Our Beliefs

THE ESSENTIAL TENETS

For Green Hill Presbyterian Church

• We believe and trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior, acknowledging him as Lord of all and Head of the Church.
• We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, who makes himself known through the mystery of the Trinity of God, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
• We renounce evil and affirm our reliance upon the grace of God.
• We accept the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be, by the Holy Spirit, the unique and authoritative witness to Jesus Christ in the Church universal, and God’s Word to each of us.
• We accept the essential tenets of the Reformed faith, acknowledging that where Christ is, there is the true church, its presence marked wherever the Word of God is truly preached and heard, the Sacraments are rightly administered, and ecclesiastical discipline is uprightly ministered.
• We accept the Reformed tradition that God alone is Lord of the conscience.
• We see our ministry as done in obedience to Jesus Christ, under the authority of Scripture, and guided by our confessions.
• We accept the confessions of our church as authentic and reliable expositions of what Scripture leads us to believe and do.
• We submit to governance and discipline by the polity of our church, as detailed in our church Constitution.
• We are a church of grace, for it is by grace we have been saved, through faith, which is a gift of God.
• We commit ourselves to love and treat all persons with respect as beloved children of God.
• We commit ourselves to welcome all persons into the life and fellowship of the church, to extend pastoral care and the instruction of the church.
• We uphold the scriptural ordinances regarding the sanctity of marriage, between a man and a woman, and celibacy in unmarried life, and require these standards in all levels of leadership in elected and appointed church officers, as well as leaders in church sponsored organizations.
• Regarding the ordinance of marriage, we hold to the Biblical view of marriage as between a man and a woman, as written in Holy Scripture and in the Confessional standards of the church.
• We recognize two sacraments: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
• Baptism marks the entrance into God’s covenant family and is the sign and seal of incorporation into Christ. Baptism shows our union with Christ in death to sin and resurrection to a new life. Baptism is the sign and symbol of inclusion in God’s grace and covenant with the Church. Therefore, we recognize infant baptism as well as adult.
• We celebrate the Lord’s Supper, or Holy Communion, to proclaim the “new covenant” we share in Jesus Christ, remember His death and resurrection, and prepare for His return and the coming reign of God. It should always be preceded by self-examination. Around the Table of the Lord, God’s people are in communion with Christ and with all who belong to Christ. Therefore, ALL who profess Jesus as Lord are welcome to the table here at Green Hill.
• Sacraments are received by faith. They are God’s gracious gifts to us, given by Jesus Christ to the church to establish and nourish our faith.