We believe that there is one true God, eternally existing and revealed as three distinct persons: The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirt, equal in power and glory—each distinct, yet one in character, nature and essence. We believe this triune God created all things, sustains all things, cares for all things, and governs according to the purpose of His will.
We believe that God is essentially spirit, personal, loving, holy, true, sovereign, timelessly eternal, infallible in all things, including His foreknowledge of all future decisions and events. We believe that God the Father concerns Himself in the affairs of men; that He hears and answers prayer; and that He regularly intervenes according to His will and purpose.
We believe in Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe He is fully God and fully human, possessing two distinct natures which are co-joined in one person. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, death on a cross, bodily resurrection, perpetual intercession for His people, and personal, visible return to earth.
We believe in the Holy Spirit—the third person of the triune God, who was given by the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; and to indwell and empower all who believe in Jesus. We believe in the present day ministry of the Holy Spirit and in the exercise of all the gifts mentioned in the Bible, to be employed with wisdom and according to the guidelines of the Scriptures. We believe love is more important than the most spectacular of gifts, and without love, the exercise of spiritual gifts is of little or no value.
We believe the Bible, consisting of the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, is the inspired Word of God, inerrant in the original documents. It is the foundation upon which the Christian church operates and provides the standard for faith and conduct. We believe that we are to faithfully teach the Bible in such a way that its message becomes applicable to an individual’s life, leading all toward maturity in Christ, faithfulness to God, and service to others.
We believe God spoke the heavens and earth into existence as described in the book of Genesis, wherein He called it good. We believe the Creator continues to care for every life form in His creation and calls us to be faithful stewards of the natural world.
We believe that man is created in the image of God; however, after the fall of Adam and Eve, all people are by nature separated from God and responsible for their own sin, but that salvation, redemption, and forgiveness are freely offered to all by Jesus and His grace alone.
We believe in the universal church, the living spiritual body, of which Jesus is the head, and all regenerated persons are members. We believe the church has the responsibility to worship the Lord, proclaim the news of Jesus’ death and resurrection, make disciples, baptize believers, and teach sound doctrine.
We believe in the personal, visible return of Jesus to the earth, the establishment of His kingdom, the resurrection of the body, final judgment, eternal blessing of the righteousness, and eternal separation for those rejecting the free gift of salvation offered in Jesus.
We believe what is commonly known as the Apostles' Creed, as it embodies the historic perspective regarding essentials of the Christian faith.
The Apostles' Creed (circa 250 A.D.)
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth.I 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 into 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.I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy universal church,
the communion of the saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
pastor's perpective ...
Of the many questions I receive about The Gathering, one of the most frequent is, "What do we believe?" It's a tough question because the people attending The Gathering represent a wide range of Christian experience ranging from Baptist to Catholic, Dutch Reformed to Methodist ... and that's just getting started. I'd say we're pretty much a "Christian quilt," a host of denominational backgrounds sewn into one church blanket. We use the term "non-denominational," but I tend to think of The Gathering as a family of Christians, seeking unity is a risen Savior rather than uniformity in thought.
What does unity look like at The Gathering? Simply put, we endorse the concept there are Biblical understandings that should be considered essential to Christianity and there are some that are less so. I often refer to this idea as "Open-handed" and "Close-handed" issues. We consider closed-handed issues to being those topics tissues that are reflected in the historic As a group, we agree the historic foundations of the Christian Church as seen in the early creeds like the Apostles
And after walking with Jesus for nearly fifty years now, I can say my list of open-handed issue are decreasing and the non-essentials are growing.
While on the other hand, there are countless areas of Biblical understanding, that while important, are not critical for us all to be in agreement. and there are understandings that are "non-essential." I refer to these as "close-handed" issues. Close-handed issues can be seen in the creeds of the early church including the Apostles' Creed and Nicene Creed.
To maintain unity we focus on a two-fold understanding of Biblical "truth:" Essential understanding (necessary for Salvation) and Non-essential understanding. I prefer the terms, Open-handed and Closed-handed.
Regarding essential understanding (closed-handed) we look to the Creeds of the early church for guidance. We believe the Apostles' Creed and Nicene Creed provide excellent foundations for what should be considered essential Christianity.
And while we share a common set of core beliefs, we also differ on a number of Biblical understandings. Because the
wide variety of topics. To bridge this gap, I answer the question of what we believe by dividing Biblical understanding into two categories: Essential and Non-essential. I prefer to describe these as closed-handed and open-handed issues. Regarding close-handed, or essentials of the faith, we consider the early church creeds like The Apostles' Creed or the Nicene Creed to be excellent foundations for what "We" believe collectively. However, regarding the countless list topics that have historically divided believers into separate "camps," we embrace the idea that we can strive for unity over uniformity. For example, as we're teaching through the Bible and we encounter a portion of scripture that various denominations treat differently, I will typically explain the majority positions in different denominations and explain what "I" believe the Bible is saying on a particular topic.