Our Beliefs

We believe Jesus Christ is our Savior and Lord.

He teaches us how to live an abundant life, full of joy in service and in fellowship with God.
We strive to put the risen Christ at the center of everything we do. Our focus is to put God’s love in action.

We believe the Bible is the Word of God.

Scripture reveals God’s plan for salvation through Jesus Christ.
It teaches us how to live, serve and become His disciples.
With Christ as our guide, example and interpreter of scriptures, we need no other mediator between us and God.

We believe the Church is the body of Christ on earth.

It is a fellowship of believers, not a building or institution.
We view ourselves in cooperation with other churches of the Baptist denomination and the larger body of Christ, and cherish our oneness in Christ.

We believe Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are symbolic celebrations of grace.

Believer’s Baptism celebrates new life in Christ.
The Lord’s Supper celebrates Christ’s sacrifice for us on the Cross.

If you still would like to know more about our beliefs, read "What Do Baptists Believe?”

Our Baptist Principles

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. Being Baptist is only important to the extent it helps us live out our calling as disciples of Jesus Christ, both individually and as a community of faith. As Baptists, our beliefs focus on four historic Baptist principles or distinctives.

Soul Freedom

Baptists believe an authentic faith must be a free faith.
This belief undergirds the Baptist commitment to believer’s baptism. A person must make his or her own free decision to follow Jesus. We get our name from the word baptism because our forebearers insisted on believer’s baptism at a time when infant baptism was the standard practice of the larger Christian church.
Baptists are firmly committed to what is known as the priesthood of all believers. The priesthood of all believers means that through Jesus Christ, Christians can know God personally and directly without the need for any other person to mediate on our behalf. This also means every Christian is called to a life of ministry and service, and that God equally calls women and men.

Bible Freedom

The early Baptists declared the Bible their only authority in matters of faith. In so doing, they rejected the authority of popes, bishops, church tradition, and church councils.
Unlike most other Protestants, Baptists have no founder or authoritative teacher. Lutherans have Luther, Presbyterians have Calvin, Methodists have Wesley, but as Baptists we base our founding on the distinctive ways in which we have interpreted Scripture through the years.
Baptists declare the Bible their only sufficient rule for faith and practice and regard Christ as the norm for interpreting Scripture.
We believe in the freedom of the individual, led by God's Spirit within the community of faith, to read and interpret the Scriptures, relying on the historical understanding by the church and on the best methods of modern biblical study.

Church Freedom

Baptist churches are “free” churches, governed by the members. We answer to no higher ecclesiastical (church) authority other than our own commitment to Christ’s lordship and leading.
Baptists believe the churches in the New Testament made their own decisions; under the leadership of the Holy Spirit (for example, see Acts 6:1-6). This is still the practice in Baptist churches such as ours.
In some denominations the church property belongs to a higher church authority (such as a “conference” or “presbytery”). Baptist churches own their real estate and assume full responsibility for its use, care, and upkeep.
Whereas in some denominations, local church decisions take place under the direction of a higher church authority, such as congregational vision/mission or the calling of clergy, Baptist churches make these decisions on their own, without any involvement from persons outside of the local congregation.

Religious Freedom

The early Baptists were freedom fighters because they believed that the only authentic faith was faith freely chosen and expressed.
Baptists suffering at the hands of governments in Europe and state churches in America led Baptists to become impassioned advocates for the separation of church and state. Baptists were an influential force in seeing that religious liberty and the separation of church and state were guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. to follow Christ without hindrance from religious or civil authorities.

Our View of Baptism

Since baptism is an important part of who we are, we take the time to explain our view of this Christian experience. Baptism is the public enactment of a person's profession of faith in Jesus Christ. In baptism a person identifies with the life, death, resurrection, and continuing ministry of Jesus Christ. It is the first act of obedience of the Christian life, followed by a lifetime of commitment to do all things as Jesus would do.

We baptize by immersion. That is, a person is fully immersed in ordinary water at the hands of an already baptized member of the church, usually but not necessarily the pastor. Baptists stick with the mode of immersion, rather than "sprinkling" or "pouring," because we believe it most clearly depicts genuine faith in God. One humbles oneself by putting on a simple robe, thereby disdaining any social status as a basis for salvation. Then one enters the waters and confesses that "Jesus is Lord," this being the earliest known confession of faith. The person is then put under the water trusting completely in the faithfulness of the administrant to raise the person up. This symbolizes the death-- drowning--of one's sin and selfish strivings in the baptismal tomb. When the person is raised up again, it is a sign that God will give the person life again after death, just as Jesus was raised from the dead.

Baptists believe that God is active in baptism, blessing and calling the Christian to faithful living. Baptism is an ordinance (from "order"), which stems from the order or command of Jesus to believe and be baptized. While the idea that God is involved and personally present in baptism is to be affirmed, Baptists guard against any ideas that may imply magic ("holy water" cleansing any sin) or give to the church or clergy power that only belongs to God, as if the right to grant salvation or deny it can be in any hands other than God's.

We practice believer's baptism rather than infant baptism. While infant baptism conveys well the sense that salvation is not dependent upon what we do but on what God has done for us, it fails to convey the full respect of God for human freedom. God does not force faith upon anyone. Since Churchland Baptist does not practice infant baptism, infants and children are nurtured and encouraged in the faith until such age as the child can make a personal commitment. Instead, we involve the child, the parents, godparents, extended family and congregation in a service of dedication. This meaningful service of blessing and commitment is conducted during regular worship services.