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Our Mission

 

We are a Bible-believing church and congregation and are united in submission to the inspired and inerrant Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, which are the only authoritative rule of faith and practice given by Christ to His Church.  We desire to be the voice for Reformed Christianity in the Shenandoah Valley, to serve God's mission through transformation and effective biblical leadership, embodying Jesus' love to our neighbors near and far.  We are Evangelical, Reformed and Gospel Centered and are committed to teaching the Bible as the Word of God to all ages.  Our Vision is to be and make disciples of Jesus Christ, through honoring, obeying and praising Him.

 

Our Statement of Faith

1) The Essentials

All Scripture is self-attesting, and being Truth requires our unreserved submission in all areas of life. The infallible Word of God—the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments—is a complete and unified witness to God’s redemptive acts culminating in the incarnation of the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible, uniquely and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the supreme and final authority on all matters on which it speaks. On this sure foundation, we affirm these additional essentials of our faith.

1. We believe in one God, the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To Him be all honor, glory, and praise forever!

2. Jesus Christ, the living Word, became flesh through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin birth. He who is true God became true man united in one Person forever. He died on the cross a sacrifice for our sins according to the Scriptures. On the third day He arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven where, at the right hand of the Majesty on High, He now is our High Priest and Mediator.

3. The Holy Spirit has come to glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to our hearts. He convicts us of sin and draws us to the Savior, indwelling our hearts. He gives new life to us, empowers and imparts gifts to us for service. He instructs and guides us into all truth, and seals us for the day of redemption.

4. Being estranged from God and condemned by our sinfulness, our salvation is wholly dependent upon the work of God’s free grace. God credits His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, and thereby justifies them in His sight. Only such as are born of the Holy Spirit and receive Jesus Christ become children of God and heirs of eternal life.

5. The true Church is composed of all persons who through saving faith in Jesus Christ and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit are united together in the body of Christ. The Church finds her visible yet imperfect expression in local congregations where the Word of God is preached in its purity and the sacraments are administered in their integrity, where scriptural discipline is practiced, and where loving fellowship is maintained. For her perfecting she awaits the return of her Lord.

6. Jesus Christ will come again to the earth personally, visibly, and bodily—to judge the living and the dead, and to consummate history and the eternal plan of God. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).

7. The Lord Jesus Christ commands all believers to proclaim the gospel throughout the world and to make disciples of all nations. Obedience to the Great Commission requires total commitment to “Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.” He calls us to a life of self-denying love and service. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). The Essentials are set forth in greater detail in the Westminster Confession of Faith.


In Essentials ...........… Unity
In Non-Essentials … Liberty
In All Things ........… Charity


 2) WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH

We recognize that individuals committed to the Essentials of the faith might have different approaches to “non-essential” items. So, if you were to visit an EPC church on any given Sunday, what should you expect to hear as the pastor preaches a sermon, or what are the more detailed beliefs of the leadership of an EPC church?

This is where The Westminster Confession of Faith comes in EPC pastors and the other leaders of the church (called Ruling Elders) take a vow when they are approved as leaders that they “receive and adopt the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Scriptures.” In the simplest of terms, the EPC believes the Westminster Confession is a document that does an excellent job of explaining what the Bible teaches and our leaders have adopted these views as being what Scripture is teaching.

For those wanting to go even deeper, you might find helpful an EPC approved resource entitled, What It Means to Receive and Adopt the Westminster Confession of Faith.

You can read the Westminster Confession in full by clicking here.

Created in 1640'S at the Westminister Assembly as a clear & thorough statement of christian belief.

The EPC exists to carry out the Great Commission of Jesus as a denomination of Presbyterian, Reformed, Evangelical, and Missional congregations.