made by men when God has told us what will please Him. Why try to guess your way to Heaven when the map has been provided in the Bible? Let's go back to the Bible and respect God's pattern for the pious life and church's work.
Upon request, most denominations will provide you with a history of their group and a book of their peculiar doctrine. Their history usually traces its seeds back to the seventeenth century or thereabouts and lauds the fine work of some man (like John Calvin or John Wesley or Martin Luther) whose name they glorify by calling themselves after him. While God's word provides all the doctrine His church may espouse, many churches of men create their own creeds that can foster division.
Occasionally, some will ask us when the church of Christ was established or they will ask to see our book of doctrine. Our answer is rather simple. Jesus promised to build his church (Matt. 16:16) and the apostles and first disciples were added to that new body (Acts 2:47). Christ, then established the church that belongs to him in the very first century A.D. That is the church that we want to be part of, so that we can know Jesus established it and Peter and Paul were among its earliest members.
As to our book of doctrine, we would guess that most every home in the city has a copy of it already. We use only the Holy Bible as our book of doctrine, or creed. When you ask what the church believes on this or that, you deserve to hear instead what God believes on the subject and that answer will come from book, chapter and verse. We will always make our stand on the Book.
The concept of denominations did not originate with God. Christ built one church (Ephesians 4:4), the apostles cried for unity (Philippians 2:2) and division was swiftly corrected (1 Cor. 1:10-13). Christ did not build denominations; they were a later innovation of men.
The New Testament speaks of that one church as the church of Christ or the church of God or the kingdom of Christ-these are all descriptions of the one church, not denominational names. Believers in Christ can be united only upon what God has revealed as his will. The simple designation "Christian" brings unity while artificial names bring division.
In conclusion, the church of Christ is composed of people who truly desire the unity of believers upon the Bible platform.
