What We Believe

About God

God is the Creator who made the universe and made us. We know and worship God as our heavenly Father, through relationship with his Son by the power of the Holy Spirit.


About Ourselves

God has given all human beings great worth and dignity by creating them in God’s image. God invites us to follow his ways, but none of us is perfect. We fall short of who we want to be and all that God created us to be. But God does not abandon us. We are forgiven, redeemed and made whole by Jesus Christ.
 

About Jesus

Jesus Christ is our Lord and the world’s only Savior. Through his life, death and resurrection, God offers us forgiveness and the opportunity to renew our relationship with God now and forever. Following him means learning to put God first and love our neighbors as ourselves. The Holy Spirit helps us to follow God’s path, which is revealed most clearly in Jesus’ life and teaching.
 

About Politics

We won’t tell you how to vote. We don’t all share the same opinions on political and social issues. We do believe that biblically faithful teaching, thoughtful theological discussions and Christian maturity equip us to fulfill our calling as citizens and leaders in God’s world. 

About the Bible

Scripture is more than a set of guidelines or ideals. It is the Word of God, and our authority in faith and life. It tells us how human beings are to be in relationship with God and how our relationships with God and others become broken. It proclaims who Jesus Christ is and how he saves us.
 

About You

Jesus died for you as much as for anyone else, because he loves you and values you. You matter.
 

About the Church

Jesus never intended for his followers to go it alone; he called them into community. All Jesus-followers are called to live out their faith within his Church. Our church is in the Presbyterian branch of Christianity. That shapes our church, but does not limit it. We share in ministry and mission with others in different branches of Christ’s Church.
 

About Membership

All members of NPC take the following vows:

  1. Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world? I do.
  2. Who is your Lord and Savior? Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.
  3. Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying his word and showing his love? I will.
  4. Will you be a faithful member of this congregation, sharing in its worship and ministry through your prayers and gifts, your study and service, and so fulfill your calling to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I will.

 

About Race

A Statement on Race

Approved by the Session (elders) of the National Presbyterian Church on May 24, 2021

 

The Session of The National Presbyterian Church (and the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.), embrace racial and cultural diversity as God-given assets of the human family.1

 

God created human beings as a diverse family, to live together and to love one another as God loves us.2 We violate God’s intention for the human family by creating false categories of value and identity, based on identifiable characteristics such as culture, place of origin, and skin color.3 Racism is fundamentally a spiritual problem because it denies our true identity as children of God.4 We therefore affirm that racism is a sin which violates God’s purpose for humanity, and is contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ.5

 

We confess our own complicity in this sin.6 We confess our frequent blindness to privilege, and to the impact of racism on structures and systems7 in all parts of our nation’s life, including the church itself. We also recognize that we have not spoken boldly enough, nor acted courageously or creatively enough in response to racism. 8

 

We are committed to becoming a community that resists oppression and works to overcome racism within our own life and the life of the society.9 We long to be led by the Holy Spirit to participate in transforming personal lives and institutions, such as our own church and to heal racial prejudice and hatred.10 We long to be led by the Holy Spirit to build The Beloved Community11

 

For our part, we as a Session commit to lead the congregation in:

  • Praying to become vessels of reconciliation that God can use to help end this scourge on our nation and the church of Jesus Christ.
  • Reading, listening, and learning together.
  • Opening the door to engage in difficult and honest conversations in which we share a diversity of perspectives.
  • Reviewing our congregational programs and mission involvement, as well as our connections with other congregations, to ensure that we serve Christ faithfully by pursing racial reconciliation into our ministries for the long term to dismantle and end racism where we can.

______________________________

1. Revelation 7:9; John 3:16

2. Acts 17:26, 28; Matthew 5:9

John 13:34; Genesis 12:3

3. Genesis 1:26; Acts 6:1; Luke 10:25-37

4. Malachi 2:10

5. Ephesians 2:15-16; 1 Corinthians 12:13

6. Romans 3:23; James 2:8-9

2 Corinthians 4:4; Deuteronomy 8:11-14,18-19; Genesis 3:17-19

Matthew 25:44-46; Ephesians 6:12

7. See John Piper https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/structural-racism.

8. Joshua 1:8; Luke 12:4; Esther 4:13-14

9. Micah 6:8; Amos 5:4, 24; Matthew 5:9; Colossians 3:11; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20

10. Acts 6:1-5; Acts 10:1-11:18; Esther 4:13-14

11. Matthew 28:19-20. “The Beloved Community” is a term used by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to refer to any community in which “Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood.”