What We Believe
Faith, Gospel Transformation, Service & Unity, Community, Growth, and Love
Core Values
Our mission at Westminster Presbyterian Church is centered around our core values. We trust in the truth and goodness of God, we believe that the Gospel transforms lives, we believe that we are united as the Body of Christ through using the gifts of the Holy Spirit to serve others, and as we are a church family, we seek to grow in faith and love others unconditionally as Christ models for us through His love for the church.
Faith
John 14:6
Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
We trust in the truth and goodness of God:
At Westminster, we trust that God is the source of all that is true and all that is good. We believe that we as people are broken by our sin, but loved by God. We believe that He is faithful and that He has a perfect plan to rescue the world in His time and that He can and will work through all things for our good and His glory. We therefore seek to faithfully and reverently submit to the will of God as a church.
Gospel Transformation
Romans 12:2
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
We believe that the Gospel transforms lives:
At Westminster, we believe that the Gospel transforms lives. We believe that as Christians, we are shaped by the Word of God as found in the Scriptures, and as a church we seek to equip believers with the knowledge of the Gospel and encourage them to respond to the Good News of Jesus in faith. We are committed to learning, understanding, and upholding the truth of God’s character and promises through the preaching and teaching of the Word as found in the Holy Scriptures and examination of the rich, historical beliefs of our tradition and denomination. We are dedicated to striving for faithfulness to the teachings of Scripture, even when it goes against our cultural norms, because we believe that Jesus is the only way by which we can be saved from the sin which pollutes us all.
Service & Unity
Ephesians 4:11-12, 15-16
So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up. / Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body is joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
We are united as the Body of Christ through using the gifts of the Holy Spirit to serve others:
We believe that God has given all people different gifts so that we can work together to serve God and serve others. We believe that we are united in Christ through serving others and by working together as many members of the same body, the Body of Christ. Christ has sent His Holy Spirit to guide us and instruct us as we seek to use our gifts to work together for the benefit of others.
As Christ sacrificed Himself for us, we strive as a church to engage in service both in and outside the walls of the church, assisting those in need through acts of charity and hospitality, and welcoming all who walk through the church doors (and all we meet on the street) with warmth, joyfulness, and respect. We seek to welcome you regardless of where you come from or where you are at in your walk with God.
Community
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will help the other up. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
We are a church family:
As Christians, we believe that through Jesus Christ, we are grafted into a covenant relationship as sons and daughters of the Almighty God. That makes us all brothers and sisters! At Westminster, fellowship is an essential part of our lives together as we all journey toward the heart of God and learn what it means to live Christian lives. We strive to create a welcoming environment where you can come as you are and be transformed by the Gospel, as we believe that we are all sinners in need of a savior: we are broken, but loved by God. As God has forgiven us, we also forgive one another.
In our church family, our focus is on the love of Christ Jesus who laid down His life so that we can live. Thus we are also a joyful congregation because we have all been freed from sin and death and have been given the free gift of eternal life in Jesus!
We also believe that we are called to support one another in all seasons of life and we seek to build one another up in faith in both good times and hard. We pray for one another and for our world and we would like to pray for you as well. We would love for you to come be a part of our family regardless of where you are on your journey of faith!
Growth
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.
We seek to grow spiritually through trusting His guiding providence:
At Westminster, we believe that any growth, be it individually as Christians or as a church body, can only be rightly attributed to the guiding hand of God, the eternal source of our strength and sanctification. Therefore we ask God to guide us toward a lifestyle of fervent prayer and ask His help so that we may dedicate ourselves to the role of evangelism and outreach, allowing ourselves to be refined and reformed continually by the Word of God along the way.
Love
Matthew 22:35-40
And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”
We seek to love others as Christ first loved us:
Without a true love for God and a true love for people, the church fails in its most important task. As we grow in faith, God teaches us to love and care for those around us no matter their background. Christ’s love is such that He died for us even though we sinned against Him. We didn’t have to be “good enough” for Christ to show us the greatest love there is- in fact we were completely broken by our sin, and Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that “God’s power is made perfect in our weakness.” This is the love we strive to model for our neighbors; that every person is unconditionally welcome to come and fall at the feet of Jesus because He loves them.
As Christ sacrificed Himself for us, we strive as a church to engage in service both in and outside the walls of the church, assisting those in need through acts of charity and hospitality, and welcoming all who walk through the church doors (and all we meet on the street) with warmth, joyfulness, and respect. We seek to welcome you regardless of where you come from or where you are at in your walk with God.
Romans 8:28 states that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Jesus tells us in John 16:33 that though we will face challenges in this world, we can rejoice because the battle is already won and those who know Christ can be assured of the hope of eternal life in Heaven!
As members of the body of Christ, we remember our role as Christ’s appointed ambassadors, called to build God’s Heavenly and eternal kingdom here on Earth, of which Christ reigns from above, through the ministry of the Word and service to the poor. In all things, we strive to love God and love our neighbor as ourself, because Christ gave His life for us in love so that we may live.