OVERALL THEOLOGICAL IDEAS

We don't hold to a statement of faith, we hold to scripture. But these statements of faith are a way for people to summarize beliefs and so they are a thing. Unfortunately, knowing scripture and discussing beliefs is rare these days. People would rather spend time watching Neflix than discuss their beliefs by going to the scripture to hammer out agreements or disagreements. But it is so much more fun and deep and encouraging to discuss ideas of meaning and life with another person who also says they follow scripture. So we call this an experiment statement of faith because most of these ideas are created by experts who have spent lifetimes in systematic theology and organizations have formed and divided over the subtle nuances of words and statements. Our preference is to spend regular time, weekly, year after year, with a coffee and breakfast or a Sunday afternoon in a home, relaxing and discussing the things of God. But in the name of experimenting, we have this experimental statement of faith. This is a very preliminary draft, but it is considering personal, immediate family, siblings, parents, hundreds of churches, multiple theological systems and forms of gatherings, history and scritural fidelity. This is too much to bear, so any words stated will be misunderstood and misrepresented by someone somewhere if they would read this. So this is a fallible adventure in thought.

These ideas are copied from AI describing the Evangelical Free Church (EFCA). This is a starting point gathering of belief ideas.

"In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity." (This seems nice, but it wasn't good enough for our local church that broke away from EFCA).

Theologically, we are firmly Protestant, orthodox, and historically conservative. According to the Statement of Faith, our core convictions require absolute alignment on the following "essentials":

The Bible: We hold to a strict view of verbal inspiration and biblical inerrancy. The Bible is our ultimate and final authority.

God and Christ: We affirm the Trinity and the full deity and humanity of Jesus Christ, including His virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary atoning death, and bodily resurrection. (This is very good and avoids certain loaded terms not in the Bible)

Salvation: We believe that humanity is inherently fallen through Adam and that salvation is available solely by God's grace through faith in Christ, entirely apart from human works or sacraments. (This is very good and puts sacriments in the right place and context)

The Return of Christ: We hold to a literal, personal, and imminent bodily return of Jesus Christ. (This is interesting and good for me, but interesting based on learning about others who may not expect an imminent return, yet still seem quite sound theologically, and they can defend themselves biblically, even though I don't agree. I think this is called the a-mil view, not sure).

Explanation of "Free": The word "Free" has two historical and practical definitions: Free from the State: Historically, the movement was started by Scandinavian immigrants (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian) who fled Europe to establish churches that were completely free from state-church control and dead liturgical formalism. Free from Hierarchy (Congregationalism): Structurally, it means every local church is completely autonomous and self-governing. There is no pope, bishop, or top-down presbytery dictates. The local congregation votes on its own budget, buys its own property, and chooses its own elders and pastors. They are part of an association, not a strict corporate denomination. (We like this, including the free from dead liturgical formalism, and the congregational governance. But we would modify "elders and pastors to be just "elders". Why have two words when they are the same?).

Liberty: The Areas of "Liberty" (Where We Allow Differences) Because we prioritize gospel unity over minor theological battle lines, our church intentionally leaves several traditional theological debates open to local interpretation. Within our church, you will find a mix of views on: The Covenants and Salvation: We allow both Calvinist/Reformed and Arminian/Wesleyan viewpoints to coexist. We do not force a rigid confessional stance like the 1689 Baptist or Westminster standards. Baptism: While the denomination leans heavily toward believer's baptism (credobaptism) by immersion, we do not bar believers who were infant-baptized from church membership, provided they have a saving faith in Christ. The End Times: While historically rooted in dispensational premillennialism, we removed the word "premillennial" from our essential statement of faith to ensure that different views of the millennium do not divide our pastors. Spiritual Gifts: We are neither distinctively charismatic nor aggressively cessationist. We allow room for "open but cautious" continuationism as well as cessationism regarding miraculous gifts. (We like most of this, but differ with the implications of church membership. Membership is automatic if you are a believer. We need a new term, like a ministry partner to preserve the biblical language of membership in 1 Corinthians 12, etc.)

