What We believe

I believe in God the Father Almighty; Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the virgin, Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into Hades; the third day He rose from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic* Church,; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.
Amen.

​The word “catholic” means “universal” and refers to the whole people of God, not to a particular denomination.

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who, for us men, and for our salvation, came down from Heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the virgin, Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into Heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord, and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spoke by the Prophets. And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church; I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.

Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the virgin, the God- bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only- begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only- begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the fathers has handed down to us.

You can find the full text of the Confession at this link:
https://www.ccel.org/creeds/westminster.htm

Memorials state the position of the CREC on issues on which a confessional statement has not been made. Memorials are contained in the Book of Memorials and are incorporated by reference into the Constitution. A candidate or mission church must declare any exceptions or reservations to the memorials prior to its becoming a CREC member. Member churches must immediately notify the broader assembly of any changes to their position on the memorials. If presbytery determines that the exceptions or reservations place the church at odds with CREC standards, it may initiate proceedings under Article IV.D.3. The process for adopting a memorial must involve a careful striving for like-mindedness. This deliberate process will help us guard against various fads and winds of doctrine (Eph. 4:14). A memorial must be approved as a draft at a stated council and adopted at a subsequent stated council.

Memorial A. Ministerial Training
We believe that ministerial training is best conducted under the oversight of a local session, including an intense apprenticeship within the church which tests and develops the gifts, skills, knowledge, and spiritual qualifications of the candidate. At the same time, we recognize that many local congregations lack the resources to provide rigorous academic training, including training in the original languages. Therefore, we still see a place for churches to send men to seminaries, while retaining their responsibility to oversee and facilitate the training. Ideally seminaries would function as an academic extension which supplement the overall training program of the church.

Memorial B: Confessional Revision
Our process of confessional revision is established so that the differences between our churches may be resolved over time by a careful striving for like-mindedness. The process is established to work in a slow and deliberate fashion so that we will be less susceptible to various fads and winds of doctrine (Eph. 4:14).

Memorial C: Christian Education
God has explicitly commanded parents to bring up their children in the education and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). Given the impossibility of neutrality in education, we do heartily affirm the necessity of educating our children in a manner that is explicitly Christian in content and rigor. While parents who do not fully understand the indispensability of Christian education should be warmly received into membership, we nevertheless encourage Christian parents to seek alternatives to the government school system. In cases, where Christian education is an impossibility, parents must be active and diligent in overseeing the education of their children.

Memorial D: Creation in Six Days
God is the Author of history. Poetic descriptions and multivalent meanings of Scriptural history never negate the reality of historical events. God reveals in Genesis 1 that he created all there is in the space of six days. Man is to pattern his own work-rest rhythm according to the pattern of God’s work-rest rhythm in creation (Exodus 20:8-11), a command that assumes the reality and definition of the original creation days as being the normal twenty-four-hour days we experience. We reject any interpretation that redefines these days into anything other than six sequential twenty-four-hour days.

Memorial E. Terrorism and Warfare
Christians are called by our Lord to be peacemakers. We therefore renounce all acts of aggression and terrorism, while recognizing the right to self-defense for individuals and nations. Combat is lawful when it defends life, liberty, and property against criminal action. Biblical principles of warfare must be followed, never returning evil for evil, nor may women or children be mustered for combat. While God may use the actions of wicked men to administer judgment on persons or nations, His hidden decrees have not been revealed to us. Regardless, it is appropriate to respond to such events with humility and repentance.

Memorial F. Sexual Perversion
Confessing the Bible to be the authoritative Word of God, we together with the unanimous testimony of the historic Church believe that God has spoken clearly and sufficiently to the issue of human sexuality. Perversion, in its varied forms, whether gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, violates God’s design for human sexuality and is sinful, therefore, in the eyes of God. The only remedy for this, and all other sin, is found in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. All who have strayed from this confession, should return to biblical faithfulness in a spirit of repentance.

Memorial G. Worship
Corporate worship on the Lord’s Day is one of our highest privileges and greatest duties. God draws us into his special presence to serve us in Word and Sacrament. He uses this time to transform us, and the world, into his likeness. A church’s liturgy must be shaped by the biblical pattern of worship, including a confession of sin, the preaching of the Word, and celebrating the Lord’s Supper. Worshipers must respond to God’s service with submission and joy, singing psalms and hymns with glorious music. The Scriptures require regular participation in the life and worship of a local church.

