We teach that all who place their faith in Jesus Christ are immediately placed by the Holy Spirit into one united spiritual body, the church (I Cor. 12:12-13), the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:25-32), of which Christ is the head (Col. 1:18). We teach that the formation of the church, the body of Christ, began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47) and will be completed at the coming of Christ for His own at the Rapture (I Thess. 4:13-17). We teach that the church is thus a unique spiritual organism designed by Christ, made up of all born-again believers in this present age (Eph. 2:11-3:6). The church is distinct from Israel (I Cor. 10:32), a mystery not revealed until this age (Eph. 3:1-6). We teach that believers are responsible to associate themselves together in local churches (I Cor. 11:18; Heb. 10:25).

Leadership

We teach that the one supreme authority of the church is Christ (Col. 1:18). Under Christ’s leadership, the church body as a whole should be involved in making major decisions and should appoint its leaders (Acts 6:5-6, 15:22). The biblically-designated officers serving under Christ are elders (males, who are also called overseers and pastors) (Acts 20:17, 28; I Tim. 2:12-3:7) and deacons (I Tim. 3:8-13).

Responsibilities

We teach that all believers are responsible to serve and build up the body of Christ (Eph. 4:12, 16), and to pray, give, and work so that disciples are made of people locally, regionally, and internationally (Mt. 28:19-20; Acts 1:8).

We teach the importance of discipleship (Mt. 28:19-20, 2 Tim. 2:2), the mutual accountability of all believers to each other (Mt. 18:15-17), as well as the need for discipline for sinning members of the congregation in accord with the standards of Scripture (Mt. 18:15-17; I Cor. 5:1-13; I Tim. 5:19-21).

Ordinances

We teach that Christ has committed two ordinances to His church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Christian baptism by immersion (Acts 8:36-39) has no saving merit (Acts 16:31-32; I Pet. 3:21), but is the solemn and beautiful testimony of a believer showing his faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior (I Cor. 15:3-4), his union with Him in death to sin and resurrection to a new life (Rom. 6:3-5), and the fact that his sins are washed away and he stands clean and forgiven in God’s sight (Acts 22:16; I Pet. 3:21). Baptism is also a sign of fellowship and identification with the visible body of Christ (Acts 2:41-42).

We teach that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration and proclamation of His death (I Cor. 11:23-26) and should be preceded by solemn self-examination (I Cor. 11:27-32). We also teach that where as the elements of communion are only representative of the body and blood of Christ (I Cor. 11:23-25), the Lord’s Supper is a unique and special time of fellowship with the risen Lord Jesus.