Differences: Summary of Differences from Your Framework If you are evaluating them from a New Covenant Theology (NCT) and Simple House-Church mindset, an E-Free church will feel intensely institutional. They build corporate properties, hire professional clergy tracks, do not ordain women to pastoral roles, and operate standard contemporary or traditional Sunday service structures. (We agree with this, but we would also agree with not ordaining women to pastoral roles. In fact we do not support ordaining anyone. Ordination seems like an OT practice and does not fit with the priesthood of all believers.)

The following Doctrinal Statement was copied from Grace and Truth Church in Morgantown, PA, 19543 on Friday, Oct 9, 2026 and only modified slightly in the section(s) marked with a *. We have not thought about this deeply, but in general the statement looks ok. This is a base for thinking about doctrinal statements, not a formal, considered position statement. We are actually more aligned with EFCA (Evangelical Free Church in America), probably, but we started with this local church statement because it is local and by chance we happened to visit the church once recently and happened to have a statement page open on our computer. So this is somewhat conincidence to use this church's statement as a starting point.

DOCTRINAL STATEMENT

1. We believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired infallible Word of God, without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men, and the divine and final authority for all Christian faith and life. (II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:20,21)

2. We believe in one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing and manifest as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19; II Corinthians 13:14; I John 5:7, KJV)

3. We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1; 10:30). He is true God and true man in one Person (John 1:14; Romans 1:3-4). He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and lived a sinless life (Isaiah 9:6; II Corinthians 5:21). We believe in His substitutionary atoning death, His bodily resurrection from the dead, His ascension into heaven where He is now our High Priest and advocate, and His personal triumphant return (I Corinthians 15:3-4; Hebrews 9:24-28).
(We would remove "Person", see * below)

4. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person who glorifies Jesus Christ. He is co-equal with the Father and the Son (Acts 5:3-4). He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8, 14). The Holy Spirit baptizes the believer into the body of Jesus Christ, the Church, at the moment of regeneration (I Corinthians 12:13). The Holy Spirit, then indwelling the believer (John 14:16), seals, guides, instructs, empowers, comforts, and gives spiritual gifts, enabling the believer to grow increasingly more like the Savior in both character and service (Acts 1:8; Ephesians 1:13). God’s will for the believer is to be filled with the Holy Spirit as he grows, bearing spiritual fruit (Ephesians 5:18; Galatians 5:16, 22-26).
(We would remove "Person", see * below)

5. We believe that man was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27) but fell into sin in the Fall of Adam (Romans 5:12). Therefore, every person is a sinner by nature (Psalm 51:5) and by choice, lost for eternity under the just condemnation of a holy God, unable to save himself (Romans 3:21-26).

6. We believe that Satan is a person (Isaiah 14;12-15; Ezekiel 28:13-17), the author of sin, and the cause of the fall of man (Genesis 3:1-15; Job 1:6-7); that he is the open and declared enemy of God and man [our adversary] (Matthew 4:2-11; I Peter 5:8); and that he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10).

7. We believe a Christian is one saved by grace and grace alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). We believe that the shed blood of Jesus Christ and His resurrection provide the only ground for justification and salvation for all who believe (Romans 5:1, 9). To believe is to repent of one's sin and to entrust oneself to God based on the finished atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross. It is only as one receives Jesus Christ and is born of the Holy Spirit that one becomes a child of God (John 1:12; 3:3,16).

8. We believe that Jesus Christ lived and taught the way of life as recorded in the Scriptures (Romans 6:4-11), which is God's plan for all people, and that disciples of Jesus Christ are to live in this way, thus manifesting in their life and relationships, the life and holiness of God (Romans 12:16-20). We believe further that the Christian life will of necessity express itself in nonconformity to the world in life and conduct (Romans 12:1-2) as it is God's will for the Christian to live a life of separation and victory over sin (Ephesians 4:17-32).

