Colonial Church

Description

Principles of Congregationalism

Christ is the sole head of the church
Christ-ruled and Christ-centered fellowship

The "gathered" church
Each congregation is a covenant community gathered by God. Christ is in our midst guiding our thoughts and actions by the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Independence and autonomy of each local church

Church is gathered around Word (Scripture) and Sacrament
Where the Word is faithfully proclaimed and taught and the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are rightly administered.

All members are "ministers"
We are all "priests unto God" and are part of the "priesthood of all believers". Each of us has a ministry in our daily lives and in the life of the church.

What We Believe

• Colonial Church affirms the historic Christian faith rooted in Holy Scripture and confessed by the church at all times and in all places.
• We believe God has been revealed as the one true God in the three persons of the Trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
• We believe God who has created all things creates us in God’s own image and sets before us the ways of life and death. But as human beings, we "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). In love, God has acted to save our fallen world from sin, death and the power of evil through the words and events of redemptive history fulfilled ultimately in Jesus Christ.
• In Jesus of Nazareth, God became human, revealed himself to us, and shared our common humanity.
• We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior of the world who through his life, death and resurrection revealed the divine love, conquered sin and death, and reconciled the world to himself.
• We believe God gives us the Holy Spirit, who calls and gathers us into the Church of Jesus Christ, binding in covenant faithful people of all ages, tongues and races.
• Through the Holy Spirit, we are fed by the Word of God, we share in Christ’s baptism, we eat at his table, and we grow in the grace and knowledge of God.
• We affirm the Bible contains the Word of God, given by divine inspiration, the only normative rule of faith and practice. The books of the Old and New Testaments are to be interpreted according to their historical context and purpose in reverent obedience to the Lord who speaks through them in living power.
• We believe through the Holy Spirit we are justified and sanctified by God’s grace and enabled to love one another. God promises to all who trust him forgiveness of sins, fullness of grace and eternal life in his kingdom which has no end.
• As the church, we are called to proclaim the gospel to all the world, to care for one another and to serve the world, striving for justice, peace and reconciliation among all people.
• God’s redemptive purpose will be consummated by the return of Christ to raise the dead, to judge all people, and to establish his glorious kingdom. Then shall the eager longing of creation be fulfilled and the whole earth will proclaim the glory of God who makes all things new.