Beliefs and values

St. Peter's First Community Church is a covenant community committed to glorifying God by building up the body of Christ and helping others in our world and neighborhood become followers of Jesus.

Beliefs

We believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

We believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic* church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Values

Hope

A congregation that's been around 150 years knows a thing or two about the ups and downs of life. Hope is born out of a deep dissatisfaction with the present and an abiding trust in the God of hope. We cling to the hope of God's good future for his creation and we actively work toward it. (Romans 8:18-25)

Unity

We follow Jesus together. Its difficult to 'love one another' on our own. Jesus created the church to be his body in the world. We choose to make that pilgrimage together while glorifying God through a diverse unity. In Christ there is no Jew or Gentile, no slave or free, male or female... no rich or poor, no white or black or Hispanic or Asian, no liberal or conservative, no Wolverine or Buckeye, no Republican or Democrat, no Hoosier or Boilermaker - for we are all one in Christ Jesus. To follow Jesus is to bear one another's burdens, to mourn with those who mourn, and celebrate with those who dance. When we lose sight of the hope we have in Christ, it's the brothers and sisters around us that remind us and lead us back.

People

Every human being, no matter their wounds or their history, is formed in the image of God. This means that each person is a unique gift to the world around them and honors God most when they are being who God created them to be. Humans are created for relationship with their Creator and with one another. Christ restores and renews the image of God in each of us so we more truly reflect who we were created to be.

Service

Serving others is the primary way that we are shaped to be more like Christ. When we use our gifts to serve, the entire congregation is strengthened as we each do our part. If any of us are missing or not using our gifts, the puzzle is incomplete. We find a purpose greater than ourselves at the intersection of our gifts and the needs of the people around us. The congregation is at its best when it imitates its Lord who came to serve and not be served.

Words

Words are powerful. The Creator spoke the cosmos into existence and the Word of God is the One who recreates and renews it. When the Triune God speaks, we strive to listen. When we speak, we trust that the Triune God hears. The Living God inspired human authors to compile and pass on an authoritative collection of books and letters that point us toward Jesus. We grow through dialogue and sharing the questions we have with one another.

Sharing

Everything belongs to God and he blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others. Every person has been given certain talents, time, and treasures and each of us is invited to use everything we have to honor God by sharing it with the people around us. This is embodied in generosity. Generosity solves real problems in the real world. One of the greatest blessings we have to share is the good news that Jesus is Lord of Creation and that on the cross he has done away with Sin and reconciled all things to the Father.

Heritage

We all have a story and a history. St. Peter's First Community Church has a legacy in the Huntington community that stretches back for generations. We are a historically orthodox congregation that sees the Christian story as the continuation and fulfillment of God's covenant with Israel. Each of us individually has a back story that explains exactly how we ended up together in this moment in history. Our past explains how we got here but it doesn't dictate our future because in Christ we are a new creation. We value our heritage even as Jesus leads us into his good future.