What Makes Us So Ordinary?

We are not a new Evangelical church start. We are an enduring Christian fellowship. Our concern is to live faithful, but ordinary lives for the glory of God. We make no special claims and provide no special services. We simply love the Lord and gather for worship and fellowship.

We are not denominational, nor independent. Our fellowship is dependently associated with the long, historic, biblical, Protestant, Reformed, Christian church that has undergone many deformations, transformations, and reformations over the centuries. And yet, there is an existing, enduring remnant that is mostly scattered and sometimes gathered. We are a branch on that Vine.

Historic, Protestant, Biblical Doctrine

The Protestant Reformation marked a return to the historic, biblical doctrines of grace. These doctrines do not belong to Protestants or Reformed Christians, but are simply faithful to the biblical texts and belong to all Christians.

Service Oriented

“Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’”" (Matthew 20:25-28).

Christian faithfulness means work and service, not privilege or position.

Jurisdictional Clarification

Biblical jurisdiction has to do with four separate but related areas: self-government, family government, church government, and civil government. Each is independent of the others, but also requires mutual cooperation.

The jurisdiction of self-government is the area discussed in the Westminster Confession, Article 21, On Christian Liberty. It acknowledges the reality and importance of personal regeneration, and that membership in Christ’s universal or invisible church is a matter of Christ’s call and selection. It is the basis of all freedom.

Leaders lead by example and exousia (a Greek word meaning ability, competency, mastery and influence. To follow means to be in the same way.

Jurisdictional clarification maintains the importance and respect for each level of government by each level of government. This means not merely the separation of church and state, which must be honored, but it also means cooperation between church and state. Church and state are not and cannot be in dire opposition to one another. Nor can family and church be opposed to one another.

Household Membership

We track membership by household as a way of honoring biblical representative government because the family is the basic institution of civilization. Each household gets one vote.

Household Balloting of Church Concerns

We respect the reality and jurisdiction of the family by encouraging balloting families to discuss and determine their household vote, which is cast by the head of the household.

Only the baptized head of household can vote. This acknowledges the value of biblical headship (leadership), which is the model for biblical representative government.

Family Integrated Worship & Church Life

Worship (liturgy) is understood in the sense of being the work or activity of the people of Christ—not just at church or on Sundays, but all the time. Liturgy is what Christians do, our work, our calling. Work is a form of worship.

Family integrated church life preserves the integrity of the Christian family as the foundation for Christian culture.