Beliefs

Beliefs

Often people want to know why we need another Presbyterian Church in Western Illinois. You might hear people ask: What makes you different from all the other Presbyterian churches in town? What are your theological distinctives? What does it mean to say your are reformed ? Are any of these issues even important? Do you care about evangelism ?

As elders and undershepherds of the flock, we want to help members, visitors and inquirers learn more about our church. By doing this, our vision of ministry is implemented:

To gather and perfect the saints for work in God's Kingdom by proclaiming the ministry of reconciliation to the praise of His glorious grace.

The Session is convinced that our church must not be so broadly open that it fails to make vitally important distinctions which the Bible itself makes; nor are we to insist that every member share the same precise set of theological convictions. As a matter of fact, the only requirements for membership are a credible profession of faith and a "Trinitarian" water baptism. We presently have members from many different theological backgrounds and we continue to encourage diversity while maintaining a strong conviction that the Bible is "our only rule of faith and practice."

Trinity Presbyterian Church of Aledo, IL can be characterized by the following terms. . .

We are E V A N G E L I C A L . . .

To say that we are evangelical means that we take our stand with all those who believe in the existence of the triune God, the deity of Jesus, the virgin birth, the substitutionary and vicarious atonement of Christ, the physical resurrection of Christ, the visible return of our Lord, and the inerrancy and infallibility and divine authority of the Bible which is a faithful and true rule for what we are to believe and how we are to live. We joyfully affirm our unity with those from every tradition and denomination who hold to these fundamentals, including those true believers in Christ who, for whatever reasons, find themselves members of denominations or churches with which we might have certain disagreements.

We are E V A N G E L I S T I C . . .

This means we take seriously the Great Commission, "Go and make disciples of all nations." This is an imperative not only for proclaiming the gospel message but for bringing people into the covenant community of faith and seeing them grow in their understanding and application of God's Word to their lives. Without compromising the sovereignty of God, we affirm the responsibility of each person to repent and believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and our responsibility to extend the Gospel invitation as a call to salvation to everyone who hears its message. We invite all, without distinction, to drink freely of the "Living Water" and live eternally. In this way, we seek to "extend the transforming presence of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ."

We are R E F O R M E D . . .

The word "reformed" refers to 1) our historical link to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. It describes us as the heirs of that tradition which comes from Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox and other reformers. 2) The word "reformed" is used most commonly to refer to certain theological distinctives which have set apart reformation believers, particularly those in the Calvinist tradition. These distinctives can be summarized by our glad affirmation of the responsibility of every person to repent and believe while acknowledging that it is God who, by His sovereign electing grace, draws men, women, and children who are otherwise dead in sin, to faith in His Son. By God's grace alone through faith alone are people justified and made righteous. Reformed distinctives include the sovereignty of God in His creation, providence, and election of believers apart from any merit of their own; the irresistible grace of God provided for and preceding the faith of the individual; the sufficiency of God's grace apart from which man is dead in sin and wholly defiled in all his faculties of soul and body; the efficacy of Christ's death for all those who believe in Him by grace; the safe-guarding of all those for whom Christ died for eternal life. We seek to hold to our reformed convictions humbly while recognizing the sincerity and earnestness of godly men and women who have other positions.

We are C O N F E S S I O N A L . . .

This means that we have a written confession of faith which we believe to be an accurate and systematic summary of the Bible's teaching. Our confession consists of the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms . These documents (available on our book table) are not without flaw; yet we believe they do contain carefully worded summaries of the Bible's content. All ruling and teaching elders in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) must vow that they "receive and adopt" these standards as the "system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures." It is important to note that every church has a confession, formal or informal, even though some claim they have "no confession but Christ" or "no creed but the Bible." Every church summarizes its convictions in some form in order to distinguish its members from those who are not believers or those who do not believe in their church's distinctives.

We are C O V E N A N T A L . . .

This means that we believe that the unifying principle of the Scriptures is the one covenant of grace. A covenant is a "bond in blood sovereignly administered" which God makes through covenant representatives such as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and with Jesus Christ. The covenant is a relationship of loving loyalty that God has initiated with us as His people throughout human history. When we speak of the unity of the covenants, we mean that there is one way and only one way of salvation in both Old and New Testaments -- that is, by God's grace along through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. This covenantal understanding of the Bible is in distinction from any system of organizing the Scriptures which would attribute differing ways of salvation to a succession of historical Biblical ages.

We are K I N G D O M C E N T E R E D . . .

We believe that the Kingdom of God is not only a future hope but is also a present reality. We believe that the ascension of Jesus Christ means that He is presently reigning from Heaven as King and therefore we are called upon to honor and obey Him in every area of our personal lives and to plant the banner of Christ's Kingdom rule in every arena of human endeavor. Christ's present heavenly reign is at the heart of our Purpose statement as a church, . . .
". . . to advance the ministry of Christ's gracious redemption, through the gathering and perfecting of the saints, by the power of Him who works all
things according to the counsel of His will, to the praise of His own glory."

We are P R E S B Y T E R I A N . . .

This word refers to our form of government. We believe that the most clear biblical pattern is for churches to be governed by presbyters (elders) who rule jointly in what are called "church courts": sessions (on the local church level), Presbyteries (regionally), and the General Assembly (nationally).

Although these are important distinctives that serve to establish our identity within the evangelical community, one can join and be a communing member without holding to any but the evangelical distinctives. In the Presbyterian Church in American you may join a church by public profession of faith in Christ, by reaffirmation of faith or by letter transferring your membership from another evangelical church. The elders of our congregation will interview you concerning your faith and baptism and, upon approval, will publicly introduce you to the entire church. This joyful event usually takes place in a worship service.

It is through EVANGELISM , DISCIPLESHIP , and the bold PROCLAMATION of the Word that we seek to glorify God as we use every Biblical means available to gather and perfect the saints. These primary activities encompass every area of our lives, both private, as well as public, and are centered on the glorious activity of worship within the context of the covenant community. As we worship privately and corporately, train individual members concerning correct doctrine and appropriate application through Christian education, participate in small group ministries, attend to "real life" needs of the body through mercy ministries and reach out into the community and the world through our outreach ministries our purpose as a church in Western Illinois will be fulfilled . . .
"to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."