9. We believe this Christian life is possible as one yields to God (Romans 12:1-2), engages regularly in prayer (Matthew 26:41), feeds on the Word of God (I Peter 2:2), stays in fellowship with the body of Christ (Hebrews 10:25; Acts 2:42), and is led of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16).

10. We believe that Christians should conduct their lives, homes, activities, and business in a righteous, godly and sober manner in order that they do not bring reproach on their Savior and Lord (Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:1-2; Colossians 3:12-17; Titus 2:11-14; I John 2:15-17). They are to be free from all oath-bound societies, Christ dishonoring organizations, or being unequally yoked with unbelievers, nor should they marry unbelievers (II Corinthians 6:14-7:1).

11. We believe that the Christian Church consists of believers who have repented of their sins, have accepted Jesus Christ by faith, i.e. are born again (Acts 2:38; I Peter 2:9-12; Romans 8:15-17). We believe that the brotherhood of the redeemed, the invisible Church, manifests itself in local churches to which have been given the ordinances of believer's baptism (Acts 8:37-39) and communion (I Corinthians 11:23-32) to be observed during this present age. These ordinances are not to be regarded as means of salvation. We believe that each local church is under the leadership of Jesus Christ and has the responsibility to decide and govern its own affairs (Matthew 28:18-20; Colossians 1:18).
(Modification: We believe that each individual, local church gathering and city/town church is under the leadership of Jesus Christ and has the responsibility to decide and govern its own affairs (Matthew 28:18-20; Colossians 1:18). This is the loyalty priority concept described in Francis Shaeffer's "True Spirituality" on page 175.)

12. We believe in "that blessed hope," (Titus 2:13; I Thessalonians 1:10) the personal and imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (John 14:1-3; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; 5:9-11; Revelation 3:10), and His literal reign upon the earth (Revelation 19:11-21; 20:4-6) according to the Scriptures. This "blessed hope" has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer (I John 3:2-3).

13. We believe in the immortality of the soul, the bodily resurrection of the dead, and a future state determined by divine judgment (Revelation 20:11-15; I Corinthians 15:51-54) of the believer to everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord and the unbeliever to judgment and everlasting conscious punishment in hell (Matthew 25:41,46).

The Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our faith. The Bible itself is the sole and final source of all that we believe. We do believe, however, that the foregoing Statement of Faith accurately represents the teaching of the Bible and, therefore all authoritative teaching and literature used in the church shall be in agreement with the Statement of Faith.

Modifications: * We would remove "Person" because that idea is not actually stated in John 1:14, and it creates an unnecessary tension with John 14:8-10. Romans 1:3-4 only says, "descended from David according to the flesh", but the idea of "Person" within the Trinity (or Triunity) or at the ontological level, is not the point. This Romans 1:3-4 verse is focused on the human appearances "according to the flesh." We do not want to attribute systematic theology ontological ideas to a verse that is not clearly stating that. (Ps: Ontological means the philosophical study of being, existence, and the fundamental nature of reality) Scripture generally omits definining the "Person" aspect of God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, though we assume Jesus to be a "person" according to the flesh as all the disciples would have thought. However, for a statement on his "Being" vs "Person", we would rather leave the mystery because scripture does not define this term and even hints of a possible future surprise in Zechariah 14:9. Sometimes systematic theological "adds to scripture" with its abstraction ideas and creates division when there does not need to be. Systematic theology must remain in a lower priority because it is only the writings of man. It can be helpful or it can be very divisive. This expermimental statement of faith is also, the writings of man, which is a much lower priority than scripture. If there is an unanimous agreement on a statement of faith for a whole town based ekklesia, that would be a higher priority than an individual based statement of faith, but would still be much lower in priority to scripture. The creeds are also much lower in priority to scripture. They can be helpful or they can cause division. We must not loose sight of the loyalty priority idea that is obvious, but is sometimes forgotten and explained well by Francis Shaeffer's "True Spirituality" on page 175.