What We Believe

What we believe . . .

What we believe defines who we are. Jesus said, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." So asking "What do you believe" is, in many ways, the same as asking, "Who are you?" There are three ways we can answer that question.

1. We are Christians.

At First Presbyterian Church, we are Christians above all else. This is another way of saying that we believe what followers of Christ have always believed, all over the world. The basics of the Christian faith are summarized in these three Historic Creeds of Christianity (click on each link below to read the text of each Creed):

The Apostles' Creed

The Nicene Creed

The Athanasian Creed

2. We are Protestant Christians.

We are heirs of the great movement of God's Spirit known as the Protestant Reformation. In many important ways, we trace our spiritual heritage to great leaders such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, Thomas Cranmer, and other great leaders of the Reformation.

The Protestant faith is summed up in five Latin slogans of the Reformation, which are explained in the following article:

The Cambridge Declaration

3. We are Reformed Protestant Christians.

As the Protestant Reformation spread across Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, three distinct streams of the Protestant faith emerged: the Lutheran, the Anglican, and the Reformed. When we refer to the Reformed Faith, we mean the spiritual heritage of John Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland and those who were influenced by him, including John Knox of Scotland. The Reformed Faith is summarized for us in the Confession and Catechisms of our Church, which make up part of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in America. Click below to read these important documents:

The Westminister Confession of Faith

The Westminster Larger Catechism (Click on a section below):

The Westminster Shorter Catechism

For a very brief synopsis of the beliefs of the Presbyterian Church in America, click here.

For more information, please contact us.