Churchland Baptist Affiliations and Beliefs
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Our core beliefs as a church body:
We believe Jesus Christ is our Savior and Lord.
We believe the Bible is the Word of God.
We believe the Church is the body of Christ on earth.
We believe Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are symbolic celebrations of grace.
We believe women and men are equally gifted for all roles in ministry.
Being Christian is more important than being Baptist.
Christian is the noun.
Baptist is the adjective.
All who profess Jesus Christ as Lord are sisters and brothers in Christ.
As Baptists, our beliefs focus on four historic Baptist principles or distinctives:
(summarized by Walter B. Shurden in book, The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms)
Soul freedom
Baptists emphasize that all of us are in direct and personal relationship with God, without need of clergy or creed to mediate that relationship for us. We feel that clergy have a role in tending and nurturing the relationship, but ultimately each of us are accountable to God as individuals. This personal experience with God is indispensable to the Christian life and necessary for a vital and vibrant community of faith. Sometimes you will hear us refer to this idea as "the priesthood of all believers."
Bible freedom
The Bible is foundational to us as individuals and as a community of faith. Baptists believe that each person has the freedom and responsibility to read and interpret Scripture for themselves, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We place a strong emphasis on individual freedom in this regard, with the understanding that there is also much to be gained from reading and interpreting Scripture together, thus pooling our collective wisdom as we seek to live faithfully in the Way of Christ.
Church freedom
Each Baptist church is free, under the Lordship of Christ, to determine their membership, leadership, beliefs, and practice. This is sometimes known as the "autonomy of the local church" and is distinct from other Christian traditions where local churches are connected to a larger denomination and must abide by those rules and regulations. While local Baptist churches are wholly independent, each church often chooses to partner with other Baptist groups (and other organizations) to work together to support one another and achieve goals that one church by itself could not reach.
Religious freedom
Because of their own experience of religious persecution, which led Baptists to come to the new world (America), Baptists feel strongly that everyone should be able to worship as they feel led without unnecessary interference by the government. Just as religious freedom involves the freedom to practice religion, it also includes the freedom not to practice religion. Our kind of Baptists talk about freedom of religion, freedom for religion, and freedom from religion. The separation of church and state affords important constitutional protection of religious freedom for all.
The Baptist emphasis on freedom helps explain why there is so much diversity within the Baptist tradition. If each person can and should read and interpret Scripture for themselves, then the assumption is that we will not all agree on matters of faith and theology. That is one of the things that we think is quite beautiful about the Baptist tradition—it allows an awful lot of diversity to exist within its broad umbrella.
We believe Jesus Christ is our Savior and Lord.
We believe the Bible is the Word of God.
We believe the Church is the body of Christ on earth.
We believe Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are symbolic celebrations of grace.
We believe women and men are equally gifted for all roles in ministry.
Being Christian is more important than being Baptist.
Christian is the noun.
Baptist is the adjective.
All who profess Jesus Christ as Lord are sisters and brothers in Christ.
As Baptists, our beliefs focus on four historic Baptist principles or distinctives:
(summarized by Walter B. Shurden in book, The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms)
Soul freedom
Baptists emphasize that all of us are in direct and personal relationship with God, without need of clergy or creed to mediate that relationship for us. We feel that clergy have a role in tending and nurturing the relationship, but ultimately each of us are accountable to God as individuals. This personal experience with God is indispensable to the Christian life and necessary for a vital and vibrant community of faith. Sometimes you will hear us refer to this idea as "the priesthood of all believers."
Bible freedom
The Bible is foundational to us as individuals and as a community of faith. Baptists believe that each person has the freedom and responsibility to read and interpret Scripture for themselves, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We place a strong emphasis on individual freedom in this regard, with the understanding that there is also much to be gained from reading and interpreting Scripture together, thus pooling our collective wisdom as we seek to live faithfully in the Way of Christ.
Church freedom
Each Baptist church is free, under the Lordship of Christ, to determine their membership, leadership, beliefs, and practice. This is sometimes known as the "autonomy of the local church" and is distinct from other Christian traditions where local churches are connected to a larger denomination and must abide by those rules and regulations. While local Baptist churches are wholly independent, each church often chooses to partner with other Baptist groups (and other organizations) to work together to support one another and achieve goals that one church by itself could not reach.
Religious freedom
Because of their own experience of religious persecution, which led Baptists to come to the new world (America), Baptists feel strongly that everyone should be able to worship as they feel led without unnecessary interference by the government. Just as religious freedom involves the freedom to practice religion, it also includes the freedom not to practice religion. Our kind of Baptists talk about freedom of religion, freedom for religion, and freedom from religion. The separation of church and state affords important constitutional protection of religious freedom for all.
The Baptist emphasis on freedom helps explain why there is so much diversity within the Baptist tradition. If each person can and should read and interpret Scripture for themselves, then the assumption is that we will not all agree on matters of faith and theology. That is one of the things that we think is quite beautiful about the Baptist tradition—it allows an awful lot of diversity to exist within its broad umbrella.
