As a Congregational
Church we emphasize the freedom of both the local church and each individual
believer. As such we do not have detailed statements on every theological or
contemporary issue which our membership is required to accept.
Instead we
hold it to be the right and responsibility of each Christian to engage
Scripture and to discover God’s truth themselves. It is our desire is that every Christian
would submit their lives first and foremost to God and God’s word rather than
the church leadership. In that sense, we
affirm not a freedom from, but a freedom for the immediate Lordship of Christ
in the life every individual.
Membership
in the First Congregational Church of Emporia requires only that one accept
that most basic Christian confession, that God was present and at work in the
person of Jesus of Nazareth, reconciling the world unto Himself through his
life, death, and resurrection. Moreover,
one must earnestly desire to make Jesus both Savior and Lord of their
life. We believe this to be the only saving
principle of our faith and as such should be the only requirement for membership
in our fellowship.
In general
we would describe ourselves as Classically Christian accepting universal creeds
such as the Apostle’s
and Nicene Creeds. As such we affirm
such doctrines as the triune nature of God, existing eternally as Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit; we affirm the mystery that Jesus is both fully human and fully
divine; and we affirm the role of Scripture as the rule of faith and practice.
Throughout
history, however, the Congregational Churches have sought to express what is
most assuredly believed among the whole.
In this effort we have penned several statements of faith that are
uniquely part of our history as Congregational Christians. Below is a statement of faith adopted at a
national meeting of Congregational Churches in 1913. While it is now nearly a century old, it
still expresses well what we believe as Congregational Christians. Other such statements include the Savoy
Declaration of 1658 and the Burial Hill Declaration of 1865.
Faith
We
believe in God the Father,
infinite in wisdom, goodness,
and love,
and in Jesus Christ, his Son,
our Lord and Savior,
who for us and for our
salvation lived and died and rose again
and liveth
evermore,
and in the Holy Spirit,
who taketh
of the things of Christ
and revealeth
them to us,
renewing, comforting, and
inspiring the souls of men.
We
are united in striving to know the will of God
as taught in the Holy Scriptures,
and in our purpose to
walk in the ways of the Lord,
made known or to be made known
to us.
We
hold it to be the mission of the
to proclaim the Gospel to all
mankind,
exalting the worship of the
one true God,
and laboring for the progress
of knowledge,
the promotion of justice, the
reign of peace,
and the realization of human
brotherhood.
Depending,
as did our fathers, upon the continued guidance
of the Holy Spirit to lead us
into all truth,
we work and pray for the
transformation of the world
into the
and we look with faith for the
triumph of righteousness,
and the life everlasting.
Polity
We
believe in the freedom and responsibility
of the individual soul, and
the right of private judgment.
We
hold to the autonomy of the local church
and its independence of all
ecclesiastical control.
We
cherish the fellowship of the churches,
united in district, state, and
national bodies,
for counsel and cooperation in
matters of common concern.
The
Wider Fellowship
While
affirming the liberty of our churches,
and the validity of our
ministry,
we hold to the unity and
catholicity of the Church of Christ,
and will unite with all its
branches in hearty cooperation;
and will earnestly seek, so
far as in us lies,
that the prayer of our Lord
for his disciples may be answered,
that they all may be one.