Memorial H. Abortion
Because unborn humans from conception bear the image of God and are innocent of criminal wrongdoing, the act of abortion is murder and results in a corporate guilt which defiles the land when justice is not pursued on behalf of the innocent. Therefore, we oppose taking unborn human life by any means including the various types of abortive procedures, the use of the so- called morning after pill, or the use of abortifacients. Even in those rare circumstances when a pregnancy causes an immediate threat to the life of a mother, the overriding priority is to preserve life, not take it.

Memorial I. Human Sexuality
Humans are created in the image of God and therefore receive the highest honor among God’s creatures. Humanity consists of two sexes—male and female—each with unique gifts, callings, and authority. God designed sexual intimacy to be enjoyed in marriage, between one man and one woman, for union, protection, companionship, and procreation of children. Any desire or act that deviates from this design is sinful and destructive, such as premarital sex, pornography, adultery, polygamy, homosexual behavior, and transgenderism. Christians must strive to forsake these sins, by the power of the Holy Spirit, trusting in the forgiveness of Jesus.

We confess that the church is subject to Christ, who is Lord over all. While church members ought to obey civil rulers in temporal things, provided they are not required by those authorities to sin (Mk. 12:13- 17; Rom. 13:1- 7; 1 Pt. 2:13- 17),
the church has a divine right to embody her beliefs in her practices and to carry out the mission Christ has entrusted to her without interference or hindrance. The church as an institution shall remain free from state control in faith, doctrine, and practice, and her members should not be forced to act contrary to their consciences, as informed by the Word of God. With these truths in view, we declare the church’s right to reject any attempts on the part of the state to impose on her institutionally or her members individually unbiblical, unnatural definitions of marriage or sexuality.

God created man male and female in the beginning for this very reason, that they might be joined together in the covenant of marriage as one flesh (Mark 10:5ff). Marriage as a covenant bond between a man and a woman is an institution founded not in cultural convention or convenience, but in God’s act of creation (Gen. 2:23- 24).

We resist and reject all attempts to redefine marriage to include same- sex partnerships. Certainly, we desire to serve and love persons with homosexual desires or who engage in homosexual practices. We know we are fellow image bearers and fellow sinners along with them, and we long to show them the compassion of Christ. But we cannot endorse the fulfillment of their desires under any circumstances. Rather, we call on persons with such desires to join us in trusting the Lord Jesus to forgive our sin through his shed blood and transform us by his healing grace.

We claim the right for our churches and church members (whatever their particular vocation) to refuse to host, officiate, or in any way support same- sex “marriage” ceremonies, not out of animus, but out of love for God, neighbor, and truth. Likewise, we refuse to host, officiate, or support other ceremonies that violate biblical teaching on marriage.

We reject transgenderism as a perversion of God’s good creational order. There are only two sexes, male and female (Gen. 1:26- 28). Sex is not fluid, it is binary. We reject the notion that gender is determined by one’s feelings, or is detachable from biological and bodily givens. God forms each person genetically as a distinct male or female from the moment of conception. As God is the Creator, and makes each of us either male or female, we cannot unmake and remake ourselves into the opposite sex.

Sex is an immutable feature of our identity as creatures; thus, it is impossible for anyone to change his or her sex. Gender dysphoria should not be used to create a protected class of persons, in which one’s feelings override the facts of biology, or in which the rights, dignity, and privacy of transgender persons override the rights, dignity, and privacy of others. Thus, we claim for our churches and church members (in whatever vocation they serve) the right to reject compliance with any public policies or laws that would require us to deny binary sexes, or to accept claims of gender identity that are contrary to one’s God- assigned biology.

We reject the legal redefinitions of sex and gender that divorce either of these realities from God- given biology. We claim the right to speak to people according to their God- given sex, rather than reinforcing gender dysphoric confusions by using alternative pronouns. We claim the right to restrict access to intimate facilities (e.g., bathrooms, nursing areas, shelters, etc.), to sex- specific events, etc., strictly according to God- given biological realities. In the case of someone who has already transitioned to the appearance of the opposite sex, the session of the local congregation will determine the wisest and most compassionate course of action.

All sexual sins can be forgiven through the shed blood of Christ, including the practice of sodomy and transgenderism. But forgiveness can never be separated from confession and repentance; forgiveness can never be separated from denying oneself and taking up the cross daily; forgiveness can never be separated from fighting against sin and pursuing holiness in the power of the Holy Spirit.