What we believe

The 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired and inerrant Word of God. They are the only rule of faith and life: they tell us what is right and wrong for what we believe and how we live.

We receive them as sufficient and clear for the church. Church tradition, the opinions of men, and the spirit of the age must all be tested by Scripture, never placed beside it or above it (2 Tim. 3:16-17; Deut. 12:32).

The Three Forms of Unity — the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession of Faith, and the Canons of Dort — summarize the teaching of Scripture. They do not stand over against Scripture; they receive their authority from agreement with it.

A confession is a public statement of what we understand to be clearly taught in the Bible. We use the RCUS Three Forms of Unity. If a summary were shown to be in error, we would change the summary, because the Word of God alone binds the conscience.

The children of believers are members of God’s covenant from conception and are therefore to be distinguished from the children of unbelievers (1 Corinthians 7:14; Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 74). We do not hold that physical water baptism itself saves, but rather that it is a sacrament signifying the washing with the blood of Jesus Christ, which alone truly cleanses us from sin. Children raised in the church are expected to embrace the faith. We therefore celebrate Confirmation when a young adult, having received an elementary education in the Christian faith through catechism, publicly affirms these covenant promises as their own personal faith.

The most important gift we can give our covenant children is an education in the things of God. This is commanded to both parents and the church and accomplished through the cooperation of parents and the church. Parents are called to “teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” (Deuteronomy 6:7). As a church, we carry this out through weekly Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and Catechism.

What is Catechism Class?

Catechism is an elementary education in the things of God. Class meets Wednesdays at 4:00 PM. It is an ancient and effective method of teaching by asking important questions and giving students carefully formulated answers. Its use is referenced a number of times in the New Testament (Lk 1:4, Acts 18:25, Rom 2:18, 1 Cor 14:19, among others). In Catechism class we study and memorize the Heidelberg Catechism as a summary of the Christian faith. We also read through the entire Bible, and we study church history and other areas of theology. Catechism instruction is normally concluded with Confirmation, when the young person publicly affirms that the promises of Scripture are their own personal faith.

Confirmation is not a graduation. Like finishing elementary school, it does not mean the learning is over. It is a beginning: preparation for a lifetime of growing in what it means to follow Christ.

Marriage is defined by God as the lifelong union of one man and one woman before God (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:5). It is not a human arrangement that we may redefine.

Marriage is a reflection of Christ’s love for His Church and the Church’s love and submission to Him (Ephesians 5:31).

All sexual activity outside of marriage is condemned by God (Hebrews 13:4).

God created the heavens and the earth in six ordinary (24-hour) days and rested on the seventh. We take the days of creation as ordinary days, not as ages, because that is how Scripture itself explains them. God Himself grounds the weekly Sabbath in His six days of work and the seventh of rest (Exodus 20:11).

There will be a day of judgment when Christ returns physically.

The dead will be raised, and all people will be judged according to what they have done in this life. Unbelievers will receive just and eternal judgment for their sins. Believers deserve the same; our only hope is that we are seen in Christ’s righteousness and not our own (Matthew 25:31–46).

Life is a gift of God. All human beings are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26–27). That image was broken in the Fall, yet it remains. After the flood, God reaffirmed that we are still His image-bearers (Genesis 9:6). The evil of attacks on human life is not only that they destroy a particular person—which is grave enough—but that they are an assault on God Himself. We therefore stand for the abolition of all abortion and euthanasia.

We also recognize that every one of us is a sinner, and that some may have been involved in these sins. God offers forgiveness to all who truly repent and seek forgiveness in Jesus Christ.